Author's Notes
From Art to Words: My Journey Writing Malama Island
Malama Island was originally conceived together with a young surfing friend of mine while playfully toying with the idea of a hidden island sanctuary with dragons, mermaids and aliens. She was still in school at the time, aspiring to be a writer. Writing stories was not something I’d ever desired to do but the challenge of doing something so creatively different from visual art appealed to me. It would never have come into being without her sparking my interest.
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It became clear how different writing was from the creative projects I was accustomed to. I wasn’t an avid reader and much of my story telling experiences came from movies and television. The story appeared to me as a movie playing in my head. All I had to do was figure out a way to convert what I imagined into words. It was much more difficult and time consuming than anticipated. The writing process pulled me into another world completely. It was like living in a dream. The hours passed quickly while hardly noticing.
After about six months of writing in 2010, I had what became Part 1 and 2 completed. It was a sloppy overwritten mess but the story was fully fleshed out. The manuscript sat untouched for years with just a one page outline of what would become Part 3.
I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to write the kind of story I wanted to tell. It reflects how I see life and the kinds of people I’ve experienced and love even while set against, what is in part, a fantastical backdrop. A piece of advice I’ve heard from other more seasoned writers is “write what you know”. I took this to heart and composed the book along my own timeline. Many of the things that happen to the protagonist in the story are directly taken from my own experiences although modified and altered in many cases. For me, it makes the story feel real even with its metaphorical and symbolic diversions.
I’m currently Seventy-three years old as I write these notes about the book. I characterize myself here as a retired artist, which means my artistic interests and desires are not commercially motivated. I’ve always had a tendency to dislike doing art with that kind of pressure or restraint to my creativity. I like what I wrote because it’s honest and comes from my own heart.
I’ve been told of the importance of conflict and heroic journeys in story telling along with a lot of other advice on what makes for good writing. I started my story from “the seat of my pants” without a fully formed plot. I tended to learn and come up with ideas as I went along. For me, it was important not to tell just another huge violent war story. I’ve had a happy life for the most part and it seemed unrealistic. The conflicts in my story are very real and I see them frequently in my experiences.
