Notisbod notis:

Pembelian karya-karya Nurul Syahida kini boleh didapati secara online melalui ejen Mohamed Feroz atau melalui Karangkraf Mall. Setiap pembelian membolehkan anda mendapat tandatangan dan ucapan khas penulis.

Whatsapp/Hubungi: 019-2254910 (Abg Long)
Berikan (nama)(alamat)(nombor telefon)(kuantiti buku)

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Tiga Tahun Yang Mengelirukan

"Kalau orang suka buku kau, kenapa buku kau tak bestseller?" tanya seorang member.

Aku terpempan kejap, sebelum jawab, "Mungkin orang unik je yang suka buku aku."

Ahahahahaha. Aku memang tak tau nak jawab soalan ni. Ini soalan tentang rezeki Allah. Mungkin kalau buku aku bestseller, aku jadi bongkak tak bayar zakat. Mungkin kalau buku aku bestseller, nanti aku rasa aku paling bagus. Atau mungkin suatu hari nanti buku aku akan bestseller, cuma masanya belum tiba. How would I know?

I adopt the same ideology about jodoh.
Kalau ada, then kahwin. Kalau takde, then tak kahwin.
Kalau laris, Alhamdulillah. Kalau tak laris, well, continue living. Kalau ada orang nak tabur pasir dalam periuk nasik? Well, just punch them in the face and continue writing.

I have promised to write about my experience writing AKU KELIRU dan aku dah delay benda ni tersangatlah lama. I will do my SELF-OBSESSED TRIVIA some other time, when the book's period on the rack dah lama sikit.

For now... let's talk about how weird it is that I wrote the thickest novel that it had to be edited again so that some of my yappings had to be left out. It was 810 pages long when it was changed to InDesign version despite the fact that it was only 560 pages when I sent it to my editor (okay, so it's actually 560 pages yang ditulis guna font saiz 11 dan langkau 1.5 baris, instead of 12 and 2.... so sebenarnya aku rasa kalau aku hantar manuskrip tu dengan format sepatutnya, it would have been over 700)

Truth be told, I hate sequel. Hate it. Sekuel pada aku... macam some sort of a cheap move for orang yang tak ada idea. Kalau dalam industri filem, unless the movie is a trilogy, sekuel hanyalah bukti that the original movie was a huge success and the film studio is just cashing in on the hype.... which usually menghasilkan produk2 tak berkualiti (*cough*Transformers2&3*cough*)

Tapi aku buat jugak sekuel AKU KAN NOVELIS. Why? Sebab gmail aku dipenuhi requests yang bernada "Kak, tak puasla Roul sikit je. Buatlah sekuel."

Satu lagi, mungkin sebab aku memang hipokrit dan cakap tak serupa bikin. Maybe. Ahahahaha.

And the actual reason ialah sebab walaupun pada mulanya aku tak nak buat, one day, I just opened MS Words, and suddenly the words flow macam air terjun Lata Iskandar. It was so easy revisiting Safiah dan Roul and ideas kept flowing. But it still took me three years before I actually finish it. Kenapa?

Sebab aku malas Sebab I had to try to make it stand alone. I know that BUKU PRIMA was not that keen about sequels (especially since AKN pun tak la laris mana pun). You see, kalau nak cuba rationalise pun, you have to understand that Buku Prima, atau induknya, Karangkraf, adalah sebuah syarikat yang buat bisnes. They're not charity organisation. "Ha apa? Kau nak keluarkan novel sesuka hati kau tanpa pikir ada orang nak baca ke tak? Silakan..."

Takde makne la boleh buat macam tu. Ahaha.

So, untuk hasilkan sekuel AKN, aku kena cuba yakinkan yang it can stand alone without its predecessor. Aku perlu yakinkan editor aku yang even if you don't read AKN, you can understand AKU KELIRU. Aku perlu yakinkan dia orang yang kisah Safi, Roul, Iza, Helmi, Masni, Zaniel, Chaq, dan Jis ni worth the attempt. That took me three years. Well, of course, aku takde la mengharap laris juta-juta ke ape ke. I mean, come on. Let's be real. You don't go around saying "That novelist Nurul Syahida" and people say, "Yeah, I know her..." I am not that memorable.

Tiga tahun masa yang aku amik, bayangkan berapa banyak kali aku tekan delete button. I didn't want to make it too dramatic. I didn't want it to turn into some sinetron (masuk hospital, death, amnesia, penculikan, stolen identity, pencakukan ginjal, stuff like that). AKN in a nutshell adalah kisah seorang novelis bajet bagus yang sebenarnya as clueless as anybody else when it comes to relationship. And I want her to keep being that novelis bajet bagus yang sebenarnya clueless about relationship who is slowly learning that relationship is as tough as a rock if you are not willing to bend a little.

