Brahmanto Anindito's Blog, page 21

Snapping Madura

What are things on mind when you hear the word "madura"? Sugary and delicious brochettes? Coto? People who's easily get angry like typically coastal inhabitant? Bison (sort of car, public car) drivers who were expert to make a thrill for their passengers? It could be. But Madura isn't just all that. My team in Photography [...]

Ideas to Fill Your Idea Bank

As a writer, we know how important is an idea (sorry, I think it's not only writers). Bad news is, it comes whenever it wants, randomly. Good news is, you can always catch it through a simple tool called idea bank, be a note or a handheld gadget. And these are activities to fill that [...]

When Cireng Becomes High Class Snack

I always try to consume healthy food. But, sometimes I cannot refuse gorengan or fried snacks. It can be fried tofu, tempeh, with wheat flour and seasoning; bala-bala (slices of carrot and cabbage); banana with wheat flour and sugar; or cireng, acronym of aci digoreng or fried aci (tapioca flour). Just bite it, and you [...]

When to End a Chapter

The readers today are impatient. When they think that a chapter is too long-winded, they will skip it, even worst: they stop to read. So, the writers must rack their brain to anticipate them. If we focus on the chapter element, in my opinion, there are some signs when a chapter should be ended.

Close your chapter when the story has to change its setting (e.g. from a room to a campus) or its point of view (e.g. from X's eyes into Y's eyes). But much more simple, end your chapter when it becomes too long. It's good to divide your extended chapter into short ones. Just chop it where the plot is swooping into interesting conflict or are in the midst of the action.

Use some cliffhanger. But do not overdo it. Look at in the real life, one who was give surprises every day has incrementally adapted to it, so he becomes more difficult to be surprised again. It's same case with the repeated use of cliffhanger.

* * *

Sampai sekira 10 tahun silam, para novelis cenderung memilih mengakhiri bab setelah rentetan peristiwa dalam ceritanya tuntas. Saat itu, sebuah bab biasanya mewakili satu ide, bisa tokoh atau kejadian tertentu. Jadi, kalau ide itu belum tuntas disampaikan, mereka enggan berganti bab.

Tapi, sekarang tidak demikian lagi. Pembaca yang mereka hadapi sekarang adalah pembaca yang tidak sabaran. Jika sebuah bab dirasa bertele-tele, pembaca tak segan-segan melompatinya. Bahkan lebih ngeri lagi: memutuskan berhenti membaca novel itu.

Maka penulis modern memutar otak untuk mengantisipasi "kemalasan" para pembaca ini. Mereka mulai fleksibel dalam menuntaskan sebuah bab. Namun, tidak ngawur juga. Ada rambu-rambunya. Apakah rambu-rambu itu? Kapankah sebuah bab harus diakhiri?

Yang paling mudah, akhiri bab Anda saat cerita harus berganti setting. Misalnya dari setting kamar ke setting kampus, atau dari setting 2011 ke setting 1987. Meskipun, pergantian setting sebenarnya juga dapat dilakukan tanpa pergantian bab.

Anda juga bisa mengakhiri sebuah bab ketika cerita harus berganti sudut pandang. Contohnya pergantian dari mata tokoh A ke mata tokoh B, terutama saat Anda menulisnya dengan sudut pandang orang ketiga (dia). Pergantian mata tokoh ini sebetulnya tidak harus dilakukan dengan membuka bab baru.

Ada alasan pergantian bab yang lebih pas, yaitu saat ia menjadi terlalu panjang, setidaknya bila dibandingkan dengan bab-bab sebelumnya. Saat itulah Anda harus menulis bab baru. Ingat, pembaca sekarang mudah lelah dan gampang bosan. Apalagi jika harus melahap bab-bab yang masing-masingnya terdiri dari puluhan lembar.

Bila memang yang ingin Anda ceritakan sebanyak itu, ada baiknya membagi bab yang panjang itu menjadi bab-bab pendek. Penggal saja sebuah bab ketika cerita di dalamnya sedang menukik ke konflik atau sedang di tengah-tengah aksi. Orang-orang televisi jago untuk urusan begini. Saat film mencapai adegan menegangkan, eh, jeda iklan!

Inilah yang disebut cliffhanger. Biarkan pembaca merasa digantung di akhir bab. Dia akan menjadi tak sabar untuk meneruskan membaca bab berikutnya. Padahal di akhir bab berikutnya itu sudah Anda pasang cliffhanger lain.

