"How Do You Spell 'Write' Anyway?" An Article from Suthep Srikureja, Author of The Traveler

Today's special guest is Suthep Srikureja, author of the children's spiritual novel, The Traveler.

The Traveler is about Dreams and Wishes…it’s about Expressions and Wonder and about Hope and Trust.

It is a Story of the Stars and it seeks to inspire awe in our everyday existence and optimism about the future.

"How Do You Spell 'Write' Anyway?" by Suthep Srikureja

Thank you for having me here today.

Do you think writing is hard? What should you write about? Do you want to be a Writer one day?

How do you spell "Write" anyway?

Let me tell you how I spell it...''W R I I T E'.... Now before you say that my spelling sucks, let me tell you what I mean, and let's start with:

W : Write

The best way to be a writer is to simply Write. Sit down, pull out a sheet of paper and pen, or turn on your computers and simply...start. I often hear people saying things like "Oh, I would like to write one day but I am so busy. I can never find the time..." or "I used to be pretty good at this. I'm sure I can do it." or " I would like to write but I think I would totally suck" ...and so on. Yes, these arguments may make sense but it really does not matter. Good or bad, talented or not, if you want to do it, you have to DO it.

So take action. There is no substitute.

R: Relax

All right kids, take a deep breath in. Now breathe out. Again. And again. How do you feel?

The thing is if you are tense or stressed out about anything you do, whether it is your school work, or sports or even your social life, your performance will suffer. Or you will suffer. OR both. And that doesn't make sense. It's the same with writing. Don't go crazy and don't be scared. If you relax into the process of writing, you will be more effective. And you will enjoy yourself too.

I: Ideas

What to write about? Where do ideas come from? The answer is from Everywhere. From your mind, from other people, from books, from movies, your pets, from nature. There are stories all around us. Try to be observant, try to notice things. The way someone walks, the way the cat hides and pounces, the way your friend's shoe laces keep getting undone, the way the moon and the sun play hide and seek with one another...Keep doing this and pretty soon you discover that you now have way too many ideas. What do you do? How do you manage them? The best way is to write them down. They don't have to mean anything and they don't have to lead anywhere. You may never use these ideas. But you have to catch them. For if you don't they will pop like bubbles and they will be lost forever. I have a little note book that I carry with me everywhere and I call it my bubble catcher. I write everything down. If nothing else, I take it out and read it when I'm bored. It's a real fun thing to do.

I: Inspiration

Some days I find myself looking for inspiration. So what I do is I open my note book, my bubble catcher, and I look through it. I read it slowly and suddenly one of the bubbles starts to try to catch my attention. Some are nice and polite and they say 'please' and some are a little aggressive and they catch hold of me. Either way, I start with one or more of these ideas and then see where they lead me.

T : Trust

Some writers know exactly the type of story they are going to write. Everyone has their style, everyone has their method. I can only tell you my way. For me everything I write is an adventure. It might be a funny sort of a journey or it might be a magical mystery tour or it may be a discovery trip. It could be a short story or it could be a long book. While I do know what end result I am looking for, I don't force it too much. I know that my stories want to be written as much as I want to write them, and so I often let them be the driver. In that sense we are like partners and we create the stories together. That takes a lot of Trust. Trust in myself and Trust in my story.

E: Expression

You must express yourself sincerely. If you try to copy someone else, or you try to write about some topic simply because it is the fashionable thing to do, you might not be able to do as a good a job. But if you express your story in your own way, you develop something that writers call "Voice" which the reader will be able to "Hear". It may be a little hard at the beginning to find what style you're most comfortable with but it comes with time. So write and express what's in your heart and you cannot go wrong.

And that's how I WRIITE.

How about you?

Thank you.


Suthep Srikureja lives in Bangkok with his wife and three children. An entrepreneur and a writer, he can often be found immersed in various bodies of water. The Traveler is his first book.


You can find out about Suthep and his book at http://www.mettavisions.com/