Brahmanto Anindito's Blog, page 14

Sambal Peda to Accompany Your Meal

One day, a fellow asked me about Indonesian culinary, precisely for the sambal (spicy sauce). I had difficulty to answer because Indonesia has many kinds of sambal. Every region has its own chili sauce. Just to mention a few of them: sambal ganja from Aceh, sambal ijo from Padang, sambal lado mudo from West Sumatra, sambal beranyut from Bengkulu, sambal kemirisambal matah from Bali, sambal gami from Bontang, sambal dabu-dabu from North Sulawesi, sambal banci from Banyumas, sambal kaluku from Makassar, sambal colo-colo and kenari from Moluccas…. There are a lot more, I swear! But I couldn’t give him anything to taste. Then suddenly, the idea came up! “Maybe you should try sambal peda. I can make it for you.” Sambal peda is a sauce variant from Java, I mean East Java or Central Java. “This sauce is a little bit oily, but it’s savory and delicious.” “Is it hot?” “If you want something that isn’t hot, try a candy, instead of sambal.” Hahaha, well said. However, lately, I realized that I was so wrong. Because, even candies can be spicy too in Indonesia. My fellow looked interesting. He asked me where he can buy it. Why buying when you [...]

How to Create a Heart Touching Story

To write a story that could make the audience shed tears is a challenge for many authors. In brief, the keywords are three: character, plot, and your insight. Introduce your main character. What is his dream, weakness, struggling, etc. Tell your audience in smooth detail. I mean, make sure they read/watch real people with real problem. Secondly, the plot. Start with an alright condition. When everything seems fine and suddenly something drastic happens, your audiences aren’t so prepared, they’ll empathize. Last, read as many sad movies or novel as you can to give you best insight about how to touch the audience’s emotion. * * * Menulis cerita yang bisa membuat audiens mengeluarkan air mata adalah tantangan bagi beberapa pengarang. Sulitkah itu? Tentu saja! Setidaknya, ini akan lebih sulit dibanding menulis puluhan status galau di social media. Tapi, kalau bersabar mengikuti “aturan mainnya”, Anda akan tersenyum bangga melihat dada audiens Anda sesak, matanya berair dan hidungnya beringus. Kunci menulis cerita yang menyentuh sebenarnya hanya tiga: tokoh, alur, dan wawasan penulis. Mari kita bahas satu per satu. Bangun dengan Serius Tokoh-tokoh Anda Ciptakan tokoh-tokoh yang meyakinkan, terutama tokoh utamanya. Ceritakan ambisinya (tujuan hidupnya), kekurangannya (pembaca/penonton sering bersimpati pada tokoh yang punya [...]

Climb Mahameru and be the Highest Man in Java

In case that you haven’t known, Mount Semeru is a volcano located in Lumajang and Malang Regency, East Java Province. This is the highest mountain in Java Island with altitude of 3,676 masl (meters above sea level). Semeru is the fourth top mountain in Indonesia, after Cartenzs Pyramid in Papua (4,884 masl), Mount Kerinci in Jambi (3,805 masl), and Mount Rinjani in Lombok (3,726 masl). The mountain is a trending topic now. You know, a movie titled 5 cm is booming in Indonesia. It’s an adaptation of a novel with same title. The story is about a bunch of youngsters who decided to climb the summit of Mount Semeru: Mahameru. As we could guess, that successful fiction then drives a lot of people to do the same. Hence, Mount Semeru was full of climbers, be they’re skilled hikers or just tourists. Seems like everybody wanted to celebrate a new year on Mahameru. Yanuar Firdaus, Arif Pratama, Miftachul Chandra, and Erwan Wahyudi were among them. And this is their brief note. Ranu Pani (2,200 masl) The first step to conquer Mahameru is always here: Ranu Pani, Malang Regency, East Java. This is where you’ll have a license to climb. Ranu Kumbolo [...]

