I do wonder...

It had been a good time of working out with my friend. I had just gotten off the train at Jurong and was currently rushing for one of the last few buses to Seven Star Aquarium. After all, I would've liked to avoid paying for a cab home on midnight charge if I could.

There, as I waited in line, planning the loaches I would buy to feast upon my snaily denizens, I heard a plaintive voice call out to me in Mandarin. She had a distinctive Malaysian accent. I turned around to see a disheveled middle-aged woman, encumbered by a large bag of what I could only assume were her belongings. It would appear that she was fresh from some village or rural part of Malaysia on her way to work.

Two expressions dominated her worn features: Fear and Panic.

Fumbling over words and on the verge of tears, she asked if I could contact her friend to pick her up from the interchange. The bus from Johor Bahru to Jurong had been severely delayed and she had now missed the final train to her lodging. She had just discovered that all her local currency had been stolen as well.

Momentarily, xenophobia and a cautiousness borne from one too many con-artists kicked in. I contemplated ignoring her and continuing my way - only three people were left in line boarding the bus. After all, I really had much better and more important things to do (like buying those loaches) than to babysit someone who couldn't even take care of her own personal belongings. Who knew if she was even telling the truth?

Perhaps it was the Divine pricking my conscience, or perhaps it was something in her demeanor, but I relented. There was no harm in dialing a simple number. So, I did.

The nervous energy she radiated was strong. She uttered a quick "Thank you" and took my phone to banter with her to-be saviour. Her expression of relief quickly fell to one of despair and resignation.

He was not coming.

Her only alternative, now, was to remain at the interchange by her lonesome till 6AM.

That wouldn't do. It wasn't safe for a woman to be alone for hours past midnight. I offered to call her a cab to fetch her home. She immediately refused, apologising profusely and stating that she had imposed far too much on me already.

But it was not safe. A group of men, reeking of alchohol, had gathered in a distance to watch our exchange. Grabbing her bag, I marched her over to the station's taxi stand. She wrung her hands and confessed that this was her first time in Singapore. In the corner of my eye, I saw the group of men following us. Was that a glint of metal?

Change of plans.

"Why don't we go to JEM's taxi stand? There'll be more cabs there." I offered in faltering Mandarin.

We swiftly made our way to where a group of cabbies were dozing in their vehicles. There, a security guard was making his rounds. The group of men paused before they turned around and ambled away. I ushered her into the cab and paid the driver. With  the instructions to deliver her to her place safely given, he drove off.

I do wonder though...

...what could have happened if I had just ignored her and gotten onto the bus? Or, perhaps, an alternate reality where my mother, or my sister, or a woman dear to me had been in this situation.

What could have happened then?

Alas, who has time to consider such trivial matters? I have loaches to buy.

Creative Writing Tips: Usage of Sound

One of the most common questions I've been asked, when my students are faced with an essay, is how to write a descriptive piece. From personal experience and collective questioning, it seems that one of the trickiest bits in describing is the translation from what's in the mind to actual words on paper.

It's kind of like artwork but wordier. Like, how a picture speaks a thousand words but you actually write a thousand words.

...

... ...

...okay. I'll stop now. I'm sorry. Back to the topic at hand.

One of the thing's that I've found to be particularly helpful in writing is having a core topic in mind. So, let's say it's an essay question, a question I always ask myself and my student is, "What's the main point of this question?" If it's simply creative writing, it gets easier: What's the plot or running theme behind this?

Something else I've always found helpful is to always keep in mind that description is experiential. While there're many tools and skills available to enable us to describe, the ultimate goal is to help the reader envision what we have in mind - to encounter, dwell in and experience our created/fictional world; to have an immersive multi-sensory experience.

We've all heard the "Show, not tell" advice when it comes to writing. How do we go about with that? What does it even mean?

The suspense and horror genres tend to make full use of this advice. For example, to state would be something like, "The scary monsters in Jimmy's room sneaked out from under his bed and closet, and killed him."

That's making a statement with a few adjectives thrown in. To show would be to tell how exactly this whole thing happened. What was Jimmy's experience like? Was there rising terror? What were the details he paid attention to?

In this case, I would employ sensory details relating to sound. We rely primarily on our sight for details. When that it impaired or removed, the rest of our senses become so much keener. That bump that we hear sounds so much more sudden and louder.

Here would be an example of how I'd do it.

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Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

The hands of the clock tick steadily, breaking the dead silence of his room. Jimmy's heart thumps in his chest, matching the unyielding ticking of the clock. How much time has passed since he has felt their eyes on him - those glowing orbs peeking out from his closet?

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Jimmy pulls the covers further up and shrinks into them. What is that steady dripping behind the door?

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

All he can see are those intensely glowing orbs. He sniffs silently, stifling his sobs. There is a permeating scent of iron and sulphur. It reminds him of how his grandfather used to sprinkle sulphur to ward off serpents on camping trips. However, he is sure sulphur will do no warding tonight.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

A scream for Mother threatens to rip its way out of his throat but he must stay silent. What the hell is that scratching under his bed?

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

His bedroom door swings open and relief fills him momentarily before crashing terror descends.

Tick.

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Note that this writing style follows closer to creative writing - where the rules of grammar are significantly more lenient - than what is allowed in academic essay writing.

Now, what are the little things I've worked in?

1. Note that throughout, I do not mention fear specifically till the end.
2. The pattern and rhythm of ticking is matched to the rhythm of his heart in the first paragraph. Note how it keeps a steady rhythm till the final line, where it ends abruptly. What do you think happened here?
3. The nouns, verbs and adjectives I use consistently apply to death, fear and the supernatural - commonly used tropes in conventional horror.
4. Rather than state it directly, I use metaphors to express an idea. It helps to get the reader to think and visualise the scene. For example, steady dripping and the smell of iron would be references to blood, glowing orbs to eyes, serpents and sulphur to the devil and hell, and Mother refers to the safety children seek when they are terrified in the night. The closet and bed, of course, refer to the common hiding places for monsters and night terrors.
5. The entire piece is a step-by-step process of Jimmy's fears and observations. Note how I write it mainly in present tense to express the story unfolding for the reader and Jimmy, neither part knowing what will happen specifically till it actually happens.

Hopefully this little tip helps you in writing descriptive pieces!