Warung Fiksi

Contribute to Wikipedia, Anyone?

Brahmanto Anindito — Sun, 27 May 2012 07:40:26 +0000

What are the benefits of Wikipedia for author like us? I think there are at least three: to strengthen your brand, as a source of knowledge, and the means to share knowledge. Recently, someone offered me to write few articles on Wikipedia. I regretted that at the moment I didn’t know how to do it. But I learnt after. And, it was not that difficult, actually. Just go to Wikipedia.org and click the Help link on the sidebar. You’ll get tutorials more than you need there. * * * “Brahm,” seorang teman di Jakarta menelepon, “klienku butuh penulis Wikipedia. Cuma 1-2 artikel kok. Bisa kerjain?” Saya sejenak terdiam. Penulis Wikipedia? Hm, saya memang pernah mengedit beberapa artikel di Wikipedia. Tapi belum pernah menulis dari awal. Menulis di Wikipedia tidak sama dengan menulis artikel-artikel biasa. Untuk bisa menulis “artikel sempurna” (bukan “artikel rintisan” atau “belum diperiksa”) butuh jam terbang. Bila saya baru mendaftar di Wikipedia, terus langsung menulis, bisa-bisa dicurigai ada maunya oleh para Wikipediawan. Maka dengan menyesal saya menjawab, “Nggak bisa. Belum ada pengalaman. Tapi kalau mau nunggu beberapa hari, aku bisa mempelajarinya dulu.” Sayang, sang klien butuh cepat. Jadi, tawaran saya sepertinya tidak menarik baginya. Ya sudah, bukan rezeki [...]

How to Characterize Your Heroes

Brahmanto Anindito — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:06:07 +0000

Characterization. Portrayal of fictional characters. That is one of the most important parts in fiction writing. All writers can create characters. But not all of them can create characters who will spawn emotion within the readers. Firstly, you need to know in characterizing is that no one is entirely an angel, as no one is completely a demon. Then, start to scratch your heroes profile. The more detail the better. However, the basic is: his/her full name, gender, age, hobbies, physic, nature, and purpose of life. Once the profiles are defined, go develop those characters inside your storyline. The characters can be developed through the name, narration, dialogue, and the opinion of other characters. You may shortcut the characterization by putting yourself as a character in the story. Or simply pick your friend, lover, brother or boss real life profile. Change some in here and there, so if they are not happy with your work, they cannot sue you. This method will work faster. However, I prefer to create my own heroes. * * * Tidak ada karya fiksi yang tidak punya tokoh atau karakter. Karakterisasi atau proses menciptakan tokoh pun menjadi hal yang krusial. Proses ini tidak terlalu sulit [...]

Humble Cicalengka

Rie Yanti — Tue, 01 May 2012 09:24:05 +0000

Actually, I didn’t come from Bandung city. I came from Cicalengka district, Bandung regency. But because Cicalengka is not quite popular, I often have no idea how to explain this district when some people ask. Beside, Cicalengka has same temperature and culinary as Bandung city. By the way, since I lived in Surabaya, I miss my homeland. Cicalengka and Surabaya are totally different. Surabaya is a metropolitan, while Cicalengka is a village. You can see many rice field and garden there. Although the number of those green areas have decreased due to manufacturers. But don’t think that Cicalengka offers you only panoramas. There are also two tourism sites. First, Cinulang waterfall. It’s located between Bandung regency and Garut regency. However, this area is a part of Sumedang regency. Well, this may confuse you. But Cinulang Waterfall is still recognized as Cicalengka tourism site. Second is Aki Enin cottage. It’s a new tourism site in Cicalengka that offers village panorama. You can see rice field, river and mountains while enjoying some traditional and humble menus, such as fried fish and chicken, tahu, tempeh, vegetable and its spicy sauce. Yes, all you can find here is greenery land with nature product, instead [...]

Netbook dengan Batere Seawet Ponsel

Rie Yanti — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 08:51:13 +0000

Sebagaimana kebanyakan orang, saya paling malas kalau disuruh menunggu. Seperti Rabu kemarin ketika harus mengantre dokter. Praktiknya dibuka pukul 19.30. Saya datang setengah jam sebelum itu. Eh, ternyata dokternya baru datang pukul 19.40. Padahal saya kebagian nomor antrean 15. Bagus. Kerjaan lagi deadline, dan saya terancam “bermalam” di klinik. Untungnya, saya sudah mengantisipasinya. Punya firsasat urusan ini bakalan lama, saya pun membawa netbook ASUS 1025C. Dengan begitu, saya bisa menyambi merevisi naskah memoar yang besoknya harus sudah ditaruh di percetakan untuk pembuatan dummy. Pencet tombol “on” pada netbook itu. Satu… dua… nyala! Gegas, seperti biasa. Tapi begitu si putih itu “hidup”, sadarlah saya, baterenya tinggal seuprit. Tidak sampai seperempat batang! Saya baru ingat, seharian tadi lupa men-charge. Alamak, masih “bernyawakah” netbook ini sampai tiba giliran saya masuk ruang dokter sebagai pasien ke-15? Firasat saya sih tidak. Maka tanpa pikir panjang, saya matikan fitur Wi-Fi dan Bluetooth, melepas modem dan flashdisk, meski saya masih perlu internet dan data yang ada di flashdisk itu. Layar netbook juga saya setel agak redup. Langkah-langkah itu saya yakini berguna untuk menghemat batere. Lalu, saya berusaha bekerja cepat. Berkejaran dengan daya batere. Hiruk-pikuk di klinik saya abaikan. Kalau biasanya disambi main game saat otak buntu, sekarang [...]

Simple Idea Yet Unexpected

Brahmanto Anindito — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:58:11 +0000

Did you know, every good book has always one simple idea which easy to understand, but unexpected. Just one. Not that more ideas in a book is forbidden. But, the books that stick on readers’ mind have only one simple idea yet unexpected. I give you examples. The Secret: “Ask, you’ll be given”. Message from Water: “Behave and speak in positive manner, because it would affect the waters around you.” Simple, yet unexpected! * * * Tahukah Anda, setiap buku yang baik selalu punya satu ide yang sederhana, mudah dipahami, namun tak terduga. Satu saja. Bukan berarti punya banyak ide dalam satu buku tidak boleh. Hanya, biasanya buku-buku yang akan diingat terus oleh pembacanya memang yang memiliki satu saja ide simple yet unexpected. Buku-buku ini adalah beberapa contohnya: Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Robert Kiyosaki, 2000): Mulai sekarang, jangan mau jadi orang gajian atau hanya rajin menabung. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Malcolm Gladwell, 2000): Ternyata ada hal kecil yang sulit kita kontrol tapi bisa membuat kita sukses besar. Message from Water (Masaru Emoto, 2004): Bersikap dan berkata-katalah yang positif, karena itu akan mempengaruhi air-air di sekitarmu. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Malcolm [...]