Who: Bonnie Tsui

Claim To Fame: Bonnie Tsui is the bestselling author of American Chinatown—winner of the 2009-2010 Asian/Pacific​ ​American Award for Literature, as well as a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, a Best of​ ​2009: Notable Bay Area Books selection, and a finalist for the 2010​ ​Asian American Literary Award for Nonfiction. Bonnie’s latest book Why We Swim was an instant hit—a Boston Globe, L.A. Times, and indie list bestseller, a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice/Staff Pick, as well as being named a Best Book of the Season by Amazon, Outside, The San Francisco Chronicle, O the Oprah Magazine, Discover, Buzzfeed, and more.

Where To Find Bonnie: Her Website, Amazon, Twitter

Praise For Bonnie: “Why We Swim is a gorgeous hybrid of a book. Bonnie Tsui combines fascinating reporting about some of the world’s most remarkable swimmers with delightful meditations about what it means for us naked apes to leap in the water for no apparent reason. You won’t regret diving in.” — Carl Zimmer, New York Times science columnist and author of She Has Her Mother’s Laugh

When and where do you like to write? Are you regimented about your writing routine?

I like to write early in the morning, when my head is clearest. I can get more serious, concentrated writing done in the 6 to 7 am hour than I can in three-plus hours later in the day, when the world has had time to invade my thoughts. I’m not particularly regimented about the where, but I do know that a quiet place with a big table to spread out on is optimal for me.

Do you have any pre-writing rituals or habits before you sit down to write?

I feel extra good and ready to write if I’ve gotten a swim or surf in beforehand. When I do sit down, coffee and a big jar of bubbly water are the best company.

Do you struggle at all with that dreaded enemy of writing: writer’s block? Do you think such a thing exists?

I don’t really suffer from writer’s block, though there are certainly times when I don’t feel like writing. If the writing isn’t happening at a given time, I try to pivot to something else: reading something I’m excited about, going for a walk, seeking out good conversation. I’m not above calling it a day and trying again tomorrow.

All of your work is incredibly reported and researched. Can you talk about that process and your method for organizing material you may want to use in future writing?

If a line fragment or an idea strikes me in a moment when it’s not convenient to think about it more deeply, I’ll send myself an email, just so I have it somewhere. Later I’ll put it in a folder in Scrivener. I love that program, especially for organizing big projects. You can look at drafts and research material at the same time. I used to have eight million different Word documents that held bits and pieces of the same stuff, plus emails and recordings and images and links to things scattered in different forgotten locations on my laptop. Now it’s all in the same place.

Your latest book Why We Swim blends history and journalism with your lifelong love for swimming. Even though you’ve been in and around the water for so long, were there any new lessons or insights in researching or writing Why We Swim that you’ve applied to your writing career?

Patience. So much of swimming is about pacing and breath and efficiency, waiting for just the right moment to catch the water and glide. Writing is the same way.

Deciding on a great idea to write about can be the most challenging aspect for a writer. How do you come to the point of ‘this is something I want to write about’? Are there habits or daily practices you use to think about book or article ideas?

I go back to the collecting of little bits of research and stories on the many things that intrigue me. I’ll put them away and go back every now and again to jog my memory, to see what’s accumulated over time, if patterns have emerged. That practice is one that takes a little while to bear fruit, but it’s really served me well to illustrate the ideas and themes that catch my curiosity, and to highlight that which might sustain a book or a long article.

What books or writers have most influenced the way you think and the way you write?

I love Stephen King’s On Writing.

What is your advice to aspiring writers?

Remember to read. It will buoy you when the writing gets tough and you want to recall why you wanted to get into this business in the first place.

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