Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers, recently finished her book tour, where she spoke at Third Steet Books’ Seward Park location, a local Seattle gem.
As a young English major at Brown University, Chan sought out to be a book editor and work in the field of publishing. To be a skilled editor though, Chan started to improve her writing craft.
“I actually started writing as a freshman in college, back in 1997. I think my motivation at that time was [that] I was interested in becoming a book editor one day and working in publishing, so I thought learning about writing fiction would make me a better editor one day. The fact that I ended up becoming a writer was a surprise,” Chan said.
At the beginning of her writing career, Chan wrote short stories and essays published in magazines, assuming her first book would be a collection of these stories. However, once Chan began to write The School for Good Mothers, it spiraled out of the ‘short story’ realm.
“I initially started the project back in early 2014 and at that time I thought my first book would be a short story collection. So, the book grew out of what was a very dense, idea-filled short story. [The School for Good Mothers] was too big to be a 20-page short story,” Chan said.
Chan’s inspiration sparked after reading Rachel Aviv’s “Where Is Your Mother?” taking elements from Aviv’s story to create her own book, published roughly eight years after the article.
“At that time, I read an article in the New Yorker appearing in late 2013. That story is about a single mom who left her toddler son at home, and after her neighbors heard him crying called the police. After that day, [the mother] never got [her son] back,” Chan said. “I think that story really planted a kernel of rage in my mind. Something about that story just stayed with me and emerged in this spew of ideas several months later.”
Writing the novel, however, took a span of years. Though Chan knew writing was her passion, the book proved to be a challenge that triggered Chan’s determination.
“I started writing at 18 and published my first book at 43, so it was a very long journey with a lot of uncertainty, rejection, perseverance and support from loved ones. It was definitely not an overnight success,” Chan said.
At the end of every year, former President Barack Obama releases to social media what his favorite books, music and movies were. At the end of 2022, Chan’s book was one of 13 to make the list.
“When I think about things like being chosen for Barack Obama’s favorite books list, it has not actually sunk in yet. It happened months ago and has been printed in many places, but in some ways, it doesn’t feel real,” Chan said. “It’s amazing that my work has brought me into conversation with so many heroes. That’s certainly thrilling in every possible way.”
To Chan, being an author means holding a lot of perseverance, despite the struggles that come with the career.
“One of the hardest things with writing and especially writing a novel is to just keep going. Novels are a really long journey, one year after another you may not have anything to show for it in terms of, the book is still a draft. You haven’t published any excerpts of it, maybe your friends haven’t even read it yet,” Chan said. “I do think every writer needs to have a strong sense of self and a strong belief in the fact of having something to say and believing in what you have to say.”
Chan started writing with short stories while still having in mind that she would become a book editor. However, short stories became Chan’s source of writing outlet, feeding the dream of being an author.
“I love short stories, it is my first love as a writer. In a lot of ways, short stories were a way for me to learn. When I started graduate school at Columbia, I’d never written anything with a plot or characters who did stuff. Writing short stories was a way for me to learn the craft [of writing] and try out different styles,” Chan said.
In the years of working on her debut novel, Chan became a mother, something that changed what is currently published, the final copy.
“My life as a mother really impacted the final book. I wrote a lot of my experience of early motherhood and my daughter’s childhood into the book and used it as inspiration,” Chan said. “I think Frida [the main character in The School for Good Mothers], is ultimately a lot more loving and I was able to capture her fierce devotion to Harriet much more once I became a mother myself.”
Despite the thought that Chan would blossom into a book editor, choosing her spring quarter classes at Brown led Chan down a path that pushed her toward writing work of her own; changing the course of her career.
“Within the first couple weeks of taking a beginning fiction workshop at Brown. It was spring of my freshmen year of college with my teacher Jane Unrue, who I think now teaches at Harvard. One teacher can just change your whole life, it was studying with Jane that really made me want to be a writer,” Chan said.
In addition to writing, Chan believes reading is another skilled way to improve craft.
“My advice to aspiring authors is to read widely and be open minded about where your influences might come from and what kind of authors you seek out. I think reading is a huge part of learning and growing as an artist,” Chan said.
