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Writer’s block unblocked at the Creative Writer’s Workshop
Elisabeth Gilek conducts a writer’s workshop at North Star
Library
for members of the Pattaya International Ladies Club.
Sue Kukarja
After many years of experience in writing television
scripts and novels in Europe and America, the famous Elisabeth Gilek came to
Pattaya Thailand to work on her new novel.
A well known writer for television in Sweden since the
early nineties, she has written commissioned feature scripts for studios in
the US and television scripts for companies in the UK, and since 2006 she
has been writing novels in Swedish (two published, the third is coming).
Elisabeth went to Film School in Stockholm and has a Masters Degree from the
Graduate Screenwriting Program at USC, Los Angeles.
While in Thailand, Elisabeth organized a 7-session
Creative Writing workshop for interested members in our community at the
North Star Library, with fees for the workshop going to Pattaya
International Ladies Club (PILC) charity projects.
The workshop included several tips for Creative Writing,
such as the different kinds and different ways of story telling, how to
create and develop the characters, how to create and convey settings and
environments, how to write dialogues, and much more.
The ladies, mostly from the PILC, enjoyed the workshop
throughout. Some joined to improve their writing skills, and some to better
understand stories from the writers’ point of view.
Elisabeth Gilek appreciated the vast differences of the
members, including the diversity in cultures and nationalities, and the
stories from their experiences.
“I find this group to be very inspirational. I used to
coach the younger people, in their 30s; they didn’t quite have as much
stories to tell, simply because they had not had the experiences the older
generations have.
I asked her how does one start to write a book.
“You must have a passion and an urge to tell a story to
other people.”
And does Elisabeth sometimes have the so called ‘writer’s
block’?
“Some days are good and some not, but I have a lot of
fun. But as in weeks of not being able to think of something to write? No, I
have not had that.”
Elisabeth said her best time and place for creative ideas
could be anywhere. The important thing is to write it down when she has it.
She makes it a routine and starts the day with writing, to sit down early
and write either on her couch or bed.
Does she have special place for special stories, like for
murder mysteries? I.e., does she need a creepy or scary place to be in? Not
really, she said, but she admits that she visits many places on location,
and researches them.
How has Thailand helped in her novel? I asked.
It has helped a lot, she said. It’s the stories from the
people who live here, and people who have been here a long time. Some even
get to be in the next book.
Elisabeth’s advice to people who want to write but don’t
know where to start was to think of what you want to tell other people, what
interests you, and what you like: comedy, drama, or suspense. Whatever gets
you going.
Don’t think about the start, she said, or about the
grammar. As long as you have the idea of what you want to write about, you
can start in the middle or anywhere, then you can always go back. It’s also
important to picture the things you write about.
How does one get a book published?
“If you think your book is finished and you are happy
with it, send to a chosen publisher as well as to several other publishers.
Don’t wait for one to read and reply. If they see the potential in your
stories they will call to discuss it, even if it’s not finished.”
Sounds easy enough. So, for writer wannabes, get your notebook and your
pen out and start writing.
Alarmed by child drowning stats, Laem Chabang to build pool for free swim lessons
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Alarmed by the number of children who die in Thailand from
drowning each year, Laem Chabang officials have decided to build a public
swimming pool and hire an instructor to teach kids to swim.
A young mother helps teach her baby who to swim.
Ministry of Public Health statistics show that more than
1,200 children were killed in drowning accidents last year, with nearly half of
those deaths coming during the school holiday months of March through May. That
averaged about six children per day, with boys twice as likely to drown as
girls.
Hoping to cut the number of accidents in his jurisdiction,
Mayor Bunlert Normsil earmarked 10 million baht for construction of a pool and
hiring of a swim teacher with the idea to offer free lessons to all children.
At the same time, Laem Chabang officials urged parents to
closely watch their children around water and not let any under 5 years old play
alone in the water inside or outside, as drowning can occur in as little as two
inches of water for small children.
Former drug dealer
finds enlightenment from death
Theerarak Suthathiwong
Once on his own path to a possible death as a drug addict
and dealer, Rangsi Chanyasawat has found new life as a monk and mortician,
giving consolation and advice to those who’ve lost their own loved ones.
Rangsi Chanyasawat retired from dealing drugs to become
an unpaid undertaker at Photisamphan Temple.
Rangsi, 39, once worked as a contractor in Bangkok where
he fell into a lifestyle of heavy drug use and, eventually, sales. Twelve
years ago, however, his life changed.
“I was never arrested by the police, but I realized on my
own that drug use is destroying society,” he said. “I stopped what I was
doing and got ordained as a monk in Nakhon Ratchasima. I used Dharma to
redefine myself, and made a pilgrimage for eight rainy seasons. The last
rainy season I stayed in a Buddhist monastery during Buddhist Lent at
Photisamphan Temple and left as a monk to become a spiritual guide for the
temple.”
The pilgrimages weren’t easy. In order to get through all
the required ceremonies he went through spiritual “incantations” such as one
in which he had to shower his face with coconut milk. But as time went by,
the trips became easier. It was then that he realized that many of the
beliefs and superstitions he had about death were wrong.
First and foremost, Rangsi said, he realized that the old
saying “you can’t take it with you” really is true.
“Putting money in coffins to be burned, as many people
do, really is ill-advised,” he said. “It’s not only money ill-spent, but
putting notes with HM the King’s image on them to be burned is sinful and
doesn’t count as doing a good deed. It’s better to donate the money to a
temple or people in need.”
Despite temple policies forbidding it, the former
mortician sometimes solicited money from grieving families for the
cremation. Because of this, to maintain the temple’s good image, two years
ago Rangsi decided to take over the mortician’s job and not only did he stop
the practice of taking money off the bereaved, he also forfeited his own
salary and began working only for food and shelter from the temple. At
times, he said, when an impoverished person asked the temple for support, he
would conduct the ceremony free of charge and sometimes even paid for it
himself instead.
“I realized that after death, all we are left with is
ash,” Rangsi said. “If you do not perform any good deeds while you are
alive, or maybe only make merit when relatives pass away, then you won’t
know if you will reach heaven or not.”
Rangsi’s revelation about the way Thai Buddhist funerals
are usually done came on a trip to India arranged by Photisamphan Temple
Abbot Panya Pattanaporn. There, he said, there’s no elaborate ceremony,
offerings, merit-making and gifts, but only a simple service in which the
body is carried, without coffin, and burned on a funeral pyre.
“Relatives there don’t waste money,” he said. “Some Thai
morticians persuade relatives to put money into the coffin, telling them it
is so the dead can purchase a place to reside in the afterlife. But, in
fact, the morticians simply take the cash before the body is burned.”
Making merit, he said, should be done genuinely and
people should not worry about the ceremony, he added.
Money is also not a great concern for Rangsi anymore, he
said.
“Even thought I don’t collect any wages, I plan to do
this work until my body is no longer capable of doing it. This is my way to
repay the temple for giving me food and shelter for my life.”
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