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Author Mira W. still going strong after 40 years
Courtesy of Kompasiana
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Courtesy of Kompasiana.com
For renowned author Mira W., it all started 40 years ago and now, she has dozens of books under her name.
In 1975, a young medical doctor sent a short story to Femina, the country's leading women's magazine.
The doctor's name was Mira W. and her story was titled 'Benteng Kasih' (Fortress of Love). To her surprise, Femina, which receives thousands of short story submissions from young writers, decided to print her story.
It was the beginning of a long career that has spanned 40 years for Mira.
To celebrate Mira's career, Gramedia publishing company held a launch event for her latest novel in Jakarta.
'My latest novel is called Sisi Gelap Cinta [The Dark Side Of Love],' Mira told The Jakarta Post at her clinic in Hang Lekir, South Jakarta.
Like her previous novels, the latest work is about romance and family drama.
'The new novel tells a story of a couple who have been married for years. They have two children. The oldest is a teenager while the youngest is only 5 years old,' Mira said.
'The main character in the novel, the housewife, must deal with two issues. The first is with her youngest child who falls ill due to malaria when the family goes to Tanzania in Africa and at the same time, she also has to deal with growing household issues with her husband.'
Sisi Gelap Cinta is Mira's 82nd novel, making her quite a productive novelist considering the fact that she is still practicing medicine full time.
'I believe both my careers ' being a medical doctor and a writer ' complement one another,' she said.
'As a doctor, I need to have good communication skills with my patients and I develop this by writing. On the other hand, my interactions with my patients often give me fresh ideas for what to write.'
Throughout her career as a novelist, Mira said that she had never taken formal writing training.
'Writing has always been a hobby for me since childhood,' Mira said.
She remembered that during her elementary school years, her school teacher often read her work in front of the class.
'I guess she liked what she read. Unbeknownst to me, she sent one of my works titled My Goals to a children's magazine and it got published,' she said.
'Then when I grew older, I tried to submit my works to national magazines and media. When my submission was published by Femina 40 years ago, I gained confidence in my ability and I have not stopped writing and submitting my stories ever since then.'
She also felt fortunate her parents and family were very supportive of her writing career.
'Back in my day, trying to make a living as a writer was often frowned upon. Fortunately, I was raised in a family of artists and so, they really supported my art as long as I did not neglect my medical studies,' she said.
Mira's father was film producer Othniel Widjaja. Her brother, Willy Wilianto, also followed in their father's footsteps by becoming a filmmaker.
For today's aspiring young writers who dream of making a living from writing, Mira said the journey would not be easy and it would take more than just talent to succeed.
Young writers, she said, had to read many books to enhance their knowledge.
For example, although she is known for romance novels, Mira said she read a wide range of genres to develop herself as a complete writer.
'I personally have read many, from the works of Sebastian Bach, Sydney Sheldon to Agatha Christie. I just do not read one type of book but all genres. This is good to open our minds to new things because as a writer, we need to have a lot of knowledge so we can produce great works.'
Mira also said young writers had to know their limits and set clear goals when starting their careers.
'You have to identify your needs. How much do you want to get from writing? The more you want to achieve from writing, the more work you have to put into your art. Can you write consistently for years instead of months?' she said.
'These are the questions that need to be answered before a writer decides to make writing a way of life.'
Writers, she said, should also know when to stop and rest.
'I have a large passion for writing but even I often face boredom. When this happens, I stop all writing jobs immediately and I do something else, like watching movies or traveling, to refresh myself,' she said.
'Finally, young writers must also have the courage to submit their work to publishers. You might have a great book draft written but if you do not have the courage to submit it to publishers, then nobody will read it.'
Today's young writers have more chances to have their work published and seen by a large number of people with the development of social media.
But at the same time, Mira said the development triggered tight competition. Eventually, she said, only the best writers would benefit a lot from social media.
'Social media is a great channel for young writers to write down and publish their ideas,' she said.
Mira said she was aware that with the presence of social media, the number of people branding themselves as writers had jumped significantly, although not all of them produced great works.
'In the end, the public will choose only a few who produce great works and in the future, we are going to see many more positive developments in social media for literature.'
