Writers discuss their craft at World Economic Forum

Harry Bhaskara, The Jakarta Post, Davos

Most young writers dream of someone offering them a retreat for a season, somewhere in the hills, where the view over the lake and the absence of a telephone would inspire in them absolute dedication. Likewise, inner-city artists might wonder, in those long days between paintings, if creativity is encouraged by clean air.

In the real world, though, do beautiful surroundings make for better works?

At least one respected writer has tested that theory out:

"The results were appalling," Paulo Coelho said, "I wrote the worst-ever book."

He said he had thought of painters, and decided that heading out of town might benefit his work.

"In the end, I realized that I needed to be among other people. Otherwise, I was not enlivened by human energy," said the Brazilian writer, whose work has been translated into 56 languages.

Coelho was talking to a small gathering in the mountain resort of Davos last month. He was accompanied by two other accomplished writers, novelist and short-story writer Nadine Gordimer, from South Africa, who is also a Nobel laureate, and American novelist Amy Tan.

Gordimer has simple advice for writers. The best training for writers, she says, is "reading and living".

"After all, writing is about people," said the writer, whose published works deal mostly with moral and psychological tension in a racially divided country.

How do these writers approach their craft?

Coelho said that writing was a process of discovery. Gordimer said it was partly a matter of curiosity and partly discovery.

"It is an attempt to understand the world," she said.

Tan likened her approach to that of a sculptor.

"The book I complete is usually the result of 300 rewrites," said Tan, whose books include The Joy Luck Club and The Chinese Siamese Cat.

Computers are an added temptation.

"You can go back over an earlier page very easily," said Tan.

The three writers talked about their work and ideas in a World Economic Forum session moderated by dean of the graduate school of journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, Orville Schell.

The forum held its conference at the Swiss ski resort from Jan. 25 through Jan. 30.

A rather heated debate developed when the topic of discussion shifted to filmmaking based on the writers' books. The three writers divided into two camps.

Tan said she ventured into filmmaking because she was tempted to explore the creative process through the celluloid medium -- an experience, she said, she hoped would help sharpen her writing creativity, although she acknowledged that she never watched TV because she did not enjoy it.

Gordimer sought to differ with Tan. "You want to sharpen your creativity through filmmaking? Writing is a creative process in itself. Writers who turn their books into films are tempted by money," she snapped.

Coelho was leaning closer to Gordimer, especially as he had an unhappy experience with filmmaking based on his books. His disappointment with the film scripts based on his books was so great he finally abandoned the idea, he said.

Participants at the talks, some of whom were fans of the writers, were very enthusiastic. They asked many questions and wanted to know why and how the three become writers, and who they had in mind as an audience when they wrote.

Coelho, whose books included Veronica Decides to Die and Alchemist said that writing for him was a means of justifying his life in the world.

"It is what we are doing in this world," he said.

Gordimer said writing was a means "to explore that mysterious thing known as human existence".

One example, she said, was discovering that some of the bravest people in the world are some of the most difficult to live with.

To be a writer, one has to have the "writers' vocal cord", said Gordimer who started writing when she was nine and is still writing now, in her early 80s.

"Writers are something indefinable until you find that creative impulse," she said, "and it is a bit of a mystery when the creative impulse will stop ...

"Sometimes, you need to write as if you were dead," said Gordimer whose books include Occasion for Living and Crimes of Conscience.

Coelho said he had no particular audience in mind.

"Just yourself -- and you want to accomplish the best you can through the power of imagination. I think about me. If I think it is not good, I don't like it," said the writer who has readers in more than 150 countries.

What is the downside of popularity for these three writers? You get your works translated in appalling ways, was the unanimous reply.

"Your works are edited, shortened or lengthened in a drastic way. Sometimes, you cannot even recognize your work or even your name as the author," Coelho said.

A participant from Singapore told the Post that he had read Coelho's works in Chinese, and found the translation was indeed appalling.