Can someone help me with the book I'm writing?

[Jemima]

Hi! I am a Swedish writer and science teacher, and right now I'm working on a novel in which a Chinese boy is one of the main characters. The story takes place in a place far away, where this boy -- among with lots of others -- are living in a refugee camp.

 

Since I want my story to be realistic and since Chinese culture and language are different from mine, I’m afraid of making too many mistakes.

Could anyone help me? It would be greatly appreciated if you would!

 

 

Questions:

 

1. I have read a lot about Chinese naming traditions but being a foreigner I’m afraid my names will seem strange…
I named my main character Huang JinHai (as in golden sea, Huang is the surname) and he is 18 years old. Because they are living in a refugee camp with not much to do, the parents have several children (I know they usually don’t in China, but they don’t live there so…)

 

The story is set in the future, about 35 years from now. The people in the refugee camp were all farmers/peasants etc  and the reason they had to flee was a natural disaster due to climate change in the future…

 

Here are the names of my main character’s family:
My main character, 18 years old: Huang JinHai 黄金海

Father, born year 2002: Huang BoHai 黄薄海

Mother, born year 2005 or so: Feng JiaLi 丰佳李

Young brother: Huang JinXing 黄金星

Young brother: Huang JinHang  黄金航

Young sister: Huang Jinfeng 黄金风

Young sister: Huang JinYun 黄金云 

Youngest sister: Huang JinJin 黄金金

 

The sky/space theme of the name is intentional.

What do you think, will those names work?

 

 

2. Regarding relationships…

JinHai meets a girl who he at first thinks is a couple of years younger than him, but later he learns that she is about 2 years older than him.

Would he treat her differently at first, when he though she was younger? If so, how?
 

 

3. I’ve heard it’s a bit more strict in China when it comes to dating… How much experience with girls can an 18-year-old boy have? He is quite good looking. Could he have kissed girls, in school for example?  Could he have done more than kissing? Would it be considered bad/wrong if he were alone with a girl? Even if it is considered wrong, is it common that couples are intimate with someone before marriage?

 

 

4. In my story Chinese space scientists discover a new, inhabitable planet that they name Taoyuan (which I hope means Utopia…). They explore it with an unmanned spacecraft that is called Hangtian (which I hope mean space ship). Later they travel to the planet with a spaceship called Hangtansuo (which I hope mean space explorer).
Are those names realistic? Do they mean what I intended?

 

 

I’ll probably have more questions later.

Thanks in advance!

[陳德聰]

Are you planning to publish this book for the masses? Who is your target audience?

 

My suggestion is that you make up a country and base it on your limited knowledge of China. That way, you can have your way with your ideas like having six children, a spaceship named 航探索 that flies to 桃源. You're already writing an unrealistic futuristic story so what is really the point of trying to base your character interactions with each other on the way that you think Chinese people maybe act towards each other now?

 

edit:

If your target audience is Chinese people, then I suppose it matters. If your target audience is people who are not Chinese but are familiar with China, then it matters less. If your target audience is people who know nothing about China, all the more reason to make up a fictional country.

[Shelley]

I admire your willingness to try writing a story like this.

 

I am a big fan of scifi.

 

This advice has been given to many writers by many people over the years but I still think it holds true.

 

Write what you know about.

 

Are you writing this in English or Swedish? if you are writing in English for an English audience why not use Swedish names they will still have a foreign feel to them and use Swedish culture in the story.

 

I like to think I have read a lot of books and I can't remember one scifi book I have read that has Swedish culture in it.

 

Have you read/heard of this series http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chung_Kuo_%28novel_series%29

 

This was an epic story set in the future with China dominating. I don't know how much research he did but it must have taken a while. He does seem to have set his own rules for some things, and taken full advantage of poetic license.

 

Hope it works out and what ever you chose to do, maybe you might drop a post here to say it is finished and give us a chance to read it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hofmann]

I don't know what to say about the names but they don't seem to have major problems. Except maybe you should unify your capitalization ("Jinhai," etc.).

 

The culture can be quite different 35 years from now. I'm just speculating but if a climate change-related disaster (caused by the PRC?) caused people to move to refugee camps, the culture might have changed significantly enough that you can make stuff up. If you really want to be realistic, I think you'd best consume some Chinese media in addition to whatever answers you get here, so that you can better speculate about what kind of culture Jinhai would be used to in 35 years.