Namun sekadar catatan, teknik ini tidak bagus juga bila diterapkan di setiap bab atau mayoritas bab. Dalam kehidupan riil saja, orang yang diberi kejutan tiap hari, otaknya pasti akan beradaptasi terhadap kejutan yang rutin itu. Akibatnya, dia berangsur-angsur menjadi kebal, semakin sulit untuk dibuat terkejut lagi. Sama dengan penggunaan cliffhanger yang diulang-ulang secara berlebihan di sepanjang novel.

Sekian sharing dari saya. Selamat mencoba.

Sparkling Surabaya

Throughout this May, a shopping party entitled The 2011 Surabaya Shopping Festival (SSF) is being held. The massive discounts for food, electronic, fashion products and so on are scattered over 18 malls. Want to enjoy it, please do. Today is the last day. Want to be upset, go ahead.

Kadaruslan (deceased), an artist and Surabaya elder, was perhaps an upset one. There are numeous cultures in the capital city of East Java Province which can be raised and sold, "Why a shopping festival?"

I, one hundred percent, agree with him. Though, nothing we can do about it. From the surveys, Surabaya is the last pertained city for tourist destination. On the other hand, Surabaya is the second choice to do business in Indonesia.

This is a business city. So instead of selling the art or tourism, it is more reasonable to highlight the uniqueness as an unmatched trading hub in Eastern Indonesia.

It is also the reason of city's tagline: Sparkling Surabaya. The message is clear. Why sparkling? Because, this is an industrial city, a trading city that is reluctant to sleep, even in the night.

SSF is a part of that spirit. And succeed! The shopping malls have always been crowded in May, like we see when Lebaran (the biggest Islamic day) comes, Christmas and New Year. The malls celebrates their turnover's rising, while the consumers take advanced of this discount party. I think, SSF has become a beloved event and is looked forward, not only by citizens who have Surabaya ID card.

Obviously, this is the result of Surabaya's consistent branding. A city branding is obliged for every city that wants to raise its status and selling power to the investors and tourists. Its most important step is to find a unique side of the city.

What is the uniqueness that distinguishes Surabaya from competitors (other cities)? What are people's perceptions about this 3.5 millions citizen city?

The first might a city of heroes. Okay, but that is an image based on the history's legacy. What about a more contemporary image?

Surabaya is considered as a hot temperature, polluted metropolitan. But it also has won some prizes as the cleanest city, earned the Adipura Kencana Award four times! Last time Surabaya won Adipura was in 2009.

Here you can see the urban reform efforts in the past seven years: it controls illegal buildings, do relocation of slum markets, build and maintain some conservation of mangrove ecosystem in Pamurbaya (Eastern Coast of Surabaya), expansion of green open space up to 30% of the city's extend. Some downtown park even has free internet hotspots.

Indeed, Surabaya is also building its image as a cyber city. The City Government never stops to make its folk internet literate. Meanwhile, registering the drive licenses or vehicle registrations can now be done in the mall or by drive through like a fast food restaurant, enrolling the schools or making a passport applications can be done online as well.

In addition to time efficiency and effort to decrease (illegal) broker population, it is a green attempt to save the environment. We don't need more papers here!

A city of heroes, a green metropolis, a city of trade, a multiculturalism city, a cyber city, so many faces of Surabaya. But it must be choose one theme as a simple identity.

Finally, Surabaya is to be positioned as the trading hub of Eastern Indonesia for having the international class of airport and seaport. It has also a hinterland of East Java and East Indonesia rich. For those ambitions, Surabaya should sparkle all the time.

This is May 31st, by the way. So, happy 718th anniversary, Surabaya! [photos: Grahadi parade by Brahm, Suramadu bridge by Cakndut.com]

What You Choose in Writing: Easy or Tricky Way?

Some say, writing is easy, some say is not. Basically, writing is get the ideas or feelings into written. If that is the definition, I'm sure everyone can write. But, writing can be more complex than that.

The second definition of writing, let's say, is the activity which involve feeling and thinking at once, the right brain and left brain. A writer with this standard will always be willing to "waste" time to do research, build consistent logic, and innovate story. It's trickier, but the result will be more excellence.

