Author: Raidah Shah Idil

Raidah Shah Idil is a student counsellor, poet, writer, and creative instructor with a passion for YA (young adult), fantasy, sci-fi and detective fiction. She was born in Singapore and moved to Australia at the age of 12. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (English) and Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of New South Wales in 2005. After working as a marketing copywriter and studying the Islamic Sciences in Amman, Jordan for nearly two years, she returned to Sydney, got married, then moved to Malaysia. While working as a part-time tutor at Axiom Learning, she works as an online counsellor for Seekershub Global. She has completed her Diploma of Counselling through the Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors. Her full-time job is raising her baby daughter. Everything else is squeezed in between. Literally. Her writing has been published in The Feminist Wire, SISTERS magazine, Daily Life, Lip Mag and Venture Beat. Raidah’s poetry was recently published in the ‘Armed With Only Our Souls’ online DDFS chapbook by New York poet Caits Meissner. Her debut double-featured novel, “Finding Jamilah and the Story of Yusuf” was published by MyLegacy publications in early 2014. In her spare time (ha), she reads, listens to audiobooks, goes on walks, and is always on the lookout for tasty noodle soup. She currently lives in a green, leafy suburb in Kuala Lumpur with her husband, three small children and mother-in-law.
Writing

On Conflict

Raidah Shah Idil

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When you think of the word ‘conflict’ – what words come to mind?

My thoughts: good guys vs bad guys, character growth, intergalactic war….but there’s actually much more to conflict. Joe Bunting from the Write Practice wrote a brilliant post titled The Secret To Creating Good Conflict

Here’s a quote from the original post (read it!) – “Conflict, in good sto­ries, is not about spec­tac­u­lar events or painful emo­tions. Good con­flict is about values.”

I had a light-bulb moment while reading that post. Harry Potter valued family, justice and peace. Voldermort valued chaos, destruction and pain. No wonder they were enemies. It all boils down to what they valued. If Voldermort was also a family guy, I doubt he would have, well, destroyed Harry Potter’s family and effectively stopped the entire series from taking off.

Luke Skywalker valued freedom, family and peace. Darth Vader valued power, chaos and the dark side of the Force. Then he surprised everyone by having a value shift (i.e. from loving chaos to loving family) when he saved his son from Emperor Palpatine, at the cost of his own life. That goes to show that character values definitely don’t have to remain static. I’d say that makes a character much more interesting. Many of us go through life and have value shifts….maybe not as dramatic as Darth Vader’s, but of a more subtle variety. Interesting!

Life

Sleep, elusive sleep

Raidah Shah Idil

How do you put yourself to sleep?

You might belong to the lucky percentage of people who simply need to drop your head on your pillow, and voila, you’re on your way to the land of zzzzzz’s. Or you could be more like me, when some sleepless nights require a bit more intervention.

My past two weeks of intense freelance writing have taken their toll on my sleep. The main issue is that when I finally do drag myself to bed, I’m too wired to fall asleep. After hours of being switched on, trying to suddenly switch off isn’t a simple option. So. Operation Sleepy Time will commence!

Here’s my plan for more effective sleepy time:
1) Stop all writing projects by 10 pm

2) Drink chamomile tea

3) Read a non-fiction book

4) No late-night texting/whatsapping/emails!
Hope this works!

Islam, Life

Boundless Plains Premiere

Raidah Shah Idil

Last night, I attended the Boundless Plains Premiere at the NSW Parliament House. The 30-minute documentary about four young Australian Muslim men travelling into the outback was absolutely riveting. I really enjoyed watching their exploration into the depths of the Australian desert and their interviews with people who told them about the Afghan cameliers. There was an interview with a 101 year-old woman, who was the daughter of an Afghan camelier. She showed a photograph of her dad standing in front of a simple mosque. Imagine that! There’s a whole history that I wasn’t even aware of.

What really excited me was a short clip of an Aboriginal Muslim woman who lived up in Darwin – the remarkable thing was that she looked Indonesian! This young woman is living proof of the intermarriage between the Makassan trepangers and Aboriginal women.

I came away from that documentary with a quiet reassurance that Muslims have been part of the fabric of Australian society for a very long time. Evidence of that ranges from old rock paintings, the first telegraph pole in Australia, to the  descendants of these early Muslims who are still living today. Kudos to the Islamic Museum of Australia team for putting together this inspiring documentary! I hope that it reaches far and wide, and promotes understanding in a world that needs more compassion, and less judgement.

