ILLUMINATION Writers

Interview with Ming Qian

Featuring creative writers of ILLUMINATION

In this story, I want to share with you an interview that I conducted with Ming Qian. Ming is a new but an engaging writer on ILLUMINATION. I read several stories from Ming after he joined ILLUMINATION and enjoyed every story which was informative, creative, and engaging. I am grateful that Ming accepted my offer to participate in this interview.

Tell us a bit about your background.

Well, I am Singaporean, and I grew up in a middle-class family. When I was a child, I was slow to read or talk. Not the brightest little toddler in the room. From the tender age of three, my parents sent me to phonics classes on weekends. I also had to read aloud from various books every night. I guess that’s where I cultivated a habit of reading and books have been a constant in my life ever since.

The education system in Singapore is heavily skewed towards the Sciences while Humanities often take the backseat. In Singapore, you are often either one or the other, seldom are you both. They will call you the jack of all trades, master of none. Even so, I chose to take what people call a hybrid combination. In Junior College, I studied Chemistry and Mathematics, but I also did English Literature. I had the best of both worlds and I relished the experience.

I just completed my first year of college at the National University of Singapore where I am currently studying Economics.

Why do you write on Medium?

College has been very exciting for me because I was in such a mentally stimulating environment and I had all these ideas with nowhere else to go. I needed an avenue to put my ideas down, share them with the world, start conversations, get feedback, and improve myself. I wanted to keep writing and practicing my craft. Medium offered me the perfect opportunity to not only write, but also engage with all these brilliant minds and I am honestly hooked! Also, the aesthetic with all these white, negative spaces helps.

What are your values as a writer?

Oh, this is a tough one. I have never considered what values define me as a writer, but I can share some of my writing habits. I believe that when faced with a writer’s block, the only way out of it is to keep writing and letting your ideas fall onto the page. Then, you cull it back and see where you go from there. My writing professor always said to trust the process and it has worked out for me thus far!

What are the top three books affected your life?

Someone once told me that before you are in your late twenties, the books you read and the ideas you are exposed to will likely define the way you think for the rest of your life. Three books that have shaped my thinking are:

1. Henry Kissinger’s World Order Kissinger’s work has been instrumental in shaping my views on foreign policy. I still identify as an idealist but in some cases, I would concede to the realist point of view. To me, it is important to keep an open mind and to consider issues form all angles.

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter I did Hawthorne for Literature class when I was 17. The beauty of Hawthorne’s language in describing Hester Prynne’s plight as an adulteress in 1600s Puritan Boston continues to be a major reason why I am still reading literary works today.

3. Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style When I first acquired it, I belittled it. I thought, what good can 128 pages do for me? It took me three years before I fully appreciated how instructive this writing guide truly is. Now, I carry it with me almost everywhere I go. Highly, highly recommend.

What are your hobbies?

I read, of course. And I practice yoga every day in the evenings. Yoga helps me to ‘declutter’ my mind and process my thoughts. I arrange flowers too! Here’s me with my favourite King Proteas:

How do you connect with your readers?

I don’t have many readers but here is how I connect with other Medium users: I read, I clap, and as far as possible, I comment in a way that demonstrates genuine engagement. It is rewarding to not just read but also to think critically about the ideas that have been painstakingly presented to me.

Why did you join ILLUMINATION and how do you find it so far?

I lucked out or maybe… ILLUMINATION did too well in its publicity. An article from ILLUMINATION, I can’t remember which, appeared on my homepage on my first day on Medium. I clicked through to ILLUMINATION and was drawn by the publication’s diversity of topics. I applied via your website and voila! The next morning, an email from you, Dr Mehmet Yildiz, appeared in my inbox stating I have been added as a writer.

I held no expectations and I was pleasantly surprised to find a supportive writing community. The community truly motivates me to keep writing on Medium. I am not sure if I would be able to keep producing content here if not for ILLUMINATION.

Most importantly, Dr Yildiz, you are such a force in this publication, constantly promoting the works of your writers and even popping by in my private messages on Slack to urge me to expand my ideas into stories. Your energy amazes me every day.