Whatever your choice, the easy one or the tricky one, go ahead. Just don't forget, a writer should be able to feel the object of his writing as deep as possible, practice as often as possible, and read as many as possible.

* * *

Ada yang berpendapat menulis itu mudah, ada juga yang mengatakan susah. Hm, saya jadi berpikir, sebetulnya menulis itu bagaimana sih? Pada dasarnya, menulis adalah menuangkan gagasan atau perasaan ke dalam bentuk tulisan.

Jika pengertiannya seperti itu, saya yakin semua orang bisa menulis. Anda tinggal menceritakan pengalaman sehari-hari, opini, khayalan, atau keinginan. Tak perlu memikirkan bagus-tidaknya ide itu, menyentuh emosi pembaca atau tidak, bahasanya rapi atau tidak. Tulis saja terus, maka Anda layak dipanggil penulis.

Namun, menulis bisa jadi tidak hanya sebatas itu. Pengertian kedua menulis, sebut saja begitu, adalah kegiatan membuat tulisan dengan melibatkan perasaan sekaligus pikiran, otak kanan sekaligus otak kiri. Seorang penulis dengan standar ini akan selalu bersedia "membuang" waktunya untuk mengurus:

Riset cerita. Biasanya yang diriset adalah setting (lokasi atau waktu), tokoh (karakter psikologis atau sosialnya), dan alat-alat yang tampil di cerita. Caranya? Bisa dengan diskusi atau konsultasi ke orang yang tepat, observasi ke TKP, membaca buku atau media, menonton film, browsing internet, dan sebagainya. Tujuannya satu: menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan yang tidak menyakinkan bila dijawab hanya oleh imajinasi.
Logika cerita. Meliputi penentuan genre (agar tahu gambaran logika apa yang dipakai) dan pendefinisian keajaiban. Tokoh utama selalu punya "sesuatu" yang mestinya membuat pembaca respek (kalau tidak punya, pecat saja dia sebagai tokoh utama). Tapi jangan munculkan "sesuatu" itu secara tiba-tiba, di saat tokoh utama terdesak. Anda perlu mendefinisikannya pelan-pelan sejak bab-bab awal.
Inovasi cerita. Bisa saja dari temanya, tokohnya, alurnya, gaya penuturannya, atau lainnya. Misalnya, cerita dengan sudut pandang orang pertama ("aku"), tapi di akhir cerita pembaca memergoki bahwa tokoh utama sekaligus narator itu ternyata orang gila yang tidak bisa dipercaya. Bisa dibayangkan geramnya pembaca. Tapi bila penyampaian ceritanya cantik, bukan mustahil pembaca malah bertepuk tangan. Jadi ini bukan tentang novel yang dijual sepaket dengan CD soundtrack-nya. Yah, itu inovasi juga (10 tahun yang lalu), tapi bukan di bidang penulisan.

Terdengar sulit ya? Tidak salah memang bila ada yang menganggap menulis itu susah. Pasti dia menjadikan pengertian kedua sebagai patokan. Tapi tidak salah kalau ada yang bilang menulis itu mudah. Pasti dia menggunakan patokan pengertian menulis yang pertama. Berita buruknya, banyak sekali orang (kompetitor) yang menulis di kotak ini.

Apapun pilihan Anda, silakan saja. Namun aturan umumnya tetap, seorang penulis harus bisa merasakan obyek tulisannya sedalam-dalamnya, bersedia berlatih sesering-seringnya, dan membaca sebanyak-banyaknya.

Sundanese Marriage Ceremony Today

As other conventional culture, the marriage is getting simplified day to day. My aunt was married in 1995, when I was in elementary school. Yet I remember the detail of the procession (sure, I look up the photo album too). And when I attended my cousin's marriage two years ago, I found many differences. Here some:

My Aunt's Marriage: When the bridegroom and his family arrived in front of the bride's house, they were welcomed by the three girl dancers and a man who wore clothes like Kabayan. It took several minutes. Then, those dancers brought the bridegroom and his family to the bride's house.

My Cousin's Marriage: When the bridegroom and his family arrived in front of the bride's house, there were no dancers welcomed them.

My Aunt's Marriage: After the bridegroom and his family arrived in the bride's house and the bride's mother put the flowers necklace to the bridegroom, the bride's parents brought the bride out of the house and meet her with the bridegroom and his family.