On this note, Happy New Islamic Year! We’re now in the month of Muharram, 1434 after the Prophet’s migration to Medina.
May this year be a blessed and safe one for you and your loved ones 🙂

art, Life

The Artist Manifesto: Will You Create?

Raidah Shah Idil

Here’s something I’d like to share with you:

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This inspiring piece of art was done by the talented Mandy Thompson. I’ve linked this image to Jeff Goin’s blog – check it out!

This manifesto speaks to me on so many levels. Starting up this blog has helped to jump-start my writing. Thank you for taking the time to read what I have to say. While my writing’s been progressing, my other passion, painting, has been woefully neglected. As I write this, I have blank canvases, empty sketch pads and all kinds of cool artsy stuff (acrylic, watercolour, oil paints, charcoal sticks etc) packed away in boxes. What’s stopping me? The usual suspects – fear of failure, procrastination, perfectionism. The irony of not starting a basic draft because I don’t want to get anything ‘wrong’ is that I get nothing done – I’m not any closer to that masterpiece! So if you’ve got something you’ve been wanting to write, sketch, or paint, take that leap, and see how it grows. Be at peace with imperfection. That’s where the beauty is.

My goal for tonight: break out my pencils and get a basic sketch done on my canvas. Baby steps!

Book review, Books, Classics

On Moby-Dick

Raidah Shah Idil

I have a confession to make. It took me several years to finish reading Moby-Dick. It took me ages to read it, but to actually understand what happened…um. I’m still working on it. If anyone has any tips about how to get a better understanding of the events and symbolism in this novel, please let me know!

I loved the powerful opening line – Call me Ishmael. First lines are meant to grip the reader, and propel them to the second line, and so forth, and Moby-Dick did exactly that. The language befuddled me at several points, so I definitely need to do several re-readings.

I don’t know much about sailing, boats or whaling, but by the end of the novel, I learned that the ocean is not a force to be trifled with. And that whales can be SCARY. Especially hulking old ones with a vendetta against a one-legged madman. It goes to show the double-edged sword of relentless ambition….you may get what you want, but is the price something you’re willing to pay? Hm.

Book review, young adult

On Young Adult fiction

Raidah Shah Idil

When it comes to my most-loved book genres, young adult fiction has to be right up there on my list. Yes, I know, I’m almost 30, but I suspect that I will always have a special place in my heart for YA fiction. There’s something so compelling in well-written YA – the alienation, the feelings of displacement, the longing for belonging….ah, nothing like angsty YA, I tell you.

Total Constant Order has to be one of my favourite YA books. I don’t know anyone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), so reading this book gave me a sneak peek into what it must be like for someone to live with that, day in, and day out, and what it’s like for the people who love them. I really like Fin, the protagonist – she’s spunky, likeable, and of course, troubled, but ultimately, she rises to the challenge of embracing who she is, OCD and all. I like that it ends on a hopeful, but not picture-perfect note. That makes it more relatable, which I feel makes the best kind of story.

Books, Classics, Life, Writing

On Antagonists and Peacocks

Raidah Shah Idil

“You know my powers, my dear Watson, and yet at the end of three months I was forced to confess that I had at last met an antagonist who was my intellectual equal. My horror at his crimes was lost in my admiration at his skill.” – Arthur Conan Doyle, Sr (1859-1930)

What makes a good antagonist? Here’s a quick list of what comes to mind:

  • Lord Of The Rings: Sauron
  • Star Wars: Darth Vader & Emperor Palpatine
  • Moby-Dick: Moby-Dick
  • Little Red Riding Hood: The Big Bad Wolf

If you scan that list, it’s easy to spot why I’ve picked them as the antagonists. They were clearly trying to endanger the protagonist. However, I read a blog post by K.M. Welland that suggests something different – antagonists don’t have to be actually bad guys. An antagonist could even be, as she says, the weather! Of course, antagonists are most commonly crafted as characters whom the protagonist can flee from or fight. It’s interesting though, to think of a protagonist grappling with inner demons as being his own antagonist – inside his own mind. I remember being fascinated by the protagonist Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov in Crime and Punishment. He was the narrator of the story who committed a hideous crime, then drove himself insane with the guilt. Who’s the antagonist there? Well…to a large degree, I think he was. Sure, you could argue that Ilya Petrovich, the police inspector who was tracking him down, was the antagonist, but it was Raskolnikov’s decision to confess that ultimately sent him into exile.

