On Writing....and lots more about nothing

Hi to anyone thats interested in reading the rants and ramblings of an aspiring writer.

First up, just to let you know that this is a post that is dedicated to the topic of nothingness... Yup, you heard that right... I'm writing this post about nothing... cos I'm just basically bored and just wanted to flex my writing muscles... if I have any in the first place. Well, you'll be the judge of that. I'm just bored out of my mind now that I've completed my deadlines.

Ok, how do you go about writing something about nothing? A thought balloon has just formed at the corner of my head..."I must be warped out of my mind...perhaps my readers are thinking the same. But short of checking myself in to the nearest looney bin, might as well have some fun while I'm at it...."

No apologies on my part if you're getting confused and just as warped out as I am now.

Like I said, I'm just toying around with you for now as I struggle to write something about anything on nothing. Well, to be honest I just trying to see how much I can write with pausing to think what to write. I guess thats a good start. If I can keep writing without pausing to think about what to write, its good practice of the mind and also my writing strength. Even if it does sound silly and pointless but I'm quite sure many of the greatest writers out there do practice some form of doodling and writing nonsensical stuff just to stimulate their creative thinking process. Consider this my online version of doodling...

I've just borrowed a book from my uni library on the history of modern short stories. Quite an interesting read actually. I'm enjoying the book very much. Are you still with me, cause if you are... I'll start talking a bit about the book on short stories. I love short stories. I love writing them too. In fact, I've written a few of my own and am planning to publish an antholgy of the writings. Well, they aren't exactly profitable commercial writings but they are my writings and I don't really mind if it doesn't pay much just as long as I know that there are people who are interested in what I have to say.

Ok, about the book. The book chronicles how short stories came to be and how it established itself as America's national art form. Edgar Allan Poe and Anton Chekov had been credited as the founding pioneers of the short story form. Poe is quite an interesting writer and I enjoyed some of his works very much. Very morbid and dark and troubling by today's standards. No doubt its entertaining though. As for Chekov...did i get the name right? Well anyways, Chekov is a doctor who found his niche in writing short stories and novellas. He's quite popular I heard though I've not read his works yet. There's also another writer before Chekov... Nicolai Gogol I think. I saw Gogol's works at Borders and I must say... he is quite an interesting writer too. Very simple plots but very human. Both Gogol and Chekov are writers that portray a stark reality of the people in the lowest level of society, often describing the poverty and hardships vividly. And some of it hits quite close to home back in those days in the late 19th century.

Aw crap... my strain of thought broke and had to pause there... for 10secs... oh well nevermind, I'm on a roll here. After deciding to write something...anything... about nothing... I went on to describe a book that I'm currently reading now. Not too bad. Well, this is getting to be a long post so I'll sum up about where I am so far at the book. Besides the 3 abovementioned authors... there were others who developed the short story form and provided the foundation to what it is today. People that were popular writers in the 19th century both in America and in Britain... where literature was a hot thing then. Thomas Hardy, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling and even a Frenchie... Guy Maupassant (I think!) All of them contributed to the short story form in their own way and all played a part in makiung short stories into what it is today. I hope to emulate them and be a popular writer in Malaysian circles... though I know I can't compete with the best there is that are already established.

In Malaysia.... the only writers that I know of and like are either very sharp in their wit and sarcasm and also very creative. Most of them I know are from the newspaper The Star that I enjoyed reading so much... mainly because of the writers that wrote for the paper. If only I can be like them... but I guess writing about movies for a magazine would suffice for now. The writers that I enjoyed in the paper are Effendi Yusoff, Mary Scheider, Marina Mahathir (I totally salute this iron lady!) and Chong Sheau Ching (old enough to be one of my aunts, but she is one of the best social commentators and critic that I know of). There's also Lydia Teh and Mangai Balasegram... both of whom are thoughtful writers too. I admire Tash aw and John Ling... both of whom have published successful books... the former had even been shortlisted for an award for his first book! Definitely a prime example of the Malaysian spirit....Malaysia Boleh! Instead of dreaming to be like them, I wanna stay awake and make my dreams to be like them a reality!

Thanks for reading, people! Probably too much to take in one sitting but hope you had a great time anyways. Haha! Til the next edition of this blog, stay tuned and come back for more helpings of the insanical (is there such a word??) ramblings of a 23 year old Malaysian upstart wannabe writer. ^_^