My Cousin's Marriage: The bride came out of her room just when she and the bridegroom would do the marriage promise.

My Aunt's Marriage: After sungkeman (demanding apologize to parents) and receiving congratulation from the whole families, the bride and the bridegroom did some rites. Such as huap lingkung (the parents fed the bride and the bridegroom with small ball of yellow rice, then the bride and the bridegroom fed each other, after that they tried to get the big part of bakakak ayam), sawer (the bride and the bridegroom threw rice, money and sometimes candy to the audience, and there a singer who sung sundanese song), nincak endog (the bridegroom stepped on an egg then the bride washed his foot), and buka pintu (the bridegroom waited at the outside of the house until the bride opened the door and welcomed him).

My Cousin's Marriage: After sungkeman and receiving congratulations from the families, the bride and the bridegroom, and also their parents, prepared to do reception.

See, my cousin's marriage is far simpler than my aunt's. I, myself, agree with my cousin's version, because do some rites could take a lot of time and energy, which is not necessary. I do not mean to leave my own culture. But in the modern life, we have to prioritize things, don't we?

However, there are few people who do not want to miss any. Well, it is just a choice, I think. [photo from TirtaDahlia.blogspot.com]

Characteristic of A Movie Crazy

I have few friends who are movie-crazy, I mean, a film maniac. No doubt, movie is their breath. Nonetheless, I enjoy observe such behavior; how they are thinking, how they act. This is their common characteristic:

There are always Home Video's member cards in his/her wallet.
Still around his/her wallet, we will find some cinema free pass. Or if not so, there is brochure or small note about schedule of movie screening tucked in.
Knows where to download the movies files on internet.
No time for newspaper, but always some time for movie magazines.
His/her cellular phone is always full of Home Video telephone numbers.
When looking something remarkable, s/he spontaneously thinks to replay it.


Has also his/her own way to calm his/her lover down. For instance, when his girl friend said, "Blood is gushing profusely from your wound, how could you keep laughing?" he would respond, "Relax, this is just a special effect." Even if it was not special effect at all.


His/her dreams were completed by voice-over narration. When s/he saw Greatest Wall in the dream, a bass voice suddenly came up, "China again. Damn. It seems like I was a minutes ago in Korea…." Then his/her eye lens was panning slowly and a soundtrack was barely heard.

Just like a crazy, isn't he? Yeah, that is why I am using "movie-crazy" words, instead of "moviegoers". But if you experience one, some, or all of the eight symptoms above, do not bother to go to a psychiatrist. Just welcome to the club!

* * *

Saya suka mengamati tingkah laku teman-teman yang maniak film. Dan berhubung saya sendiri penggila film, maka saya rajin juga mengamati diri sendiri. Ada kesamaan perilaku dari tipe-tipe ini. Yah, meskipun tidak terlalu ilmiah dan berpotensi membuat Anda tersenyum geli, tulisan ini sebenarnya bukan humor. Karena memang beginilah hasil pengamatan dan ngobrol-ngobrol saya dengan mereka.