[shuoshuo]

Meeting Chinese today with 6 children is still something realistic, I've seen it with my own eyes (not in Shanghai though).

Yes, it's realistic for teenagers to fool around with each other, to extents that only they themselves and their selfies know. The guy doesn't even have to be good-looking nor tall. Chinese women in general are not as picky as foreign women.

The names you're giving to these things like "utopia", "spaceship" etc. realistically, they will not be called "utopia" or "spaceship". In fact, they're more likely to be called "Obama". It's like this: if you discovered an uninhabited island and you wanted to name it, would you call it "island"? No. You would probably call it something more personal and beautiful like "rainbowland". The Chinese are the same (they are not crazy nor dull). They won't open a restaurant and call it "restaurant".

I feel those people's names are okay.

2 year age difference will most likely not be an issue for a Chinese guy.This world have to be subjective, so maybe he personally has an issue with it. As Chinese women are given equal rights, a 20 year old woman would either be in university, or working. That would make her slightly more successful than him, who probably just finished high school.

[Demonic_Duck]

They won't open a restaurant and call it "restaurant".

 

Damn, that's my brilliant business idea down the toilet then.

 

Agree that you're probably better off writing about what you know. If this was a minor character it wouldn't matter too much, but including a major character from a culture you know little about is going to be a challenge if you care about accuracy (although of course, plenty of authors don't care too much about accuracy, cf. Dan Brown etc.)

 

But I kinda disagree about the idea that a Chinese family (even a mainland one) would be so unlikely to have 6 kids. Chinese people tend to be practically-minded. If life in the refugee camp was conducive to having 6 kids (no single child policies, adequate food, shelter and other supplies, parents have adequate time to raise them all, etc.), I think some parents would be perfectly happy to have that many.

 

As for whether an 18-year-old kid living at home would be allowed to date... that depends very much on the family. Also, the main reason parents don't want their kids to date is because it'll distract them from their schooling. If he isn't currently receiving schooling in the refugee camp, they'd probably be OK with it, maybe even supportive. Apocalyptic conditions call for a different set of values.

 

And of course, it's impossible to predict what Chinese culture will look like in 35 years. It's almost certain to be a massive change, but very difficult to predict what directions it will change in.

[Lu]

1) I think the names are good. Not sure if 丰 (Feng) is a surname, 冯 (also reads Feng) might be a better choice, but since I assume you won't actually use characters, it doesn't matter. You do need to fix the capitalisation though. Chinese names are written with the first letter of the family name and the given name capitalised, but no other letters. So, Mao Zedong not Mao ZeDong, Li Shasha not Li ShaSha. Some people like to add capitals, but since this is wrong, you should not.

 

2) Depends for a large part on Jinhai's own character. As a rule, Chinese men would be a bit patronising to younger women and older women would be more motherly/older sister-ly to younger men, but this is not set in stone. This also shows in forms of address: a woman/girl you see as a meimei (younger sister) feels as a different relationship than a woman/girl you see as a jiejie (older sister). But as I said, this depends on Jinhai's own character, upbringing, background etc. The age difference is pretty minimal, and this is set in a future society anyway, so you can decide for yourself what he will do.

 

3) Depends strongly on background (and character). Many Chinese 18-year-olds will never have had a relationship (because they are too busy with school, because their parents won't allow it, because they're simply late-bloomers, whatever). Many others will have broad experiences with the other sex (because they are really interested in that aspect of life, because they have more time, because they are considered very attractive, whatever). My guess would be that middle-class youth from the bigger cities will have more pressure to study hard and do well in school, and thus have less time for relationships. My guess would also be that in a refugee camp, children have more freedom to run around and thus more opportunities for relationships. To my knowledge, in China it's currently not seen as inherently 'bad' for a girl to be alone with a boy.

 

4) Shuoshuo has good points on names. Look up some recent Chinese space ship names and you'll get the idea. Although I do think Taoyuan for a planet would work.

[Demonic_Duck]

Yeah I reckon Taoyuan (桃源 or 桃园 if you wanted to reduce the explicit "utopia" comparison) is good. Shiwaitaoyuan 世外桃源 or Wutuobang 乌托邦 would be dumb, though.

 

As for age difference: when he assumed she was same age/a year or two younger, he would be more likely to view her as a potential romatic interest. Learning she was two years older instead might put him off or make him feel confused. But yeah, future societies and stuff.

