How To Write A Memoir Absurdly Well: An Interview With Curtis Chin

I had the pleasure recently of interviewing the author Curtis Chin about his memoir, ‘Everything I learned, I learned In A Chinese Restaurant’, which centers around his upbringing in 1980s Detroit. To promote the book he gave over 330 talks across nine countries including the UK and France. The ones that stood out for him the most however, were the ones that he gave in Chinese restaurants and just talked to the owners about their journey and what foods they liked. The surprising thing? “we sold just as many books when I did those events as when I went to a bookstore.”As a result, he is now often asked to give talks and reviews on Chinese food and Chinese restaurants across the USA. This has led to his next project which is a documentary about Chinese restaurants around the world. The lesson for non-fiction writers? You never know where your journey will take you. It’s one of the by-products of being seen as an expert in your area of study.

Curtis has had an interesting writing journey. He started out writing poetry and would scribble notes in his notebook for the various ideas he was working on, even if that meant carrying them everywhere. When he switched over to playwriting and screenwriting he made the transition to a laptop. It was the same again with memoir writing. And now with the fluidity of the internet he also uses Google Docs to upload his drafts. This allows him to easily access and edit his work, especially when he’s outside running errands or enjoying his leisure time. This is particularly valuable since he’s always thinking about his work. He thinks this ability to pick up work at a moment’s notice is a skill he honed when he was younger. “As a little kid, I used to do my homework at the back of the restaurant, and I never knew when a customer would come in or the phone would ring and I'd have to stop. So I trained myself at a very, very young age to be able to pick up work at a moment's notice.” 

 

Curtis decided to start writing in part because of a family tragedy. When his cousin, Vincent was tragically murdered at the height of anti-Japanese sentiment in the 1980s, he looked on helplessly as the two killers were given a reprieve by a very lenient judge. Perhaps because of pressure from the authorities no one covered this case for two weeks, further highlighting to Curtis about the need to add his own voice to proceedings. “That contrast between what the mainstream media was interested in, compared to what our community cared about, really stuck out at me.” The second reason why he became a writer was because he saw it as an easy way to graduate. As a gay man he was concerned about the AIDS epidemic that was sweeping the USA at the time - in fact one of the customers at their restaurant had been brutally murdered during this period of upheaval- but his mom encouraged him because she wanted him to get away from the restaurant life and make something of himself. “I said, okay, if I studied poetry writing and if I only wrote haikus, I could graduate in fewer than 500 words.” He never looked back after that and flourished as a writer, moving to L.A upon graduation to continue his career as a play and screen writer. 

 

Curtis learned how to write a memoir by signing up for a series of Zoom sessions during COVID. Because a lot of these were hosted in Europe it meant that it was 11 or 12 in the morning in America. This allowed him to write his memoir in the morning, after which he would attend these workshops. And then in the afternoon he would either read or do more revision. This was followed by more workshops in the USA in the evening around seven o'clock. “I just went the whole hog,” he says playing down the considerable effort required to do this. The whole experience for him was like studying an MFA, albeit a lot cheaper, but certainly no less rewarding.

 

His tough upbringing in a city marred by deep poverty and racist violence has also made him more sympathetic towards writers who come from non-traditional writing backgrounds. He remembers all the different people from diverse walks of life that would frequent his family’s restaurant - and he thinks that they deserve to be heard too. Getting on the publishing ladder shouldn’t just be for those lucky enough to go to a top university and who are more privileged than others. “Writing and telling stories shouldn't just be for the rich people in society. We need to hear stories from working class people too.”

 

When I asked Curtis what advice he would give to people interested in writing a memoir, his answer was very revealing. For him the crucial question you have to ask is whether you are writing it for yourself or for your audience. If you are doing it for your readers then you have to consider what they want to read about. So, rather than just writing about his family’s restaurant he had to also consider race politics in Detroit, especially with the murder of George Floyd. There were also a series of gay book bans sweeping the country and so these two issues needed addressing. This was very challenging for him because, though he had experienced this stuff, he prefers writing funny and light-hearted material. For him though, the most important thing about writing a memoir is you have to be true to yourself when you write it. “Don't affect a certain voice, don't affect a certain quality or personality. Be genuine.”

You can listen to the whole podcast episode here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1021147/episodes/18492072-ep-14-with-curtis-chin

Curtis Chin’s memoir, ‘Everything I Learned, I Learned In A Chinese Restaurant’ is available now from all good bookshops.