Dompetnya penuh dengan kartu anggota rental DVD, kadang-kadang plus voucher bonusnya. Orang seperti ini tidak merasa puas menjadi anggota di satu rental. Karena yang diburunya biasanya bukan film-film pasaran. Film-film yang menurut orang awam aneh dan nggak asyik pun, kalau dia merasa bagus, diembat pula. Namun karena kebanyakan dari mereka terlalu bokek untuk memesannya via Amazon.com, rental DVD seisi kota tak urung jadi sasaran pelampiasannya.
Masih di seputar dompet, kita akan menemukan free pass bioskop. Entah dari mana dia memperolehnya, tapi rasanya adaaaa saja free pass itu. Atau kalau tidak begitu, di selempitan dompet tersebut ditemukan brosur, minimal catatan tentang jadwal pemutaran film. Misalnya, film Prancis di Pusat Kebudayaan Prancis, film Jepang di Konsul Jepang, film Jerman di Goethe, termasuk festival film lokal.
Hapal situs-situs yang berisi kumpulan link download film. Karena inilah, seorang penggila film tetap tenang menyikapi isu akan dikuranginya film-film Hollywood di bioskiop-bioskop Indonesia secara drastis.
Tidak sempat membaca koran, tapi selalu ada waktu untuk membaca majalah-majalah film.
Ponselnya dijejali banyak nomor dari rental DVD, termasuk rental yang belum dianggotainya. Orang-orang semacam ini umumnya akrab dengan para penjaga rental. Sebab kadang-kadang dia menelepon lalu menyibukkan pegawai malang itu dengan seabrek judul film yang dicarinya, "Mbak, coba cek di katalog, A ada nggak? Film Iran, film Iran. Nggak ada?!? Kalau gitu ini aja… film indie Finlandia, B. Sama film C!"B
Bila melihat peristiwa menarik, dimana pun itu, dia langsung berpikiran untuk me-replay-nya. Atau kalau melewatkan bagian menarik dari peristiwa itu, dia berpikir, "Ah, nanti bisa sewa kalau versi DVD-nya udah rilis." Tapi tentu saja kemudian dia menyadari pikiran spontannya yang tidak masuk akal itu.
Punya cara tersendiri untuk menenangkan kekasih yang mencemaskannya. Umpamanya, ketika ditanya pacar, "Aduh, tanganmu kok ngucur darah terus?" dia akan menjawab santai, "Ini kan cuma special effect ." Atau habis terjatuh dari motor, dia bakal tersenyum dan mengatakan, "Nggak papa kok, tadi aku cuma pengin tahu rasanya jadi stuntman."
Mimpi-mimpinya terkadang diiringi voice-over narration. Misalnya, manakala dalam mimpi tersebut dia memandangi Gedung Sate, sebuah suara bas tiba-tiba muncul dari dalam batok kepalanya sendiri yang sedang pulas itu, "Bandung lagi. Sialan. Rasanya aku baru di Jakarta lima menit yang lalu…." Lantas lensa matanya bergeser perlahan dan sayup-sayup terdengar soundtrack. Tidak ada yang menyetel musik sewaktu dia tidur, otak bawah sadarnya sendirilah yang memantik suara-suara tersebut.

Seperti orang gila? Itulah kenapa saya memakai istilah "penggila" film, alih-alih "penggemar" film.

Namun jika Anda mengalami beberapa atau keseluruhan dari delapan gejala di atas, tak perlu repot-repot memeriksakan diri ke psikiater. Bergabung sajalah dengan orang-orang yang mengalami nasib sama. Welcome to the club! [photo from Staxhomeentertainment.co.za]

Hear the Angklung, Hear the Singing Bamboo

I felt so sleepy that night. But when I was playing switch channels as usual, my eyes tethered on Metro TV. Kick Andy, a program similar to Oprah Show, was broadcasting a story of angklung performers' group. Ah, angklung. I knew this traditional music instrument by school lesson a long time ago, but never been attracted like that night. Hence, no more sleepy eyes.

Angklung is made of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to octaves. How does it work? The base of the frame is held by a performer with one hand while his other hand shakes the instrument rapidly from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound.

Based on Balinese mythology, angklung consist of two words; "angka" (tone) and "lung" (broken, incomplete, or gone). So, angklung could be meant as a broken or incomplete tone. Each angklung performer can play just one note. Certainly it's incomplete! Consequently, angklung never be played by one performer.

Angklung is popular throughout Southeast Asia, but originated from Indonesia. I remember my elementary school teacher told me that Balinese and Sundanese (people in West Java) had their own angklung. But historically, Sundanese has longer period of using and developing this instrument. We strongly believe that it is them who had invented angklung.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In its development, angklung spreaded and reached almost all region in West Java, and being played to enrich the traditional ceremonial in Banten, Baduy, Sukabumi, Cirebon, etc. Angklung has its special functions related to religious and ritual matters, e.g. to honor Dewi Sri (goddess of fertility according to Indonesian's ancient belief).

Nonetheless, it also used for the entertainment purposes. For example, angklung played along with other Sundanese traditional arts and culture as musical background. The Sundanese also used to play it to escort the soldiers and warriors before they went to a war. Later, Padjajaran Kingdom played this instrument as corps music in Bubat War.

Then this "beautiful sound of bamboo" got more international attention when in 1938 Daeng Soetigna, from Bandung (West Java), developed it as not only to play traditional pentatonic scale, but also diatonic scale. Since then, angklung was often mutually played with other western music instruments in an orchestra.