Believe: A Self Note to 2013

I start to see the importance of declare the resolution publicly. In 2012, I reached six of nine resolution’s points. That means I scored 67%, please don’t ask me the math Briefly, it’s not good. But not bad either. I failed something, but then I achieved something else, which was very unexpectedly. What a life. What a great 2012! Well, this post is a self note about my resolution this year. In 2013, I conceive the resolution’s points fewer. But harder. Publish two thriller novels via traditional publisher(s). Rahasia Sunyi is not in, because it’s planned to be published in the end of December 2012, so it’s actually part of my 2012 fulfillment. What I say two novels here are really two novels that I’m writing new. Improve my webs. Beside this blog, I have five others, including blogs within subdomains. By the end of 2013, their Alexa Rank must be cut at least 30% of the current ranks today. And their PageRanks must be ameliorated too. Get more clients for Warung Fiksi’s services quantitatively. To make the comparison easier, here, I want to express my salute and gratitude for dear clients in 2012: Balance Pillar (articles), ASUS Indonesia (online [...]

Selfediting Checklist

Publishers prefer the neat manuscripts. So make sure you submit your best manuscript in neat. You need to read over and over again. Start to check the opening chapters, plot, characters, Dialogues, descriptions, narrations, sentences, paragraphs, ending, title, and tagline as well. Then send your manuscript to a publisher with chin up. * * * Penerbit lebih menyukai naskah-naskah yang rapi. Maka pastikan Anda mengirimkan naskah terbaik Anda dalam keadaan rapi kepada mereka. Tentu, supaya rapi, Anda perlu membaca berulang-ulang. Bahkan perlu meminjam otak orang lain untuk membantu mengoreksi. Tapi bagaimana bila Anda tidak sempat meminta tolong orang lain membaca naskah Anda? Wah, sayang sekali. Tapi itu bukanlah masalah besar. Anda bisa memeriksa naskah itu sendiri. Di bawah ini, sekadar saran saya tentang apa-apa yang perlu dicek agar naskah Anda rapi. Mulailah dari memeriksa: Opening chapters. Apakah sudah cukup mengenalkan tokoh utama dan masalah yang sebentar lagi dihadapinya? Apakah kira-kira berhasil mengajak orang untuk membaca lebih dalam? Plot. Apakah sudah mengalir lancar? Apa logikanya sudah konsisten? Juga, apakah sudah konsisten dengan sudut pandang yang dipilih? Maksudnya, kalau sejak awal pakai POV “aku”, ya jangan sampai secara ajaib bercerita tentang peristiwa ketika si “aku” tidak ada di sana. Characters, terutama tokoh [...]

Kopassus: Better to Come Home just in Names than to Fail in Duty

That’s the motto of Kopassus or Komando Pasukan Khusus. This Red Berets unit is an Indonesian Army Special Forces that conducts particular operational missions for the Government, such as direct action, unconventional combat, sabotage, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, and intelligence gathering. Let’s back a while to July 1950, when the RMS (Republic of South Mollucas) became unreasonable and did some serious rebellion. To response it, the highest commander of ABRI or TNI (Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia) set up the troops. ABRI’s Army won that battle. But with many casualties. It’s sad to know how the enemies with smaller number of troops were often troublesome to official trained troops. Besides, this didn’t happen just once or twice. So, they introspected. This bitter statistic then inspired Lt. Col. Slamet Riyadi to form a special military unit for specific missions. Through the ABRI Commander, on April 16, 1952, Indonesia organized the Corps of Territory Command III. That group is the forerunner of the Red Berets we see today. The unit alone changed its name for few times: the Army Command in 1953, the Army Paratrooper Command (RPKAD) in 1955, the Army Special Forces Center (Puspassus) in 1966, the Army Covert Warfare Forces [...]

Games Made in Indonesia

If you are a real gamer, you must be so familiar with the names like Ubisoft, Konami, EA, Capcom, Blizzard, etc. Those American and Japanese developer companies are the huge brands in the game domain. Then, Korean developers has come since 2000s, gives us even more alternatives. Meanwhile, Indonesia was only a market. Consumers. Spectators. Critics. This bitter fact made some Indonesian game developers get motivated. One of them is David Setiabudi. He created DivineKids (divinekids.com), an umbrella organization for game developers, in 2004. His effort bore fruits. In 2008, at the Indonesian Games Award, DivineKids was selected as the Favorite Indonesian Game Developer. David was also (controversially) gained MURI Award as the First Indonesian Game Maker. However, DivineKids has listed more than 90 games with many genre, such as: strategy, RPG, education, puzzles, and even horror. It makes us kind of proud. Not only in PC Games, Indonesian game creators are also good in mobile or browser games. Search some games on Facebook, you’ll find some words from bahasa. For example Majapahit Online (by Anantarupa Studios), Climb The Pinang (by Agathe Studio), Gado Gado Sibuk (you are a gado-gado vendors who search for customers), Kiri-kiri (you are a driver [...]

