<Begin Segment 21>

TI: So after the success of And the Soul Shall Dance, what did you do after that in terms of writing? What was next?

WY: I started writing more stories, I think, you know. I don't know what I did. I think these are all, most of them were written afterwards, you know.

TI: But that really helped launch...

WY: Because to me, that was the best story I'd ever written. And then -- oh, that's what it did to me. I tried to sell it to white magazines and I couldn't do it, and then I said, "No, I'm not going to worry about white magazines, I'm going to write what I know, what I love, what I know." And validate other people's lives as well as mine, you know, just like Hisaye's writings had made me feel right about myself. So that's what I did. And then I thought to myself, "You can't write anything trying to please somebody else." Because if you do, you (always offend someone). You can only write what you truly feel inside, and forget everybody else, because there are too many people you have to please.

TI: No, I think you're right. I think when you do that, I think it's really, then your voice comes though. Because it's your voice, not trying to please someone else.

WY: Unless you're doing science fiction or something like that. Yeah, I believe that. And then that's why I figured, "Gee, I don't want anybody to do my plays, write my plays, because I wrote it from my experience. He doesn't know what I'm talking about," because he's from a different generation, or, you know, things are not like that anymore. So I'd rather flop it myself. [Laughs]

TI: So going forward, are you still writing or plans to write more?

WY: No. It's a lonely job. I wrote one play, one short story early this year. If I find something -- I don't really create plays, I write stories of real people in real situations. They're not really creative stories, but I write it in my way, and then I try to find the depth of that. Even though the guy's drunk all the time, people call him a drunk, I try to find out what makes him... things like that. But these are all stories about real people and real situations.

TI: Do you find that when you write about people or see them, that you see people differently than most other people? I mean, I'm thinking of just writers, and when they go to family events or friends, do you see something that other people don't?

WY: I try to, I really try. I said, well, you gotta figure where she's coming from. My daughter's mother-in-law, she was in... that Korean country during the war, and she's tight. Well, how can she help it? She was a Japanese in Korea -- not Korea, Manchuria, and she had some hard times. I try to think in those terms. Because when you're writing, you've got to think in terms of what motivates people, not just yourself. Sometimes I think... yeah... you got to figure, okay.

TI: So when you do that, when you see somebody and you see how they react to something, do you almost like think of their story? Like, "Oh, so they grew up here, so it must have been like this?" And do you naturally just do that?

WY: Not everybody's. [Laughs] I usually see something that really moves me. I don't write unless I want to. I'm not a real writer, I just write when I feel like it. And usually it's something, real people, real situation, they're not creative, you know.

TI: This has been so fascinating. I've learned so much...

WY: Oh, you have?

TI: ...in this last, especially in this last hour. I'm curious about how you as a writer made all this happen, it's really been interesting.

WY: Because they're real stories. That's easy to do. And you don't stray from the characters, 'cause they're real characters.

TI: And it's just those stories that are so powerful. I mean, you're right, you're just a, in some ways, you have this knack of observing. But capturing that, putting it on paper, it just seems like it's such a powerful thing.

WY: Thank you. I try to put myself in that.

<End Segment 21> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.