In the same time, angklung was functioned for building the community spirit too. It was still used by the Sundanese until the colonial era. In that period, the Dutch East Indies (colonial government) did forbid people to play the angklung. By that, the popularity of this instrument decreased and it came to be played only by children at that time.

But it was the past. Nowadays, angklung is an heirloom witch attracted not only Indonesian. In the early 20th century, this musical device has adopted by Thailand and many Austronesian neighbors.

In the TV program I mentioned previously, there were young people from Philippine, New Zealand, and Japan who have been falling in love with angklung. They near the end of the show played couple of Indonesian pop songs by angklungs. It was exotic, even for me, Indonesian. It's not due to the songs, since the songs are familiar for me. It just heard like… sounds of the other world. Uniquely distinct. [photos from Angklung Udjo]

You Can Podcast Your Fiction Too

Podcast is a hybrid of internet and radio. A quite new way to communicate things profiting the auditory media advantages. You can make use of it to create another version of your fiction. An auditory version! So the ones who used to be read your story may now listen it while doing any other activity.

How to make one? It's simple and fun. To be more practical, you may use the "text to speech" feature in some word processing software. The same system runs on Odiogo.com. Everything you write will be pronounced and saved as .MP3.

Making a podcast through PC is little bit more complex. You will need a microphone and software to record the voice and edit it. Don't have such software? Try Audacity. I think it's a good freeware to start.

When your .MP3 is ready, upload it somewhere on internet. And syndicate it by the feed. It is what "cast" means in podcast.

* * *

Sewaktu kecil, saya suka sekali menyimak sandiwara radio Saur Sepuh, Tutur Tinular, dan Misteri Gunung Merapi. Saya bersama kakak saya bahkan kemudian menulis cerita-cerita serupa untuk diperankan oleh teman-teman kampung dan, tentu saja, saya sendiri. Kami merekam drama amatir itu melalui tape compo yang saat itu segede printer modern.

Sesudah rampung, kaset diputar ulang. Kami duduk serius mengelilingi tape compo. Begitu tenang. Bila ada dialog yang meleset dan canggung, baru tawa kami meledak. Tapi, puas rasanya bisa menghasilkan karya "selevel" drama-drama radio beken itu. Karena acara-acara semacam ini ternyata banyak juga penggemarnya.

Sayangnya, setelah saya SMP, stasiun-stasiun radio semakin jarang menyiarkan drama-drama audiotory begini. Barangkali lantaran kalah bersaing dengan televisi dan internet. Radio sebagai media saja sudah banyak ditinggalkan, saat ini.

Tapi jangan salah, media yang berfokus pada telinga ini takkan pernah mati juga. Semaju apapun televisi atau internet, radio takkan bisa mereka bunuh. Apalagi jika ia terus ber-evolusi mengikuti perkembangan teknologi. Podcast, contohnya. Inilah hasil perkawinan media auditory dengan internet.

Podcast terdiri dari kata "POD" (Personal On Demand atau Portable On Demand atau Play On Demand) dan "cast" (menampilkan/menyiarkan). Berbeda dengan televisi atau radio konvensional, podcast memungkinkan kita menikmati acara/program favorit kapan saja kita mau. Anda bisa mendengarkannya di komputer, iPod, ponsel, atau pemutar .MP3.

Sebagai penulis, kita dapat memanfaatkannya, baik untuk menciptakan fiksi (drama-drama seperti di radio waktu saya SD, bahkan trailer film bioskop) maupun nonfiksi (berita, talkshow, ceramah motivasi, khutbah, panduan relaksasi). Dan, untuk memperlihatkan sisi survivalnya: setiap podcast bisa disisipi iklan.

Ini bukan media yang rumit. Cara membuatnya hampir sesimpel dan seasyik saya bersama tape compo dulu. Anda tinggal merekam, mengedit, lantas meng-upload-nya. Sediakan saja 1 MB untuk setiap podcast (.MP3) berdurasi dua menit. Yap, ini akan lumayan makan tempat.

Namun Anda selalu bisa mencari penyedia space gratisan, portal semacam YouTube tapi yang spesifik untuk podcast. Meskipun, "Ada pembatasan di tempat-tempat gratis itu," terang Imam Muttaqin Sholihin, salah satu pengelola Indonesia Bercerita. "Jadi, akhirnya kami meletakkan podcast-podcast kami di server sendiri."

