We recently connected with Jen Troy and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jen, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
My parents both grew up in Chinese immigrant households. They had to fight, really hard, for everything they had. It ranged from an extra helping of dinner to figuring out how to get into and go to college. When I came along, I saw how hard they worked to give me a more secure life. I remember how we would drive into Chinatown every Sunday to buy vegetables for the week because it was cheaper than our grocery store in New Jersey. I never had to eat as fast as I could so that I could have an extra helping at dinner before it was gone. I had help navigating the college application process. I saw all that they did and I truly believe I got my strong work ethic from them.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m a drama/dramedy television and comic book writer. I enjoy writing high concept, action, and genre with as much of a good love story as the page count will allow. I find it super exciting to be able to build and explore a rich world while placing someone who looks like me at its center. And then peeling back all of her layers — one by one. For my project, Assassin G, I get to adapt a Chinese Wuxia novel into a modern day comic book series that features a Chinese American female lead who starts to challenge her family. She’s a badass assassin who wears pants and flat shoes. Yes, pants! Does she have pockets? You’ll have to read it to find out! Issue #1 came out earlier this year and Immortal Studios’ Kickstarter for Issue #2 (and the next issues of all of their series) was just completed.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I love learning. I think in order to do one thing well, you need to learn about all of the other aspects surrounding it. For television writing, I learned, and continue to learn, the intricacies of production. For comic book writing, I continue to be impressed by the connection between a writer and an artist. I’ve found that curiosity, tenacity, and being optimistic has really helped me along my journey. My advice would be to tell stories that you want to tell and find a writing schedule that works for you. Every day is different. Tomorrow is another day.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
I’m a list maker. I love being able to cross off an item. Any item. Truly. Even vacuuming. I find when I’m feeling overwhelmed, I need to write out a list of everything that’s living rent free in my head. Then, I can make a solid plan of attack. On that list, I also include some self-care like yoga. It’s a good reminder that everyone needs some self-care.
Contact Info:
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenTr0y
- BlueSky: https://bsky.app/
profile/jentroy.bsky.social - Others: https://www.immortal-studios.com/shop , https://shorturl.at/puQ15
Image Credits
Julie Shuford Photography
