Janice Wee's Blog: Jam 5 World of Stories - Posts Tagged "underdog"

At long last, I’ve finished
John. Book four of Emunah Short Stories. I wrote it from scratch three times with a different storyline each time. The first version seemed too bland. I changed the setting and storyline for the second version but it didn’t work either.

For both cases, I decided to keep my personal memories out of the story completely. Both versions fell flat.

The third time round, I wove slivers of memories from my childhood and early teenage years as well as personal observations into John’s story. I wanted it to be a Cinderella, Rocky type of story. One that’s about life. An inspiring story about the underdog.

I know nothing about boxing. Or fighting. Or any competitive sport. I’m an introvert bookworm who is happiest staying at home, reading a book. Or writing one. So how did I end up writing a Sports story about competitive weight lifting?

As a female, when I write a male protagonist, I tend to rely on my memories of my late father and my late grandpa - my heroes. The ultimate male role models I grew up around. While I’m no sportsperson, Daddy was a sportsman and an avid body builder. Ah Kong trained body builders. He could carry four of them and strike a pose with the muscle men balancing on his torso, striking up poses. My earliest childhood memories were of growing up in Ah Kong’s house. Alone with Ah Kong and Mama and Koko by day. Being with Daddy and Mommy after they come home from work. Ah Kong’s nickname was Superman. In his eighties, he would show off his biceps which would put young men to shame.

Daddy too. In his youth, during his body building days, his old photos with him doing the poses were beyond impressive. Not posting any here because he is my daddy and I get weirded out when my friends ogle his pics. Daddy said when he was young he was so skinny it was embarrassing. He had a twenty four inch waist, like a girl’s. So he took up body building. That gave me the starting point for my story. John starts off as a scrawny bookworm with a tiny waist too.

When I was little, I spent a fair amount of time with my grandma on my mother’s side. She’d sometimes bring me to visit her brother’s family. I enjoyed hanging out there, even into my teens. My uncles and aunt are very cool. The youngest uncle was only two years older than me but he passed away when we were still small in an unfortunate car accident. He was like an older brother to the very little me back then.

I visited them less as I grew older. But when I was thirteen of fourteen, I remember visiting when my uncle Ah Joo was preparing to represent Singapore in the SEA Games. The atmosphere in their home was electric. The whole house was buzzing with excitement. Ah Joo may be the one competing, but his dad, a former competitive weightlifter himself trained him. His mom cooked nourishing food to strengthen him. Meals were abuzz with excitement with the dinner topic revolving around weightlifting and the upcoming games.

When you watch a weightlifting competition, what do you see?
A bunch of strong men lifting barbells?
It’s like saying that football is all about a bunch of grown men chasing a ball.

Much discipline, science and strategy goes into competitive weightlifting. Competitors need to know themselves and know the competition.

As I wrote John, I was transported into the happy days of my childhood and early teens, reliving fond memories as I set the stage for the book. I drew on those memories to create the background for the story.



John is an inspiring story about the underdog who transforms himself to meet life’s challenges. It’s now available at Amazon and major online bookshops. More information at https://www.janicewee.com/Emunah/book...