Sekadar informasi, Indonesia Bercerita adalah portal podcast nonkomersial yang mendedikasikan diri untuk mendidik anak melalui cerita. Gerakan ini sudah menjalar ke berbagai kota besar di Indonesia. Saya pikir, ini contoh pemanfaatan podcast yang bagus, sekaligus inovasi di bidang perfiksian.

Bersama Indonesia Bercerita, Anda bisa mengunduh, menggunakan, menggandakan dan menyebarluaskan podcast mereka untuk berbagai keperluan. Selain itu, Anda juga bisa berkonstribusi.

"Siapapun Anda, dengan keterbatasan alat apapun, silakan bergabung," Imam menawarkan. "Bahkan kami bersedia menerima cerita yang cuma direkam dengan HP oleh satu orang narator amatir. Asal isi podcast-nya sesuai dengan visi-misi Indonesia Bercerita."

Tertarik? Cobalah. Cari tahu bagaimana menulis untuk telinga dan contoh naskah rancangan (script) sebuah podcast yang profesional. Namun kalau Anda mau yang praktis, buat saja sesederhana ini:

Musik pembuka

SFX. Suara aliran sungai

NARATOR: Di sekitar sungai yang besar, hiduplah seekor kelinci yang ceria dan beruang yang pemarah. Si Kelinci tinggal di sisi utara sungai. Sementara, di sisi selatan atau seberangnya, si Beruang sedang menikmati buah kesukaannya.

KELINCI: (Teriak) Hoee! Hoe, Beruang, menyeberanglah kemari. Ada yang mau kutunjukkan padamu!

BERUANG: (Teriak, dengan mulut penuh makanan) Nanti saja! Aku sedang makan siang!

KELINCI: Ayolaaaah! Ini benar-benar penting buatmu…

Sunyi 2 detik

KELINCI: Cepatlah, gendut! Atau kau akan melewatkannya!!

BERUANG: (Mengunyah sisa makanannya) (berkata dengan ogah-ogahan) Hm, baiklah, baiklah…

SFX. Suara beruang mencebur ke sungai

NARATOR: Si Beruang pun menyeberangi sungai yang deras itu.

SFX. Suara Beruang berjuang melawan derasnya air (5 detik)

BERUANG: (Terengah-engah) Nah… apa… yang ingin… kau beritahukan, Kelinci?

KELINCI: Oh iya, Beruang, coba kau lihat ke seberang sungai ini. Banyak sekali buah-buahan di sana! Kau pasti suka….

SFX.

Lihat, mudah bukan menulis script sebuah podcast? Yang relatif sulit adalah merekam dan merealisasikannya. Bila Anda bukan seorang pro dan tidak memiliki alat-alat yang pro, akan ada saja masalah: suara di sekitar kurang jernih lah, pengucapan dialog kurang natural lah, editingnya kedodoran lah, dan sebagainya.

Ada alternatif solusi jika cerita Anda berbahasa Inggris. Gunakan saja fasilitas "text to speech" di software pengolah kata. Di sana, Anda bisa menulis sebuah naskah, entah fiksi atau nonfiksi, lalu biarkan software itu mengonvertnya ke .MP3.

Tidak punya software semacam itu? Pergilah ke Odiogo.com. Odiogo Podcast akan "membaca" tulisan Anda di blog dan mengonvertnya. Anda tahu beres.

Namun bila naskahnya berbahasa Indonesia, sebaiknya Anda menggarapnya manual saja. Untuk pengerjaan dari ponsel atau voice recorder, tentu mudah, tinggal rekam lalu transfer ke komputer. Tapi untuk pengerjaan langsung dengan komputer, Anda butuh mikropon dan software perekam.

Tak ada mikropon? Pakailah mikropon internal laptop Anda. Tidak ada masalah di situ selain Anda harus bicara lebih keras atau lebih dekat.

Tak ada software perekam? Install saja Audacity. Bukan hanya untuk merekam, freeware ini juga bagus untuk mengedit file audio. Silakan mempelajari tutorialnya di sini.

Setelah file .MP3 tersebut jadi, upload-lah. Misalnya di web Anda sendiri, Odiogo, iTunes, terserah Anda. Jangan lupa sindikasikan feed-nya. Karena file audio yang tidak "disiarkan" di internet itu bukan podcast namanya.

NB: Looking for fiction writing opportunity in podcast? Here is one of them.