Jenny Han to young writers: find your own voice
Han’s ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ novel was named by TIME as one of the 100 best young adult books of all time and has been translated into multiple languages.
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Han’s ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ novel was named by TIME as one of the 100 best young adult books of all time and has been translated into multiple languages.
‘THE Summer I Turned Pretty’ series.
'TO All The Boys I've Loved Before.'
New York Times bestselling author Jenny Han’s works are great examples of literary and filmmaking success.
Han’s smash hit To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before novel was named by TIME as one of the 100 best young adult books of all time and has been translated into multiple languages.
“I started writing YA when I was still in college. That time I was only 20, and I was out being a teenager myself. So those are really fresh, and it felt like a story that I understood and could tell,” Han tells DAILY TRIBUNE.
The book, the first of a trilogy, follows the story of Asian American Lara Jean and a hatbox full of love letters she wrote for her crushes. They’re for her eyes only — except one day they all get sent out.
“Teenage years are all about crushes. Crushes so deep you want to inhabit the other person, be inside their skin, and see the world through their eyes,” Han said.
The Netflix adaptation of the same name, executive produced by Han, was watched by 80 million viewers and generated a spin-off series titled XO, Kitty.
“I feel happy. I feel happy that people can relate to it and people say it feels similar to their feelings,” Han revealed. “I’m so happy when people say that they learned something new about Korean culture. And it’s also fun for me to write about. It’s fun for me to expose people to something that they haven’t experienced.”
The first novel in her next trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty, was adapted for television by Amazon, with Han as creator and showrunner. TSITP tells the story of Isabel Conklin who’s caught in a love triangle between brothers Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher. What she thinks was just another summer turns out to be not as she is set to deal with her first love and first heartbreak.
Hot on the heels of its third season, Han announced the multi-generational drama’s story will conclude with a film. Its release date has not yet been confirmed.
Han last visited the Philippines in September 2017 to promote the contemporary young adult trilogy Burn for Burn she co-wrote with Siobhan Vivian. The series includes the books Burn for Burn, Fire with Fire and Ashes to Ashes.
“Keep a diary and try to find your personal voice. Because I think that’s what makes people really stand out as a writer,” Han said.
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