Who are the top ten writers you follow on ILLUMINATION?

Is this a trick question? There are hundreds of talented writers on ILLUMINATION that it won’t be fair to rank them because I haven’t read them all! Instead, I shall mention a few that I have been engaging with since joining ILLUMINATION. To everyone, follow them if you haven’t, it’ll be worth it! In no particular order: Holly Jahangiri, Noah Levy, Chris Hedges, Daniel Clark, Tyler Piteo-Tarpy, Tree Langdon ♾️, Charlotte Zobeir Ali, Keno Ogbo, Desiree Driesenaar, P.G. Barnett.

What are your top five stories that you want to share with your audience and why?

That’s another tough one! I haven’t been here for long, so I don’t have an extensive archive to draw on. If I were to choose with blatant disregard for my statistics, it would be the following:

1. Utopianism is Not Dead

I took a module on utopianism in school and I wrote this piece as a roundup of my learning. It is also the first article I ever wrote on Medium.

2. Celebrity Altruism: When is it Ever Enough?

This article was a fun one. Not gonna lie, I am obsessed with celebrity culture. That’s right, I keep up with the Kardashians every Thursdays at 7/8 ET (Fridays for me due to time zone differences). I ever mentioned Kim Kardashian in two academic essays and unsurprisingly, I fared poorly on both. You can be the judge on this one!

3. Covid-19 is Our Generation’s 9/11

I wrote this article out of my frustration with people’s obsession over returning to ‘normal’. What is ‘normal’ in the age of social distancing and Covid-19? Things have changed radically in a matter of months and I believe in some ways, forever.

4. An Unexpected First Week on Medium

Your typical, cliché reflection after a week on Medium but I am including it here anyway for all you new writers out there experiencing what I have gone through.

5. Why Birthdays are More Important than Ever

I wrote this piece on a close friend’s birthday. I did not mention it then, but on my friend’s birthday, he surprisingly chose to disconnect and meditate for the entire day. I didn’t hear one word from him, and I have no idea what happened to the frozen yogurt I ordered for him either.

What are the success factors for you as a writer on Medium?

I have no success to speak of yet, but I do get a sense of satisfaction from simply engaging with other writers and reading their opinions and responses.

What do you recommend to the new writers on ILLUMINATION?

As I said earlier, trust the process! I am new too and I have only been here for 1.5 weeks. I haven’t been curated either but know that we are all in this together. Keep writing, keep shining, ignore your statistics as much as you can and never stop engaging with everyone else be it on Medium or on Slack. As Keno says, we too can ‘crack’ this!

What are your future plans as a writer?

I will keep writing and experimenting on Medium for the foreseeable future. While I am figuring things out, I intend to try and ignore all those pesky little ‘How to be Successful on Medium’ articles that pop into my periphery. I also intend to keep writing for ILLUMINATION and I am excited to see where that will take me! Thank you, Dr Yildiz!

Thank you for your valuable time Ming. I learn a lot from your informative and engaging stories and look forward to reading more stories from your creative pen. You participation in our Slack channel is greatly appreciated by our writers. You are an inspiration to our writers and readers on ILLUMINATION.

You may also check other interviews I conducted with inspiring writers of ILLUMINATION recently. These stories can provide a great opportunity to know more about our creative writers and connect with them.

P.G. Barnett

Jill Ebstein

Bill Abbate

Terry Mansfield

Kevin Buddaeus

Invitation to writers to join ILLUMINATION

If you want to join our growing, enjoyable, and supportive publication as a writer, please leave a message via this link. We help you become a successful writer on Medium.

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You might check more interviews in the attached collection.

You can find inspiring profiles of ILLUMINATION writers from this story.

Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.

About the Author

Thank you for subscribing to my content. I share my health and well-being stories in my publication, Euphoria. If you are new to Medium, you may join by following this link. A small part of your membership fee will not only support my writing, but your reading times can support many great writers on this platform.

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In addition to self-improvement, leadership, technology, and health, I also enjoy writing about essential molecules such as lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, digestive enzymes, magnesium, creatine, choline, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, CoQ10, NADH, TMG, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, and other nutrients for health and fitness.