How would you describe your creative process while writing this book? Was it stream-of-consciousness writing, or did you first write an outline? This book was tough to write. It took about ten years because I had to spend time interviewing my mother and she didn’t live near me until I moved her to St. Louis where my husband and I finally settled after moving around a bit. The writing started out as stream-of-consciousness for her, whatever came up, whenever we had time together. Then I began annoying my mom with many, many questions. Finally I had to figure out how to put some sort of order into all the pieces. This is probably typical for memoir writing.
Did your book require a lot of research?Yes. I added historical facts and I wanted to make sure that details were correct. I had a Japanese man near my mother’s age double-check the Japanese cultural details, and I used books and the internet to research such things as WWII airplanes, Johnson Air Base and other Japanese civilian experiences. Whatever “facts” my mother told me that I could not verify I left out. I learned so much about WWII.
What type of writer are you - the one who experiences before writing, like Hemingway, or the one who mostly daydreams and fantasizes? I have to write based on my experiences. I have a huge respect for fiction writers who pull stories out of their imagination.
Agatha Christie got her best ideas while eating green apples in the bathtub. Steven Spielberg says he gets his best ideas while driving on the highway. When do you get your best ideas and why do you think this is?My mind gets very creative and busy when I am supposed to be sleeping! Something about the quietude and the relaxing of the mind. Sometimes I think I could solve the world’s problems just lying in bed thinking.
Do you write non-stop until you have a first draft, or do you edit as you move along?I have that inner perfectionist going so I do edit as I go, but I try not to get carried away because that can really slow down and even destroy the creative process.
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