Black and white, cookie-cutter bad guys are a lot less interesting than far more complex antagonists, who are determined to push back against the protagonist. And when they’re all bundled up in the same person…well. Definitely interesting.

On another note, I’ve been hearing these loud and bizzare sounds in the middle of the night. My husband and I think that maybe it’s some kind of bird. Except what kind of bird squawks so loudly at two in the morning? I need to find closure with this, so I’ve been trawling the web.  It kind of has the volume of the Great Malay Argus, but it’s missing something…then I found the sound of a peacock! I honestly think it is peacock mating season. And it is NOISY. You know, there must be some cosmic irony in this. We moved to this lovely apartment to escape the rock-hammering at our old place, and now, we’re being trolled by MATING PEACOCKS! *facepalm*

Book review, Charles de Lint, freelance, Life, Short story

On Multi-Tasking and Charles de Lint

Raidah Shah Idil

“The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

Today, my desk looks slightly more organized. I have a glass of water to my right, Craisins to my left. Paper… everywhere. 🙂 It’s been a rough and rewarding past week, with my completion of my first project. Editing transcripts is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Getting my first payment? Now that was a good feeling. I’ve signed up to another freelance website, http://www.elance.com, and I’m working on another project; I’ll be writing a 20-page report, this time. While I edit my latest piece for Daily Life. And work on my counselling workbook. And – not to mention – juggle the various roles of wife, daughter, sister, and friend.  Eep. I have lots to do. Balance is key!

On another note, check out this beautiful post on the difference between a short story and a novel. As much as I love reading a satisfying novel, there’s something incredibly special about a superbly-crafted short story. One of my favourite short-story collections has to be Charles de Lint’s Dreams Underfoot: The Newford Collection. Charles de Lint has crafted the mythical town of Newford somewhere in Canada, and created an unforgettable cast of characters. I need many, many more blog posts to cover how much I love his work. My first exposure to his genius was actually through audiobooks, from Audible.com – Memory and Dream was my first Charles de Lint experience. And certainly not the last! There is something so magical about how he’s weaved these stories together. His stand-alone novels are fantastic enough, but his short story collection felt like an absolute treat. The appetiser, so to speak, before the main course. Each so very exquisite, and leaving you wanting more.

Book review, Books, Fantasy

A Different Kind of Fantasy Novel

Raidah Shah Idil

I’ve been an avid reader of fantasy, and after a while, it really does all blend in to the same thing. It’s usually some blend of European, set in the medieval era. Sure, fantasy is a genre, it does have a very set formula, and sometimes that’s exactly what I’m looking for….but after a while, it can get stale.

So what makes a fantasy novel different?

Alif the Unseen is definitely a different kind of fantasy novel. As a friend put it, it’s about hackers and jinn. Literally. Now that was a riveting read. G. Willow Wilson wove a story based in an imaginary Middle Eastern city, with the backdrop of the Arab Spring. Her characters are flawed, compelling, and  the non-human ones are particularly riveting!

I haven’t read Throne of The Crescent Moon, but the reviews look amazing! I’m liking this new trend of Arabian-inspired fantasy novels…looking forward to seeing what else is coming up!

Beauty myth, Health, Opinion

Perfection Is No Panacea

Raidah Shah Idil

My article on the beauty myth just got published on Lip Mag! You can find it here.

I was inspired to write this article after discussions with my teenage sister. Back when I was seventeen, I remember being worried about my grades, but it seems like the teens of today have far more on their minds. I know, we were all self-conscious teens back then, but I honestly do not remember being overly bothered by the rise of eating disorders, or media pressure to look a certain way i.e. THIN IS IN. Times have changed, and if I didn’t have the emotional resilience of a 29 year old, I would probably be very affected by all these toxic messages about body image.

For what it’s worth, I hope that if you’re reading this, and you have girls in your life whom you love, tell them that they’re already beautiful, as they are. Losing weight isn’t going to make them more worthy of love. That’s all too often a slippery slope into an eating disorder. If you do have a loved one who is suffering from an eating disorder, then seek help. The Butterfly Foundation is a wonderful institute that helps eating disorder suffers and their families.