Creative Writing Class (Module 5): Writing Fantasy

The club meeting clocked the attendance of 11 students (an all time high), and only 5 of the total are club members. But I wasn't prepared for the interest that these students showed.

For the first session, which is 'Creating Worlds', I collected some weird ideas - a planet where the inhabitants live to wage war, a planet made of chocolate, a planet of only carnivores, and two Pandora-like planets.

The second session is 'Creating the Hero'. The heroes live on the aforementioned planets, so there is a hero who is bent on waging war (a war commander with the ability to see the future). I commented that the hero is more suitable to be a villain. There is hero who is bent on finding more chocolate. (I couldn't bring myself to comment that the idea is a tad too childish). There's this idea of making the Pandora-like planet facing the threat of the Sparta-like planet.

"Creating the Nemesis' is the third session. There are more fantastical creatures being made. But I want to highlight the curses these students put on their heroes and nemesis. There are curses based on time frame, one curse that will be undone by true love,  and curse of death (aren't we all cursed that way).

None of the students are thinking about writing a story set in the dimensions of time and space on Earth. Maybe they think that this has been done to death.

Until we meet again.

Creative Writing Class (4)

This week's tutorial had the attendance of 6 students (yay!). And it was a very important session because we were creating the heroes/ heroines (?) of our novels. Students fill up this A4 sheet of profile provided by yours truly and it was amazing that they were able to fill it up so quickly. These kids are truly in their element! And next came the presentation.

Automatically, most students find their GENRE and their PLOT once they fill up the sheet. A boy named Firdaus, 15, is going to write a fantasy-thriller. His novel's main character is bent on finding who murdered his father and he has the ability to have glimpses of the future. It is a great combination of motivation and ability, setting the story into a heady course.

And the ladies! Filzah (15), Aida & Linda (16), Shuhada and Zuriana (17), created characters unclear in their motivations except for Filzah's main character's search for her missing parents. The characters are more like they're on holiday in Korea or something. And these students realize that their genre will be domestic (romance, family, comedy)
.

All I can say is - what ever rocks your boat! I can't make everyone become sad and moody and hell-bent on finding redemption. And have I got photos!

Aida Farzana and her camera. It is Journalism Club anyway! Firdaus doing more scribbling.

Filzah presenting her hero profile. Linda watches.

Creative Writing Class (3)

Today's Journalism Club's Creative Writing Class had the participation of 4 students - 2 members and 2 non-members. Today's tutorial topic is 'How To Begin Your Story'. I didn't talk about writing techniques but I presented exercises that will guarantee students to be able to create the MAIN CHARACTERS and THE PROBLEMS faced by these characters. The combination of these two will inevitably create a storyline. So, the students, Shuhada, Aida Farzana, Kharul and Suraya pitched in their spontaneous ideas and the ideas gelled into this story:

A girl named Kamilia has issues with commitment. She can't seem to like any contact with the male species of the population. Her family thinks that it is high time and she gets married and kind of matchmade her with the hero of the story named Helmi Affendi. Kamilia rebelled and she 'ran away' from home. She is by the way 25 years old and she rents with her friends. Enter a villain named Ainin Sofia, whose sweet name and sweetness are only a facade to a sinister and obssessive personality. Ainin Sofia likes Helmi Affendi but the guy thinks that the shrew Kamilia is destined to be his match. So there is this chasing triangle. Ainin Sofia plots lots of stuff to ruin Helmi's pursuit for Kamilia but nothing works. Ainin plans for her magnum opus involving thugs in a recreational jungle.

Meanwhile, the family plans a get-together for Helmi's parents and Kamilia's relatives in a recreational jungle. With everything thrown in, the stage is set for disaster. Helmi and Kamilia got separated from the group and the race for survival begins. Kamilia gets into BIG life and death complication and Helmi makes the final sacrifice, which makes Kamilia realizes that Helmi is THE ONE for her.

The End.

Cliched, you think? Done to death, absolutely. But it is so EXCITING. Young love, antagonism, jealousy, and JUNGLE ADVENTURE and the climax that makes the reader breathless. So, when am I going to teach the ideology of patriotic and religious writing, writing about science and history that can change the way people think rather than rehashing old themes added with sensationalism?

I am going to wait. These kids are 16 and 17. I am getting them to write first, in the age cellphone games and online chatting. I managed to slip in 3 moral values - the sanctity of marriage, not running away from problems and know when to accept kindness.

The Creative Writing will continue, God willing. It was such a scintillating session that I forgot the camera again!

Creative Writing Class (2)

The second session of the series of creative writing class is on what students have to do to publish their work. Eventhough this seems to be more suitable as the final class but it is sometimes better to know the ending of a story before embarking on the journey of reading the story and not knowing where you are going.

Of course the session was embroiled in nitty-gritty details but the important message is clear. Teenagers living in Malaysia is very lucky because getting published in this country is still considered as an open field. You don't need to find an agent to publish your work. As long as your manuscipt is of a readable kind and you are open to corrections from the editors, you can get your work published even if you're an unknown.

