What I believe is that a writer is probably considered a scholar and a student of the forever; what I mean by this is a writer gets inspiration from the whole of existence in what it contains, the daily experiences that are both negative and positive, the new things learned, images that are seen that could inspire me to describe the scene in writing, and the conversations of people that I hear become inspirations to use their words as dialogue. I believe people are unaware that they are daily being bombarded with sounds, images, and thoughts around them.

I’m constantly learning about life through trial and error; I am a lifelong student and never stop learning. If I have time, I try to study many subjects and try to learn from experience. Every part of life is a learning experience, the classroom of life. As a writer, I write from my own experiences and what I know, staying within the realm of what I know at first. Through research, I write about other places and times with some imagination; my goal is to write not from the vantage point of a particular culture but from all viewpoints. In my concept of the mythical world as a writer, I gather information on all things and events in my life that I remembered in childhood to a few years ago, remembering the things I’ve learned, and build cultures, times, and worlds through what is in my mind and imagination. Even if I fall short of the effort, the effort is there. As a writer, I’m sensitive to change; I try to understand change; it’s the working mechanism of the universe that can’t be held back if such a flow is resisted; it inhibits a peaceful mind that harmonizes with the world around me. As life is negative, positive, and everything in between, that is the drama of our surroundings from where poems, novels, short stories, and non-fiction spring up. I gather up and try to study all changes, horrid and beautiful; at times, I fall short, and at other times I succeed; it’s a lifelong goal to accept that change.

There is the courage to be a writer, to experiment, that an experimental poem, novel, or short story might not be in fashion, maybe harshly criticized. As a writer, my voice is essential; it takes guts to write what others don’t write about. I’m constantly experimenting with ideas when I’m writing or trying to. Some pictures are so abstract that no one can understand what I’m writing. I use words in abstract writing to give impressions of images, feelings, and perhaps sounds. I’m reaching out hope that others will understand what I’ve written.

Robert J. Matsunaga