That's the whole point of "Teori dan Praktikal dalam Perhubungan adalah Dua Benda Berbeza", because Safiah, like meself, adalah theoretical being. We both suck at practicality. We have answers to others' problems because we understand the theory, but it doesn't mean we would do what we advice others to do.

Dalam masa tiga tahun tu, banyak benda yang berlaku dalam hidup. Aku dan kawan2 aku menang kes di Mahkamah Tinggi, then Mahkamah Rayuan buat taik dengan aku dan kitorang kalah semula. Aku buat bisnes dengan Mun jual Chocolate Strawberry pies, aku berhenti jual Chocolate Strawberry Pies. Aku buat terjemahan, and then aku stop buat terjemahan bila I realised that it took a lot of my time dengan bayaran yang not worth it at all. I met a nice guy, I did a stupid thing by not being ready for a nice guy, I lost a nice guy. I got thinner, I got fatter, I got thinner again, and then I gained weight, in an endless circle of calorie wars. My cousins got married, my cousins got pregnant, my cousins got kids. My two blogger friends got married, my best friend got married, got pregnant, and got a baby boy. I tried to write AK, I stopped a while and write something else, I return to AK. I got sad about things, I became positive about things, I feel nothing about things, and I live an autopilot life later on. I want to be different, then I want to be normal, then I think trying to be anything is just a cliche, and then think that trying not to be cliche is just a cliche in itself, and then think that I need to stop using the word cliche because I am getting sick and tired of the word being used in every day life nowadays and I feel like the monster who vomited that word and make it linger in the book industry and now just want to say, "Okay, I am sorry. Let's not use the word ever again!!!". These things happen in the course of three years of me writing AKU KELIRU. Yes, it all molds perfectly into my realm of thinking.

To sum it up, tajuk novel aku ni sebenarnya sangat sesuai dengan keadaan diri aku sekarang. I am just a confused person trying to make sense of the world around me.....................................................

What the hell am I writing right now?

22 comments:

rozalia-rajali said...

sepanjang seminggu bercuti saya dah berjaya tamatkan Aku Keliru (ulang 2 kali)...tunggu review aaya....!

Shai Kamarudin said...

waweeeee... I'll be waiting ^^

Vieraღ said...

bgtau member akak tu, buku bestseller tak semestinya best. It's just society dah terbiasa sgt dengan citer mcm tu. *cough*sophiekinsella *cough* HAHA. saya tak sabar nak baca buku akak tp skrg xda masa,tgh hujungsem.tunggu habis nnti,saya pasti review. Hee~ Next projek apa pula?

farah hazwani said...

jadi, kami (yang suka your book) ni unik?

yeah, proud to be unique.

and i will never get tired of roul. and your book.

MJ said...

dah habis baca! geram jugak dgn si safiah tu hehe. bytheway kak, keep up the good work! suka sgt dgn kak shai punya storyline ;)

Unknown said...

Kak i am always waiting for ur new novel.always admiring ur idea. Dont care what people say about being bestseller novel. Because we are unique! Hehe

anis said...

Saya menangis lepas habis baca Aku Keliru. Kenapa? :)

Shai Kamarudin said...

Viera - projek seterusnya ialah mengelamun depan laptop tak tau nak tulis apa. ahahahaha. Ilham kejap datang kejap tak.

FH - If there is a Roul, I bet he'll be grinning from ear to ear to hear that :D

MJ - thanks a lot! Alhamdulillah. sebab akak cam berpeluh2 risau takut citer tak menepati harga buku

Nur - time kasehhhh!!! (^o^)/ kamu memang unik di mata akuuuuu~~~

Anis - uiks? Nangis? Kenapa?

Happy Mind said...

ai dah promote novel aku keliru! itu kaw kaw kat GR...cuma kat blog belum lagi. Rasanya aku keliru layak dapat review lebih baik dari itu~~tp taktau macam mana nak karang ayat. no worries. ada rezeki byk lah orang sedar--sini ada penulis yang bagus!!! actually-sy pun baru sedar, i've missed lots by not realizing that you are great btw. keep on~keep on~ I wish there's more Safiah.(of course with Roul comes in package)

Miszunderstood said...

Please, teruskan jelah menulis. Blog ke apa sebab tahniah ko masih ada blog lagi. Wakakaka. Nanti 1 hari kita pegi Colmare ok. U, me & Masni because last time ko tak dapat ikut. Or anywhere. Ok?

Cam syahdu je komen aku ni.

bel said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sakura said...

yeay.. akhrnya dpt bc jgk Aku Keliru! best sgt.. tenkiu sbb slalu tlis novel yg blh jd inspirasi :)

Shai Kamarudin said...

Dunworibehepi/Sparrownganga - I also wish there would be a lot more Safiah. But by the current sales of AKU KELIRU, I don't think the publisher will like more of Safiah. Ahahahaha. But thank you for the kaw kaw promotion. I hope there are more readers like you out there ^o^

Jis - Nakkkkk... kalau gi Osaka lawat Masni pun, nakkkkk jugakkkk. ahahahaha

Sakura - tenkiu sbb sudi jadikan inspirasi ^^

[o.0] said...

