Why I Write
Thursday, 05 November 2009 04:11
Written by JFK Miller

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In this new series of Web exclusives we talk to authors writing in or about the Middle Kingdom about their literary habits, preferences and peculiarities and examine the question at the heart of being an author – why they write

Local author Lynn Pan has written 14 books including last year's popular favorite Shanghai Style: Art and Design Between the Wars.

Why I write
To be perfectly honest, all but three of my books were written because I was commissioned to write them. Ironically, that's true of even my most successful book, Sons of the Yellow Emperor, which wasn't my own idea but my (brilliant) publisher's. The three that weren't commissioned are on Shanghai, and I wrote them because I have a thing about Shanghai.

Do you write every day? If so, how many hours?
No, not everyday. I write in spurts and during the last spurt I made myself work office hours, nine to five, with only a half-hour break for lunch.

Worst source of distraction?
E-mail.

Best source of inspiration?
Reading and travel.

How often do you get writers' block/doubt your own ability?
I don't get writer's block but I doubt my own ability with every single word I write.
 
Contemporary writer in any medium who you never miss?
Shirley Hazzard, Anita Brookner, Sybille Bedford.

WHY I WRITE
Rachel Dewoskin
Catherine Sampson
Paul French
Jeff Wasserstrom
Lynn Pan
Zhang Lijia
Adam Williams
Frances Wood
Sarah Brennan
Linda Jaivin
Charles Cumming
Graham Earnshaw
Mishi Saran

Favorite Chinese writer?
Zhang Ailing, the only Chinese writer I know who could express a modern (westernized) sensibility in the prose of classical Chinese fiction. I read her over and over again to see if I could imitate her style but I still don't know how she does it - it's extraordinary.
 
Best book about China?
The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture by John Kieschnick.

Favorite book?
The Snows of Yesteryear by Gregor von Rezzori. If only I could read it in the original German!

Favorite writer?
Jan Morris.

The book you know you should have read but haven't?
Scoop by Evelyn Waugh.

You look back at the first thing you had published and think...
How cringe-making.

What are you working on now and when is it out?
I'm not writing another book - well, not for publication anyway (but then I said that before I wrote Shanghai Style too).

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