Published inThe Writing Cooperative·PinnedMember-onlyHow to Get Your Book Past Literary Agency GatekeepersIt’s not as impossible as you may think — I signed with my first literary agent in 1978, when I was fresh out of college. Ancient times, I know, and simpler, too. A writer friend stopped by my apartment, saw my manuscript, sent a copy to his agent, and within weeks the agent sold it. Granted, I did have…Publishing6 min readPublishing6 min read
PinnedMember-onlyNOT YOUR CHINA DOLLA conversation about Anna May Wong and the history of Asians in Hollywood — One of the delights of writing for Medium and Substack is the opportunity to meet fellow writers who are on your wavelength. That’s how I got to know Katie Gee Salisbury: we’re both biracial writers of Asian descent, and we both write about Asian-American history. Katie, based in Brooklyn, is…Publishing9 min readPublishing9 min read
Published inHuman Parts·PinnedMember-only“I Think People Will Want to Know What Happened to you”How telling my story launched my life as a healthy human and writer — Anyone who saw me in my teens had to know something vital was amiss; I was drastically underweight and phobic about getting fat. Yet my mother vetoed my request to see a psychologist. She didn’t trust the Freudian brand of analysis that was current in the ’60s. She didn’t want…Eating Disorders10 min readEating Disorders10 min read
Published inAbout Me Stories·PinnedMember-onlyAbout Me — Aimee LiuAuthor of East-West novels and all sorts of nonfiction, ghostwriter, MFA advisor, former painter… and current photopainter! — Novels! If you love novels about Americans in Asia and Asians in America and the families that form between them, you may have read my fiction. In the 1990s I published two novels, Face and Cloud Mountain, based on my family’s mixed-race history and my examination of my own Chinese-American identity:About Me6 min readAbout Me6 min read
PinnedScroll down for my latest storiesIndexed Quick Links here: — My Bio Race, Family, & Relationships Books, Writing & Creativity Psychology, Health & Wellness Photo EssaysWriting1 min readWriting1 min read
Aug 2Unpacking Narrative PurposeFrom MFA Lore’s Write On! Roundup #3 — Welcome to MFA Lore’s third Write On! Roundup. This is a feature of my newsletter Aimee Liu’s Legacy & Lore where you get to ask the questions that are currently vexing you in your writing life and I try to answer as best I can. This week‘s first question focuses…Writing4 min readWriting4 min read
Jul 29Member-onlyTo Fictionalize, Or Not to Fictionalize?A key question for every memoir writer — Many, if not most, memoir writers at some point wonder whether they should write their first-person story instead as a novel, perhaps in third-person. These options represent two layers of separation from the foundational experience, so let’s take them one at a time. 1. Should you write your story as a memoir, or as a novel? There’s no universal rule here, but first…Writing3 min readWriting3 min read
Published inBooks Are Our Superpower·Jul 25Member-onlyMy Top 10+ Writing Craft BooksMust-reads for fiction and memoir writers — Every serious writer needs guidance. There’s no shame in turning to the pros who have come before you for guidance, advice, inspiration, secrets, or just plain basic information. Writers love to blather on about originality and experimentation and creativity, and it’s true that every truly great book breaks new literary…Writing6 min readWriting6 min read
Jul 15Member-onlyA Literary Prize in Tribute to One of Medium’s OwnThe late great Cai Emmons wants to give you fiction writers an award — Writers tend to be introverts, but we love community. I know. We’re walking contradictions. So be it. I cherish my writer friends, so I was devastated to lose the extraordinarily gifted, funny, and generous Cai Emmons to ALS this year. Others on Medium were, too. …Writing Contest2 min readWriting Contest2 min read
Jul 10Member-onlyFocus Your Writing Like a CameraNarrative perspective involves more than POV — Most writers think of POV as the First-, Second-, or Third-person voice telling a story. But point of view also refers more broadly to your authorial vantage point, or narrative perspective. And in that sense, it’s a much more nuanced issue. Imagine that you, the author, are the camera lens…Writing Tips7 min readWriting Tips7 min read