So, go for it kids.

Creative Writing Class

There are a few exhilarating things I have done intelectually, and this is one of them. I opened a Creative Writing Class for students in my school under the pretext of handling the Journalism Club. Of course, members of the Journalism Club are compulsory to attend but you know how it will turn out with these busy children. Them and their activities! Instead the class was attended by ELEVEN children who were really interested in making it as writers, and some of them are not club members. ELEVEN? you ask. ELEVEN for something free? That is pathetic. Actually, eleven is quite a large turn out, for my standards. I mean, this is no Glee Club. ( And Glee Club has like, what, seven kids in it).

I started with Module 1: Why Write and Write For Money. I gave them reasons and consequences. And I lay out a game plan for kids who are 15 and this plan is going to fully take off when they are 24. I didn't forget to stress the point that 'writing may be an alternative to formal vocation' but 'writing or formal vocation will never replace education'. I stressed on the importance of reading, learning and going the furthest children can go in attaining knowledge.

And I got some mind-boggling questions and opinions from these 15 year old kids which I seldom see in formal classroom situation,such as:

1. How do I send out my stories? (Will be revealed in Module 2)
2. How long will I take to finish one novel? (For fifteen year olds who have their dinner served by their moms, 2 years maximum)
3. Science fiction writing takes up more time for research.
4. Some 'new' genres of writing - comic script writing, thriller-fantasy-romance.

It was exhilarating and absolutely heady. But there is a problem when you're handling a one-woman show. I got too excited that I forgot to take any photos of this excellent session. The camera was in my handbag but I was too busy talking and kids were busy asking questions that I forgot to even take out the camera and ask a kid to snap some photos.

So, this week -  I am going to take some photos for Module 2: How to Publish Your Writing.

Teenagers, start a diary!

* My diary collection. The oldest I have is from 1996, filled with 'how to write novels' notations from writing guide books I read in the teaching college's library. I have no diary from my teen years. Reason being, I destroyed them all because they were too corny.

Students ask me all the time how they can improve their essay writing skill. I can always professionally say they must write more essays. But no, I'm not going to say that . I've said it before and I'm going to say it again: Kids, START A DIARY!

These are the steps to do so:

1. Go to a stationery shop and buy the best looking dairy there is. The design is up to you. You like the flowery/ cartoony type go ahead. You like the cold, black/ brown/ blue ones go ahead. Make sure it has firm binding and it is at least as thick as your little finger. If it's too thin it will feel flimsy in your grip and you won't like it. It's just like having a flaky friend and you don't want that.

2. Begin writing with the date on top. I believe that a diary is like your own progress chart. Years later you might want to know how was your state of mind. Dates anchor you to the history of your life, so write it down before anything.

3. Sometimes it's hard to write down your feelings, so don't! Especially if you have a nagging feeling that some arch-enemy of yours is going to have a peek at your secret tome. Write about songs you love, a great TV episode that keeps you awake at night just thinking about it. Or movies that you really love and great books you have read. Of course, write about that boy or that girl that has imprinted his/ her image in your mind. Give him/ her nicknames to avoid detection unless you want detection. Then you can wax lyrical about the person.

4. Write and write. And if there is an English teacher who wants to read you diary - like me, let her have it. Probably she'll gasp and draw cartoons on your pages and correct your grammar mistakes and she'll give you that secret smile in class.

You will see how your sentences taking a better structure and how your fountain of ideas flow like the well of zam-zam. Then you'll never say "I didn't have any idea what to write, teacher" after you're awarded a dismal, dying grade for English. Of course you can write your diary in Malay or any language you want to improve on.

So, head to that stationery store now!

Spelling Bee (Form 3) 2010 SMK Pandan Jaya

Keeping it real. (Chief Torturer & Queen Bee)

Syafinaz (3RK1): This is a walk in the park... (or so she thought)

Fikri (3ES1) : Ooops!

What can be the worst form of torture other than a Spelling Bee competition? Do you how to spell 'isthmus'? Worst, what on Earth is 'isthmus'? But the Third Formers of SMK Pandan Jaya stood their ground. Some even returned the next day to watch their friends compete. Tomorrow will be the final round of the competition before we wrap up the whole thing and announce the 9 grand prize winners!

I tell you, people. I hated high school when I was a teenager. But now, high school is the place to be. You can see more of the world in a high school than anywhere else on Earth.

English Fest 2010 in SMK Pandan Jaya

The English Fest 2010 has commenced! From 22 until 26 March 2010. I would like to extend my love and admiration to my lovely and talented students of 3RK1 and 3RK2 for such brilliant choral speaking entitled '1Malaysia'. You have to understand. It is the first day of school after one week break and one week before the break which consisted of nothing else but tests in the UJIAN 1. Logically, these teens would have no time for practise and these students consider their tests and exams as serious as heart attacks. And their performance is impeccable.The Vice Principal even asked who trained these children? I answered, Miss Ayesha Thilakam. Kudos to all of you!