About the Author

I've always enjoyed writing from a young age. Over the years, I've come to realised it wasn't so much the writing I enjoyed, but the process of crafting that I enjoyed. That's why I love all forms of crafting and creation, be it handiwork, writing, photography, drawing, filmography, etc. Anything that had the element of creation, I enjoyed. There is something inherently seductive about creating world after world in the infinite space of our mindscapes, untouchable, inalienable, by any other than ourselves. It is a sacred space where magic happens. It is where the heavens truly reside. And hell, if that's what rocks your boat. The possibilities are endless.

It just so happens, of all the forms of creation, writing happened to be the one I excelled best at. That doesn't mean I'm a good writer, it just means I'm a better writer than I am a painter, or director, or photographer. If I had the skills to be all of them, I definitely would want to create all forms of work. There are so many images, thoughts, and feelings that I experience, but words alone cannot express nor craft the world suitable for them to inhabit.

Nonetheless, the digital world has made life somewhat easier for a random author like me. With Photoshop, I can slowly and painstakingly draw out some random silhouettes, the presence of the undo button a great reassurance for me. I can digitally manipulate a techinally poor photograph into an aesthetically pleasing work of art. With Word, I can scribble whatever thoughts that come to mind, and reorganise them later. I'm very much reliant on digital technology, and the wonders of CTRL Z, CTRL X, CTRL V and CTRL S. What I enjoy most is that I can translate the imageries in my mind into the real world so much more easily than I used to.

The art of writing has always been more of a restrictive one than a liberating one for me. That I have to find the words to express myself, that I have to make logical sense, that I have to work with rules and grammar and such, it just cramps my style. I'm the kind of person who has sudden rush of thoughts in the middle of the day, with no pen or paper, and a terrible memory. Writing consists of banging out random snippets onto the computer as soon as I can get back home, hoping that the elegant words that sprung up on me have not sneaked away in the time that passed.

That explains why I have so much unfinished work. I tend to write the start and the end of stories, and snippets of the body, often before I even know what the story is about or what it's called. And that's why, try as I may, I hate writing poems. To me, it's all about capturing that raw emotion that is gushing out in those short fleeting moments that you've struck the inspirational gold. What matters is trapping that rawness on paper forever. It's just kind of a killjoy to have to structurally organise that stuff. Turns the fountain off, if you know what I mean.

Still, it's a love-hate relationship. There's nothing more satisfying than to find, at the end of the day, a well written piece of work that adheres to all the necessary rules and constrains, yet eloquently expresses the thoughts in my mind. Maybe I'm just finding excuses until the day I reach a god-like status.