Writers looking for inspiration, meet Sophia Marie Lee.
This 34-year-old writer from Quezon City was studying law before committing to a life of writing.
In 2014, she won the top prize at the Singapore-based biennial Scholastic Asian Book Awards for her young-adult book What Things Mean.
Her work is about a girl named Olive, a 14-year-old struggling to understand her own weirdness. “The story is told in part through dictionary-style entries, as a way of reflecting Olive’s own search for meaning,” she said.
What Things Mean was launched at the opening of the Asian Festival of Children’s Content held in Singapore last May.
Sophia’s life story is as interesting as her book, as Coconuts Manila found out.
How did you become a writer?
I got into writing late, because most of my life was devoted towards becoming something else: a lawyer. I grew up wanting to be a lawyer like my father, and my big mistake was that in all those years, I never really questioned why. Most of the things I have done in my life, I viewed only as stepping stones to the law, and writing was a part of that.
So why didn’t you become a lawyer?
It would take me failing the bar to realize how ill-fitted I was for the legal life. It was a difficult phase of my life, but it was after that experience that I began truly writing. I had only done it as a matter of escape while I was in law school – taking on writing jobs here and there, but after I gave myself permission to focus on something else, I remembered how much I liked it.
Did you take additional writing courses?
I took a job writing content, and one of my editors there told me that she thought I was good – that I should be open to exploring it more. I began taking creative writing classes at the University of the Philippines, and it was there that I realized that I loved it. I wrote my first book, What Things Mean, in one of my writing classes there, in a class called “Writing for Young Adults” under Professor Heidi Eusebio-Abad. I haven’t stopped writing since then. Coming into the writing life felt very natural for me – when I’m writing, I never question why I do it, or who I’m doing it for. I write because I have to, because I cannot not write. I realize now that it is in my nature to tell stories, it is when I write that I feel most like myself.
Why did you focus on young-adult literature?
I gravitate towards YA because it was the reading in this phase of my life that really shaped who I am as a person. I think there’s something special about the kind of reading you do when you’re at that age – it’s when you are most vulnerable, when you are most open to ideas about the self you want to build. I feel that’s why YA is so important.
Are you anything like your main character, Olive, a 14-year-old struggling to understand her weirdness?
I’m like my main character in many ways – we are both dark-skinned Filipinas who had a hard time growing up, for different reasons. We both come from interesting homes with a lot of extended family, and we both love words and the meanings behind them. I imbued Olive with a lot of my own quirks as a teenager because I wanted her to feel authentic, to deal with issues that I myself dealt with when I was growing up. It has to be said though that I am not my character. She had a harder life, I think. She was a wiser, more graceful teenager than I ever was.
What’s a typical day for you?
My day is always filled with writing, because I write for various organizations and companies, and because I also take writing classes, apart from the writing I do for myself. It can get exhausting sometimes, because writing takes so much effort. It takes a toll on me, mentally and physically.
How much time do you spend writing?
I try to finish projects in blocks and take frequent breaks right after – I read a book or watch something or have a conversation with people I find interesting, anything that can recharge my mind and spark new ideas. It doesn’t always come easily, but I love it anyway.
How did this whole experience of writing, winning and getting published change you?
For sure, the award in one sense gave me the permission I thought I needed to write, and to pursue the writing life. I’m grateful for the exposure it gave me, because it helped to make people more interested in my work. But getting an award and getting published can only take you so far. Writing is something you choose every day – and you answer its call by filling the empty page before you. I’m like all other writers because I face a new blank page every day. In that way, I feel unchanged – there are always so many stories to tell, and so many blank pages ahead of me.
Can you think of three adjectives to describe yourself?
Right now, I would say these three words describe me the most:
Open – because it was in being open to new things that I was able to discover creative writing, and in turn write this book. It’s also how I feel now that I’m at a point of change in my personal life. I’m just open to every possibility there is, even to impossibilities. Impossible things are happening every day.
Quirky – I like this word because it’s not viewed as harshly as the word “weird” is, though essentially they’re the same. It took me a long time to embrace my weirdness, but I think being weird and quirky is good. It’s what makes people and stories more interesting. I read this line that goes “standing out is how you find your tribe”, and I feel that embracing your quirks is the best way to do that.
Grateful – going through this experience of writing a book and sharing it with the world has exposed me to so much kindness. People from my immediate and extended family, friends, friends of friends, and even complete strangers have been incredibly gracious and kind, and I cannot help but be so grateful for all of it.
What are you working on next?
I’ve already begun writing, but it’s still in the early stages. I’m not sure about how it will all come together yet, but I can tell you that it will still be YA, still set in the Philippines, and it will prominently feature Filipino food and culture, because it’s important to me that we celebrate that.
What’s your advice for writers who dream of getting published but can’t focus on finishing a book?
Ask yourself what story you really want to tell, and then do it. Just start. It doesn’t matter if it’s one phrase or one sentence, one crazy idea. Write it down somewhere, and don’t judge yourself when you do it. Don’t be afraid if it doesn’t seem good enough yet. Just keep on adding to it, whenever the ideas come. Give yourself the time you need to really explore the idea, even if it’s just five to fifteen minutes a day. Every story is built that way – one word, one idea at a time. So go ahead, start telling your story!
For updates about Sophia and her work, check out her Facebook page and blog. Here is her book on Goodreads
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