[Lu]

I forgot one:

 

Even if it is considered wrong, is it common that couples are intimate with someone before marriage?

I mostly know about city people, and this is considered pretty normal, but not something you would want your parents to know. Parents would in most cases disapprove if they knew, but are more likely to remain wilfully ignorant of their children's pre-marital activities than to police them. At the same time, many men don't like the idea of their girlfriend/fiancee/wife having had sexual relations before them and prefer their partner to be a virgin, even if they themselves are not. Many people in China date with intent to marry, so it's pretty normal to find a girlfriend/boyfriend, have sex, and then marry. It's considered less normal/less 'good' to find a boyfriend/girlfriend, have sex, then break up; find a new partner, have sex, break up; find a new partner etc... until you eventually marry. A woman who does that would be seen by many people as loose.

 

However, that could easily be different in a future society. As long as you're consistent within your story, it should be fine.

 

Demonic Duck is right about the age difference changing the romantic probabilities.

[Jemima]

Thanks a lot for all replies!

 

Thanks for the input about capitilization of the people's names. I actually do write it Jinhai already with only the capital J, the same with the other names. Good I'm doing right then.

 

1. As far as I can tell, you all seem to think the names of the space ship and un-manned spacecraft are not too realistic. I agree. Someone maybe could help me with another name/names? There is a series of Chinese spacecrafts right now that are called Shenzou. Maybe they named the un-manned craft that too? Or what would they name it?
I decided the American NASA space ship that will also arrive on Taoyuan later in the book, will be named Traveller, and Europe's ESA will stick to Hermes (that's what their space ships are called right now). Maybe China would use a name from some old story, kind of like Europe's Hermes (war god)?

 

2.I understand it's complicated to write about a people I'm not familiar with, but I really need it to be Chinese people anyway... For several reasons. Actually the refugee camp is situated on that other planet (the fictive Taoyuan), and the girl Jinhai meets is an alien. However, for reasons too complicated to explain here, all the people on the planet are human beings too. Therefore everything with regards to her culture can be totally made-up. And much about Jinhai and his family can be made-up too, because they are stranded on another planet 4 light years off from Earth, and they are unlikely to be able to live like they would in China. But some things, such as naming, some traditions etc - would be the same, I figure. I need to use Chinese names because on that planet they does not understand the Chinese language (obviously) and when they hear the names they will not understand what they mean. Therefore I can't just use the meaning of the names, it has to be in Chinese. 

There will be Swedes in the book too, but for many reasons my main character can not be Swedish. We are far too liberal about love and relationships, for one thing, and we are also too few to be able to first send 1000 persons to a new planet and then make war with them and send 10.000 soldiers (there are only about 10 million Swedes in the world and our military is... a joke... ). Also, there is no poverty here, so if someone's land got ruined in a flood or something, they would just buy land somewhere else. Finally, the first 1000 that are sent to the planet were ordered to go, sort of like guinea pigs... No Swede would ever accept that sort of thing. And I doubt that you would find 1000 volunteers...
 

The book will be written in Swedish, for a Swedish audience. I will not use Chinese written characters much, except for some of the names when the you will see it written.
I don't think anyone ever will notice if I make mistakes about Chinese names and culture, but I would know myself, and that's reason enough to try my best to make it right.

 

 

Again thanks for your answers and help!

[Jemima]

Duck: About the age difference, that's too bad then...  Because I had an idea that Jinhai was among the eldest in the camp, and all they younger girls (5-6 years younger) kind of follow him around and are kind of a nuisance to him... so when he first meet the girl Lilja (means Lily in Swedish) he figures she is younger too, and treats her like a Jiejie. Then he realizes she is actually older and he has never met a girl that is (except for adults obviously). Therefore he sees her in a new light and gets interested in her, in a way he wasn't before.

But maybe that's not realistic...

I only know Swedish 18-year-olds (being a teacher at high school) and they usually like younger girls too, or at least the same age. But I think that's mostly a thing they get from media, literature etc... That a girl is supposed to be younger than the boy. Since women live longer than men you would think it was more logical the other way around.

[Angelina]

I don't think it's a problem to date younger men in China if you look young. Since Jinhai thought she was younger, Lilja probably does look young, and no body will care.
Yes, Chinese people date to marry and parents don't approve of romantic relationships if they think their child won't focus on their studies, it's not age-related. This is a fantasy world where people don't go to school, so it's fine.

