I DID IT - 60 IN ONE DAY!
Larry is front row center wearing a wrist watch - plus my 60 writers
My goal today in Jakarta, Indonesia, is to train more writers in one day than anyone else in history.
Mee Fang and Margie Man, my hosts for a few days, drive me through Jakarta to the venue of the writers’ workshop, a six-story concrete building. The building is a popular Christian school on the outskirts of Jakarta
I just read that the average Jakarta resident spends 400 hours a year in traffic.
The workshop room is on the sixth floor, furnished with fine desks and chairs, LCD projector and screens. Around me now filter in 60 -70 Indonesian writers of all sizes, of all colors of batik shirts and dresses, multi-shaped spectacles of all prescriptions, a panoply of leather shoes and flip flops. The writers are of all ages – from old to teenage. Two adolescents sit at one desk, self-assured in their youth and glamor. Avoiding eye contact, they respond stiffly to my greeting. “Hello, Teacher.”
A committee meets with me ahead of time to go over the learning. I am flanked by interpreters (like Arafat meeting with Jimmy Carter at the White House). Mee Fang, a whiz in English and Indonesian, is there to help assess the interpretation. After 10 minutes or so, she advises me to turn on my microphone “because many understand your English.”
How do you train 60 writers in one day?
I adjust my approach to the situation. But as always writers need to develop skills in using story with five senses. We organize around a writing map. And they draw their articles first using cartoons. This helps them write concrete instead of abstract. Now, for fun, given the realities of travel and culture, here are some more training tips to consider.
First, when in Indonesia, show off your Indonesian language skills. Explain that you know that the plural of buku (book) is buku buku. And that every BULE (foreigner) worth his salt knows that while Laba means profit, Laba Laba means spider. If you shout out “Are there any desperate jomblos (single people) in the room?" everyone will roar.
Next announce that the only measurable goal of the session is for everyone, regardless of flip-flop size or list of publications, to learn to write one perfect sentence. Maximum number of words in the sentence – seven.
Finally, alert your writers to the logistics : to train 60 writers, you need to conduct 60 bi-lingual tutorials (where real learning takes place). If you commit to 5 minutes per tutorial, that is 5 x 60 = 300 minutes or 5 hours of tutorials (including time for interpretation). In a seven hour day, that leaves only 30 minutes for teaching, assuming you need 90 minutes for lunch.
Of course, this is nonsense. You do what you can - talk fast, interpret fast, show basic principles, allow some time to write. Encourage everyone to share their writing in their next writers’ group.
At the end of the day, my friends drive me home through Jakarta traffic. Predictably, I am totally lost after three minutes. (I am amazed to learn that Jakarta now boasts google maps, which guides drivers through the maze.) Still, I have no idea which road leads to the house.
One thing I do know: I will now wear a new T-shirt that proclaims, “60 IN ONE DAY!”