Kak, tq sbb msh tulis novel. Lama dah sy tunggu novel akak.. your novel best from the other. It's inspired me. Takmau ckp panjang, "Semoga Allah kurniakan akak ilham nk tulis novel. Ameen"

Anonymous said...

Teringat peristiwa berebut soalnya hati kat festival buku karangkraf..
Menjerit2 "tu sye punye jgn amik smpi sume org pndg(malu)"..
Tp skang soalnya hati,plain jane,valentino nervosa dah ilng..
Org pnjm xpulngkn..
Kejamnya dunia..
Ske copy paste ayt akak..
Jgn mare..
Sukses slalu..

odah73 said...

Salam

Akak suka ayat
"Mungkin org unik je suka buku aku"

sbb akak rasa memang akak unik sbb akak dah bc AKN dan Keliru dah berkali2...Tensen gak sbb do terpandang buku tu je nak bc...lpas ni nak bc VN plak. Teruskan usaha insyaAllah ..

Sofie Adie said...

hahahaha...lepas baca ni trus stop mintak sekuel pasal pyan...okey, buku tu pun dah nak kuning tapi still jadi novel pilhan hati dan karakter impian...watak semua novel kak shai like hidup, macam the real. hakikat benda orang susah nak terima.
penat baca novel expectation lebih..huhuhuhu
wish kak shai BERJAYA somedy..maybe not today...but, someday!!!aamiiiiin

Shai Kamarudin said...

[o.0] - hoh, bersungguh haku menaip muka itu... Aminnnnn, semoga masih ada ramai pembaca mcm awak yg sudi baca ^^

Anonymous - eh tak marah. sile sile kopipes lagi. it's a form of flattery :D.... dunia mmg kejam, tapi kalau nak beli semula, bleh call ejen akak ABANG LONG di talian 0192254910

Kak odah73 - Amiinnnn... sediakan semangat mental untuk VN, sbb ramai yg kata buku tu gloomy. ahahaha

sofie adie - tak dapat lak nak buat sekuel pasal Pyan kalau khas utk Pyan. tapi pssstt... kalau Pyan mencelah kat mana2 karya lain mungkin bolehh... mWAHAHAHAH (bila entah nak buat)

Anonymous said...

haha act saya baru baca novel akk ni *AK* tahun ni hahaha dont get me wrong . saya dah stop mmbaca novel since tahun lepas sbb ...sbb yg sgt mrepek .
saya sgt sgt suka novel akk .
since baca novel plain jane , saya dh start crik AKN and Soalnya Hati . bila Valentina Nervosa w cute cover tu keluar lg saya happy bganda ganda .
last week saya nekad nak mmbaca novel balik slpas stahun tawar hati dgn novel yg sama je pattern ;kawen pksa . entah knp saya rasa akn skit jntung kalau asyik baca that type of novel . k sambung , frst pncarian saya kt mph mid hri sbtu . dgn byk org yg nak gune baucer satu malaysia tu. saya tabahkan diri duduk kat part dorg simpan bku2 yg dorg tak ltak kat rak . saya duduk n kluarkan semua novel yg btimbun timbun tu tp AK takda . then gi MPH TBS also takde. then gi 1 kdai bku area sogo akhirnya i found it w dscount lg . sgt bpuas hati. hahaha k tak saya tak puas hati sbnrnya , saya nak cerita roul lg pls . pls pls pls hahaha
btw akk , thanks . u open my mind about lot of thgs . pls keep writing . even bku hantu akk pn saya follow bcause i very very very very likes ur style . thanks again :)))))

and yaaa saya pnah prgi cntral mrket kot and hoping dpt tgk org yg mcm roul hahaha k dadaaaa

Shai Kamarudin said...

usahamu dalam mencari AK amat ai kagumi. thank you sooo much!!!
And thank you from the bottom of my heart sebab sudi baca lebih drpd a few pages dan jumpa apa yg dicari. teehee

Kalau jumpa org macam Roul, kirimkan salam akak sekali bleh? ahahaha

Unknown said...

Well..aku keliru super best kot.tak typical..aku suke roul.jiwa kosong yang hilang..mana nak jumpe roul dlm novel2 lain kalau bukan kau yang tulis?hahaha..sbb kau unik.sama mcm roul.all the best shai!
Masih wujud peminat novel kau yang obses watak2 rare mcm roul.ke konikinuya tak ku temu..berlari ke midvalley..rupenya ade di rak popular avenue k.hahaha!

Shai Kamarudin said...

DF - ahahah terima kasih kerana samakan aku dgn roul, (which means, I have... red... hair... and cusses... all the... time? :P)
memang susah nak jumpa buku2ku ituh, nak carik kena buat treasure hunt, kalau tak mmg kena beli online. haih, memang menyedihkan.