Writers discuss their craft at World Economic Forum<\/p>\n
Harry Bhaskara
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Davos<\/p>\n
Most young writers dream of someone offering them a retreat
\nfor a season, somewhere in the hills, where the view over the
\nlake and the absence of a telephone would inspire in them
\nabsolute dedication.
\n Likewise, inner-city artists might wonder, in those long days
\nbetween paintings, if creativity is encouraged by clean air.<\/p>\n
In the real world, though, do beautiful surroundings make for
\nbetter works?<\/p>\n
At least one respected writer has tested that theory out:<\/p>\n
\"The results were appalling,\" Paulo Coelho said, \"I wrote the
\nworst-ever book.\"<\/p>\n
He said he had thought of painters, and decided that heading
\nout of town might benefit his work.<\/p>\n
\"In the end, I realized that I needed to be among other
\npeople. Otherwise, I was not enlivened by human energy,\" said the
\nBrazilian writer, whose work has been translated into 56
\nlanguages.<\/p>\n
Coelho was talking to a small gathering in the mountain resort
\nof Davos last month. He was accompanied by two other accomplished
\nwriters, novelist and short-story writer Nadine Gordimer, from
\nSouth Africa, who is also a Nobel laureate, and American novelist
\nAmy Tan.<\/p>\n
Gordimer has simple advice for writers. The best training for
\nwriters, she says, is \"reading and living\".<\/p>\n
\"After all, writing is about people,\" said the writer, whose
\npublished works deal mostly with moral and psychological tension
\nin a racially divided country.<\/p>\n
How do these writers approach their craft?<\/p>\n
Coelho said that writing was a process of discovery. Gordimer
\nsaid it was partly a matter of curiosity and partly discovery.<\/p>\n
\"It is an attempt to understand the world,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Tan likened her approach to that of a sculptor.<\/p>\n
\"The book I complete is usually the result of 300 rewrites,\"
\nsaid Tan, whose books include The Joy Luck Club and The Chinese
\nSiamese Cat.<\/p>\n
Computers are an added temptation.<\/p>\n
\"You can go back over an earlier page very easily,\" said Tan.<\/p>\n
The three writers talked about their work and ideas in a World
\nEconomic Forum session moderated by dean of the graduate school
\nof journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, Orville
\nSchell.<\/p>\n
The forum held its conference at the Swiss ski resort from
\nJan. 25 through Jan. 30.<\/p>\n
A rather heated debate developed when the topic of discussion
\nshifted to filmmaking based on the writers' books. The three
\nwriters divided into two camps.<\/p>\n
Tan said she ventured into filmmaking because she was tempted
\nto explore the creative process through the celluloid medium --
\nan experience, she said, she hoped would help sharpen her writing
\ncreativity, although she acknowledged that she never watched TV
\nbecause she did not enjoy it.<\/p>\n
Gordimer sought to differ with Tan. \"You want to sharpen your
\ncreativity through filmmaking? Writing is a creative process in
\nitself. Writers who turn their books into films are tempted by
\nmoney,\" she snapped.<\/p>\n
Coelho was leaning closer to Gordimer, especially as he had an
\nunhappy experience with filmmaking based on his books. His
\ndisappointment with the film scripts based on his books was so
\ngreat he finally abandoned the idea, he said.<\/p>\n
Participants at the talks, some of whom were fans of the
\nwriters, were very enthusiastic. They asked many questions and
\nwanted to know why and how the three become writers, and who they
\nhad in mind as an audience when they wrote.<\/p>\n
Coelho, whose books included Veronica Decides to Die and
\nAlchemist said that writing for him was a means of justifying his
\nlife in the world.<\/p>\n
\"It is what we are doing in this world,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Gordimer said writing was a means \"to explore that mysterious
\nthing known as human existence\".<\/p>\n
One example, she said, was discovering that some of the
\nbravest people in the world are some of the most difficult to
\nlive with.<\/p>\n
To be a writer, one has to have the \"writers' vocal cord\",
\nsaid Gordimer who started writing when she was nine and is still
\nwriting now, in her early 80s.<\/p>\n
\"Writers are something indefinable until you find that
\ncreative impulse,\" she said, \"and it is a bit of a mystery when
\nthe creative impulse will stop ...<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes, you need to write as if you were dead,\" said
\nGordimer whose books include Occasion for Living and Crimes of
\nConscience.<\/p>\n
Coelho said he had no particular audience in mind.<\/p>\n
\"Just yourself -- and you want to accomplish the best you can
\nthrough the power of imagination. I think about me. If I think it
\nis not good, I don't like it,\" said the writer who has readers in
\nmore than 150 countries.<\/p>\n
What is the downside of popularity for these three writers?
\nYou get your works translated in appalling ways, was the
\nunanimous reply.<\/p>\n
\"Your works are edited, shortened or lengthened in a drastic
\nway. Sometimes, you cannot even recognize your work or even your
\nname as the author,\" Coelho said.<\/p>\n
A participant from Singapore told the Post that he had read
\nCoelho's works in Chinese, and found the translation was indeed
\nappalling.<\/p>",
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