Plots for thoughts

ONE superpower that book lovers, as well as aspiring authors, wish to have is the ability to delve into the mind of their favourite author. Imagine the creative adventure that it will sweep you into. It sounds amazing, no?
With that in mind, theSun had an open book interview with three new authors, who recently debuted in the local publishing industry, to get a deeper insight on what makes them tick. Each of them wrote four stories in Faultlines – a book that houses a collection of short stories by six authors.
CHIN AI MAY, FULLTIME WRITER (PREVIOUSLY IN CORPORATE BANKING)
Which author has had a strong influence on you and your writing?
When I first started writing fiction, I was really inspired by Alice Munro, Zen Cho, Tan Twan Eng, Anthony Doerr, Ken Liu, Ian McDonald and more. But now, I'm at the discovery stage where I'm constantly exploring new writers. I want to absorb as much as I can, so I can improve.
To you, what is the most rewarding part about writing?
It is the fact that I'm making something out of nothing. Usually, after writing, I'd go, "Oh, I wrote this? How did I come up with it?". Writing can be impossible at times, torturing even, when you've been facing the blank screen for a while, so it's good when you complete a story.
Common belief has it that writing is a solitary career. What's your take on this?
To use a cliche phrase, I think different strokes for different folks. Some people can get together and write, such as during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), because they thrive in each other's company, as they can bounce off ideas, but it's not for me. Maybe if I have finished writing and there's a reading group or workshop, where we read the story, then yes.
SHAZWANI ABDUL KABUR, DIRECTOR OF AN EVENTS MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Why do you write?
I like storytelling and writing since I was young. When I became a mother, I used to tell my daughter lots of stories and she enjoyed it very much. But it all started when I joined the Silverfish writing programme.
Do you still remember the first story you wrote?
I was nine years old and was living in South Africa at that time. They have creative writing classes in their syllabus and I wrote a short story about a king's treasure hunt adventure at the sea. My teacher told me it was very creative, and my father was really proud too.
What's your defining moment as a writer?
About two years ago, while I was on maternity leave, I joined the Writers Unleash Competition, organised by MyCreative Ventures, and I won. I didn't expect it and it felt good because it's the first time that I got acknowledged for my writing.
TAN YET MEE, BUSINESSWOMAN
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I am inspired when I want to make a point; I'm motivated to pen down my story when I want to drive home a message. It is a given, however, that once you love reading and writing, you'll tend to observe your surroundings a lot more. Also, I usually play out the whole story in my head first before I write it down, because I find it easier and because I hate rewriting.
Since writing is subjective, not everyone will fancy your work. So, how do you deal with criticism?
In the face of criticism, as we learnt recently, it's wiser if we don't react. I think critics usually mean well, as in they're trying to teach you something. Hence, I try to be objective and learn from them. I mean, if it's constructive feedback on how I can improve then why not? Obviously, my ego will be dented, but I will take the high road and focus on the lesson.
Do you think a story is a reflection of life or is life an extension of fiction?
I opine it's the latter. We live in a world where we think it's real, but maybe it's not; maybe this world that we live in, this life we are living is just an illusion. When we write fiction, we merely retell somebody's life.