IDEAS AND WHERE TO UNEARTH THEM

Wandering through the aisles (sometimes ‘isles’) of a bookshop, hopping about the various blog sites, flipping through newsprint on the dining table, I know we have lots of wonderful Malaysian writers. Sometimes though, the ability to write well is not enough. What’s needed are ideas!

Writers are often asked where they get ideas from. For me, ideas come from:

1. An experience. A friend and I on a brief holiday couldn’t find a place to stay in Melaka and so slept in the car. This became the germ for my story “A Labour Day Weekend”.

2. A title to a story. I thought that “The Rape of Martha Teoh” would make a great title and so wrote a story around that.

3. Ideas from other writers. Xeus used Poe’s essay/story on being buried alive as an idea for a Dark City story.

4. History. Tash Aw couldn’t have written his novel without knowing about the Communists and the Japan Occupation of Malaya. I would guess that this was his inspiration.

5. A “What if?” question. I asked myself: what would happen if a Malay man had his heart replaced with the heart of a pig? This became a short play called “Pig Heart” which is my only play and is in the “Woman Who Grew Horns” collection.

6. Whilst writing. Almost every time, as I write a story, new ideas come to me which I may or may not use. Sometimes it might change the entire story.

As for inspiration, for me it plays only a small part in my writing. Writing is a craft which requires a great deal of mainly mental perspiration.

Every bit of writing comes from an idea. Where do you get your ideas from?

HONK! IF YOU’RE A MALAYSIAN LAH!

I’m very Kiasu, putting up this review on the deadline. But I can’t wait to get my hands on Lydia…Lydia’s bookshelf, I mean! So here goes…

Lydia Teh’s “Honk! If you’re a Malaysian” is a wonderful, witty read. It covers all aspects of Malaysian life, it tells us why Malaysians are indeed Malaysians. It allows us to be proud of our culture, one that is mixed with so many races and religions.

Realise this, there is no other such culture on earth, except for Singapore lah (but they were once part of Malaysia, as children as young as 10 who have read my “A Children’s History of Malaysia” will tell you – yeah, I know another shameless plug, but as my school teacher once said “If you don’t wave your own flag, no one else is going do it for you”) Now what was I saying? Oh yes, we Malaysians do indeed have a unique culture and Lydia Teh has opened our eyes to it. It is a must read. And thankfully, it’s also an easy read.

It’s not an academic book but there are certainly issues raised which a sociologist would need to grapple with. How has one culture influenced another? Have Malaysians become too Westernised?

Any gripes? Perhaps just a bit more depth. We can read all about the How? What? and When? But not enough Why? Why do Malaysians do things the way we do? Did UMNO and MCA or Yong Tau Foo have anything to do with it? I like something which I can really get my teeth into. Fish head curry for me. Top Hats are just too delicate. One bite and all gone!

But then again Lydia knows her readers. She knows what they want. Her hugely successful “Life’s Like That” and “Honk”, which I’m sure will do even better, is a testimony to that.

“Honk! If you’re a Malaysian” belongs on your bookshelf. And don’t just leave it there, read it, have a laugh, get a bit of insight and be Malaysian.

HOW NOT TO USE THE INTERNET

The Writer’s Circle meeting at MPH last week on blogging for writers was a fantastic discussion. Yep, I wish more writers were there though to absorb the great stuff coming from the experienced panel: Sharon Bakar, Lydia Teh and Nizam Zakaria.

Full info for those who missed it is at Dark City where Xeus has kindly summarised the words of wisdom.

As for me, sitting in the front row, I could only shake my head in dismay, realising what a pathetic and futile attempt my web page was! Yes, indeed, my web page stands out as a prime example as HOW NOT TO USE THE INTERNET.

You can hop along to it at www.users.bigpond.com/hradin/books.htm

And you may indeed tell me how terrible it is!

Or if you’re too polite, just tell me how I can improve it…

I joined Sharon Bakar for tea the following day and we had a lovely discussion on books and writing and we discovered we’re both working on books on creative writing. Mine’s a bit jammed up at the moment though.

Anyway, it was fun. Odd though, everyone seems to think I should be older… must be the injections I’ve been taking.

TEA WITH XEUS & ERIC FORBES

Finally, I’ve met Xeus. Malaysia’s Lady of popular fiction.

As I entered Bakerzine in One Utama, I saw a woman sitting alone. She flashed my book at me, “The Rape of Martha Teoh”, and I knew this was her.

Xeus carries no airs. Down to earth, energetic and chatty, she’s no doubt proud of her work, as she should be, but she also has a lively interest in all books.

Inevitably we discussed Stephen King. My favourite author too. We both loved ‘The Stand’ and ‘The Shining’. Indulging in rich desserts and calorie-filled chocolate, we both agreed that Stevie went a bit too literary with some of his later stuff. Neither of us have read ‘Lisey’s Story’ yet, so it’s something to look forward too. We agreed SK’s a fantastic writer with depth and meaning in a lot of his writing. Particularly, his short stories.

A lot of Xeus’s success comes from pure hard work. Making sure her book is in the shops. Ensuring there are enough copies. Talking to bookshop managers. Informing her distributor which outlets require more copies. Such zeal leads to success.

Xeus wishes she had more time for writing. She’s still awaitiing for more submissions for Dark Story 2.

Eric Frobes, my editor at Pelanduk and now MPH, arrived a little later. He had just returned from overseas. A well-deserved holiday I’m sure. My editor for more than 10 years, Eric is a book addict. His blog is a testimony to that.

With Eric’s eyes brightening with every novel he mentions, it still amazes me how Eric can spend all day reading and correcting manuscipts all day and also spend all his spare time reading. Sipping coffee, he told us about some of the new and exciting books coming out of MPH. We talked about how hard it is to get published, particularly overseas. With Xeus nodding in agreement, we admired all those Malaysians like Tash Aw and Yang Mei-Ooi who managed it.

Alas, I had to leave. Wish I could have spend more time talking and talking…leaving writing to later, much later.