Kompetisi Tulis Nusantara: Menulis Pendek, Hadiah Totalnya Ratusan Juta

Saya tidak menyangka, ada lomba cerpen yang hadiahnya bisa sampai 20 juta. Juara tiganya saja mendapat 10 juta. Wow! Biasanya kan lomba novel yang mampu mencapai angka itu. Tapi wajar juga sih, ini Kemenparekraf (Kementerian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif) yang punya gawe. Kemenparekraf bekerjasama dengan NulisBuku.com (salah satu self publishing facilitators) dan Plot Point (salah satu institusi pendidikan industri kreatif) menyelenggarakan Kompetisi Tulis Nusantara 2012. Temanya “Menangkap Ragam Cerita Hidup di Indonesia”. Ada tiga kategori yang diperlombakan: Fiksi Cerpen. Hadiah juara I Rp 20.000.000, juara II Rp 15.000.000, dan juara III Rp 10.000.000. Fiksi Puisi. Hadiah juara I Rp 10.000.000, juara II Rp 7.500.000, dan juara III Rp 5.000.000. Nonfiksi. Hadiah juara I Rp 20.000.000, juara II Rp 15.000.000, dan juara III Rp 10.000.000. Tiga buku kumpulan fiksi dan nonfiksi hasil kompetisi Tulis Nusantara 2012 akan diterbitkan secara major. Tertarik ikut? Tidak seperti lomba-lomba menulis lain yang sudah harus follow Twitter, harus pula mention beberapa kali, harus like fanpage, harus men-tag 10 teman di Facebook, atau bahkan harus setor biaya pendaftaran dulu. Tak perlu seribet itu! Cara berpartisipasi Kompetisi Tulis Nusantara mudah: Tulis sesuai tema (menangkap ragam cerita hidup di Indonesia) dalam bentuk puisi, cerpen dan/atau cerita nyata yang memotivasi [...]

Deadly Blades from Indonesia

Until today, some tribes in Indonesia use traditional weapons as tools for hunting, self-defensing, and yes, attacking someone or something. Even more, some people who still believe in superstitious think that traditional weapons are surrounded by mystical power. Take keris for instance. This is a knife-length weapon from Central Java and East Java. Keris has serpentine shape. It was a pride for the palace, tucked on the waist, as a symbol of courage and nobility. In ancient age, a man wasn’t considered as a real man if he had no keris. In reality, keris function more to stab than to slice. It’s not so effective weapon by that. But you must know, while preparing and making a keris, Mpu (the keris maker) always did special pray to the God and do fasting first. That’s the power come. He could also fill keris with mystical beings, such as a genie in order to protect the keris owner and give more destructive power. Keris is a custom, personal weapon, and should never be a mass product. Keris for the king, priest, high ranking official, farmer, trader, fisherman, worker or soldier are different. Hence, a good keris for a king is not necessarily [...]

5 Cents per Word for Speculative Fiction

Feel like writing good speculative fiction? This is for you, then. Founded in September 2000, Strange Horizons is a weekly web-based magazine of and about speculative fiction. The term “speculative fiction” refers to what is more commonly known as sci-fi, but which properly embraces science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, slipstream, and a host of sub-genres. They want: Stories that have some literary depth but aren’t boring. Styles that are unusual yet readable. Structures that balance inventiveness with traditional narrative. Characters we can care about. Settings and cultures that we don’t see all the time in speculative fiction. Stories that address political issues in complex and sensitive ways. They don’t want: Heavy-handed or preachy or simplistic approaches. Horror (especially stories in which the main goal is to evoke feelings of fear, terror, or revulsion in the reader). Stories that explain a scientific or technological phenomenon in great detail. Plots we see all the time. Stories with twist endings. As with any magazine, the best way to figure out what they like is to read some of the fiction they published. So, it’s strongly recommended to visit their website. No simultaneous submissions or unsolicited reprints. Wait until they accept or reject each [...]