Job Discussion Forums

[jezebel]

a question of curiosity for those of you who like to write:

Are there certain environments in Asia that you find inspire your writing more than others? Did you choose to teach english in a particular locale because you thought it would be good for your writing? (eg, urban Seoul to people-watch, or Cambodia for some beautiful shrines to inspire deeper meaning to what you write, or Japan to provide backdrop for your modern samurai tale?)

Is there an Asian equivalent to the writer's stereotypical coffee shop, where you can sit and write in peace (more or less) for an hour or two? Do you find that community-oriented cultures like Japan or China provide fewer opportunities for an individual to sit alone and write in a public setting? Or are there unique advantages???

It seems like TEFL is the ideal thing for many young writers to do - maybe the modern-day version of staffing a trading post in the colonies or sailing to the tropics to classify new species. How do your TEFL life and your writing life mix?

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

I find the "open concept" (seating arrangement with no walls) in the Japanese workplace to be highly detrimental for writing anything (or even thinking outside the box- maybe that's the reason for the open concept in the first place!- I do most of my lesson plans at home).

Same for coffee shops. Starbucks are really way too crowded and/or getting stared at with "AMERIKA JIN AmerikaJin dayo!" getting yelled towards you every ten minutes or so (I'm actually not from the US, but that's the deal here) is not great for writing.

But a pen and notebook (or a laptop) and an apartment without the distractions of anything worth watching on TV coupled with my totally empty fridge (b/c I'm just that awesome when it comes to cooking for myself- 7/11 obento nearly every night) is pretty good for writing. 'Too bad' I have a huge stack of mostly paperbacks to read, (and a martial art hobby that keeps me busy three weeknights a week) though. I guess I need to put more of an effort into writing (except for on internet discussion pages -guilt! guilt!- ... )

[Glenski]

Write, as in write the Great Novel? (or perhaps articles for the hometown newspaper?)

If you can't write at home, Japan affords a luxury of coffee shops, in which you can order one cup and nurse it for more than an hour undisturbed while you do anything you like.

[Norman Bethune]

[tedkarma]

I don't generally find the settings inspirational, but - the great free time I get with a university job - gives me lots of time to write. I've published about six books (just finished a couple more in publishing process). I work a four day week - so one or two days I sit at home (or go to the office) and write or work on other projects. But, they are EFL related textbooks.

If I was smarter I'd write a really good Elmore Leonard style book about nutty people overseas . . .

Maybe a John Travolta-esque character running a joint down in southern Thailand who gets in a scrape with the local mafia . . .

Whoo hooo - here we go . . . the next book is coming - I can feel it!

(well, maybe I do feel the setting inspirational)

[merlin]

I tried writing in a Korean Soju tent once. I got as far as "They call me Yong-Jun"

Seriously, though. I can never sit down and say "I'm going to write something". When a thought strikes me I just have to whip out whatever napkin, toilet paper (preferably unused) or fish and chips wrapper and get the idea down then and there or the idea's gone forever. I know it's utterly hopeless for me to even dream of getting anything finished (or even started) with this kind of system - but the thoughts are just too good to let go.

I think the next time I get some extra cash I'll buy one of those digital pen-sized recorders and start recording other people's nonsensical coffee shop dialogues. Yeah, yeah, illegal shillegal. But who will know? It'll be for the screenplay "People who aren't really friends but just hang out together in delis for some reason" Think it's too long?

No way I'd ever go to a coffe shop with the expressed purpose of writing, though. Seems a bit narcissitic to me.

[31]

''
It seems like TEFL is the ideal thing for many young writers to do - maybe the modern-day version of staffing a trading post in the colonies or sailing to the tropics to classify new species.''

Duh?

Staffing a trading post, classifying new species and TEFL. What is the difference? Two are useful jobs with prestige that require good qualifications and the other is a loser job that any native speaker can get, has no prestige and where you are despised in your own country.

[jezebel]

[tedkarma]

My "loser job" has given me ten weeks to four months vacation per year and savings of up to US$1500 a month since 1992.

Entry level jobs suck in almost every career field. Further your education and skills and EFL can lead to a very nice situation.

Personally, I don't care what people back home think. They seem to have a good time when they come to Phuket and hang at my house near Bang Tao Beach . . .

Uh, envious might be the right word.

[merlin]

Wit a minute, Jezebel - The first three authors you mention became writers AFTER their sucky job experiences. It's not that they said "Oh, I'd like to write a book - what kind of job will give me material." No, they got a sucky job that in some way transformed them and DROVE them to write about it.
Eric Blair shot the elephant first and hated his job for quite a long time before he actually sat down to write about it under the name George Orwell.
Corad and Doyle the same.
Their works are so moving not because they got jobs where they could waste away their free time hours in a coffee shop pretending to be an intellectual, poet or novelist. Their works are so moving because they pushed the envelope and years later were able to reflect on the event from another perspective.

You see, you're in the future looking backwards in time and see the finished product and later how it started while the authors started with the experience and later produced the finished product.

Time continuums can confuse things, can't they?

[31]

Well said Merlin.

This job is full of wannabe writers, poets, film directors etc. Oh I am really a writer.... Why can`t TEFL attract people who actually want to teach. So many places are full of fantasists who have to brown nose the boss to try and get out of the classroom. Going into tefl in order to write a book that nobody would ever read and then saying its the same as being in a trading post or classifying new species, sad.

[younggeorge]

Merlin & 31: People come into this business for all kinds of reasons and with all kinds of ideas. Many of them make a go of it and all of them add to the richness of the experience. Yes, the analogies are a bit naff - didn't know whether to laugh or cringe, myself - but let the girl have her fantasy!

[31]

A bit naff? These people are a nightmare to work with. They always leave, often in a midnight flit and leave the rest to pick up the pieces. I am working with one now who won`t teach what he is paid to, screws up and will eventually leave, leaving me and my hardworking colleagues to clean up his mess.

[merlin]

[Atlas]

Writing in a coffee shop only seems narcisstic because it is somewhat archetypal, or even caricaturish.

But in the end, writers write. I see nothing wrong with writing in a coffee or tea shop, simply because it's nice to get out of the house and have some coffee.

It doesn't matter. Writers put pen to paper no matter what. Personally I find the cafe to be conducive to writing, particularly at the brainstorming stage. Then when my brain is full, a nice walk in the park does wonders for the perspective.

It's not as if we're debating socialism with Gertrude Stein over espressos.