Maybe you can change global warming with pollution.

"Also, there is no poverty here, so if someone's land got ruined in a flood or something, they would just buy land somewhere else."

Many rich Chinese people can afford to and are doing the same.

[Jemima]

Thanks Angelina!
I will actually not name what kind of disaster it was, but I'm thinking maybe the sea level got higher due to global warming and if that happens there would be many countries that were very flooded, nearly every country that has a coast line. And if the countryside gets flooded with salt water it will be ruined for farming. 

 

"Many rich Chinese people can afford to and are doing the same."
Yes, I know, the refugees in my story will be only poor people. They will be farmers mostly, not much educated. In Sweden there are hardly no farms, we import much of our food. And the few farmers we have are quite wealthy, it's more like a business than a farm, with huge fields and huge machines. Or if you raise cattle you have like 1000 cows in a big barn.

But like I said, poverty is certainly not the only reason I chose China, if I just wanted it to be poor people it would be more realistic with Bangladesh or India.

 

Edit: No offense intended, I just mean that there are statistically more people of limited means in Bangladesh and India than in China, and therefore a natural disaster would be likely to cause more damage there.

[Lu]

Jemima, your idea for 'annoying little girl turns out to be woman' sounds completely plausible to me. While most Chinese men would prefer a younger woman, Jinhai doesn't have to feel the same. In the circumstances you describe, the scenario does not look wrong at all. (Although note that jiejie = older sister, meimei = younger sister.)

 

I don't think anyone ever will notice if I make mistakes about Chinese names and culture, but I would know myself, and that's reason enough to try my best to make it right.

It depends on your eventual readership of course, but China is a big country, many people are interested in it, and it's very possible that some of your readers will know a bit about it. They will be grateful you took the time to get it right.

 

On a side note, have you read the Red Mars/Green Mars/Blue Mars trilogy? Your story sounds like it has a few things in common with these books, might be interesting for you to read if you haven't yet.

[Guest realmayo]

JinHai meets a girl who he at first thinks is a couple of years younger than him, but later he learns that she is about 2 years older than him

 

There is a Chinese proverb which happens to include the Huang and Jin (黄金) of Jinhai's name:

 

妻大两，黄金日日长； 妻大三，黄金积如山

 

...which means: If the wife is two years older than her husband, gold will grow every day. If she is three years older, it will pile up like a mountain.

So an older woman is good for managing the family finances!

 

You would probably need a native speaker to tell you if it's a well-known saying, I was told it many years ago........

[Jemima]

Lu, thanks for your thoughts. I will keep the age difference and do what I first thought then. Maybe I'll make Lilja 19 though, a little less age disparity.

Sorry, meimei. I should have remembered, I just finished watching a Taiwan drama about two sisters.

 

No, I have not read much sci fi actually... only one Isaac Asimov novel and The Hitchiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams. I'd say my book, although it's set on another planet, will be more about love, war, and religion... So maybe sci fi is not really the right word. I think there is a genre called space opera, that may be a better name for it.

[Jemima]

realmayo: really? Perhaps I should keep the 2-year age difference after all then. If you noticed it maybe someone else will too, you never know. And I like to leav hidden "clues" in my writings.

[liuzhou]

 

Not sure if 丰 (Feng) is a surname

 

Yes, it is.

[Angelina]

You might want to edit the last sentence of post #13 into something more politically correct. 

[Jemima]

Angelina: Sorry, I meant no offence. English is not my native language so it's not easy to write what I mean. I'll try again.

The refugees in my story are people who had little education so they could not easily get new a new job, and had not enough money to buy new land when their farms were flooded and destroyed by salty water. That's why they are sent to a refugee camp, first in China but later they are sent to the newly discovered planet. Since they can't buy their way out of it, they have to obey.

 

Since there are not so many farms in Sweden that could not happen here. And even if there were a disaster that forced those few off their land they would have other options than a refugee camp.

 

And what I said about India and Bangladesh is not that I meant they are all poor there, but they are countries that have a greater number of poor people than China do (according to statistics anyway). So if I just needed to write about people who did not afford to buy land, it would be a better choice with those countries.
But I had other reasons for chosing China, that's why a decided my refugees would be Chinese even though I know it's a wealthy country mostly.

 

Do I make sense?