Writers discuss their craft at World Economic Forum

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.