KUCHING: What began as a hobby reading fan fiction on Facebook at the age of 12 has now grown into a dream of bringing original stories to the world of animation and film for young writer Fatin Aisyah Faizul Azhar.
Fatin, 24, said her passion for writing started after spending hours reading stories online before eventually deciding to create her own.
“I started writing on Facebook because I loved reading other people’s stories. Eventually, I wanted to create my own stories too,” she said.
Encouraged by the positive response from readers, she later moved to Wattpad, which offered a larger platform and audience.
However, she said the biggest inspiration behind her storytelling came from her grandfather, Haji Kaderi, who loved sharing stories with his grandchildren.
“Whenever my grandfather told stories, I would adapt them and turn them into books,” she said.
That inspiration eventually led to her first published work, Siri Moral Variasi Haiwan, released when she was just 14 years old with the support of a foundation.
Despite starting young, Fatin has now produced around 32 books, including series related to animals, entrepreneurship and current social issues.
Among the titles she has worked on are the Boycott Kesan Kepada Negara series, entrepreneur-themed books and several children’s books written using simple and accessible language.
She said most of her works are aimed at children to ensure messages and lessons can be understood more easily by younger readers.
At the same time, Fatin is also developing a comic project titled Tujuh, which she hopes to turn into an animated production in the future.
“We are currently building our fanbase and applying for government funding because animation requires a very big budget,” she said.
According to Fatin, renowned author J.K. Rowling is among her biggest inspirations in writing and motivates her to see her own stories adapted for the screen one day.
Although writing may seem enjoyable, she admitted the journey comes with emotional and mental challenges.
“We are not only focusing on books. We also run businesses, so sometimes it can be exhausting emotionally and mentally,” she said.
Fatin added that writer’s block is also something she experiences regularly, but she has her own ways of overcoming it.
“We listen to music, watch Chinese, Korean and Japanese dramas or anime. Sometimes ideas come at three in the morning, so we have to write them down immediately before they disappear,” she said with a laugh.
She believes discipline is essential in sustaining a career in writing, especially when it becomes a source of income.
“When writing becomes your job, you have to stay disciplined. I make sure there is always a new book produced every year,” she said.
Fatin also encouraged young aspiring writers to dream big and stay consistent in pursuing their goals.
“We need to have dreams so we can go further. Even if we start from the bottom, if we improve one per cent every day, eventually we will succeed,” she said.
With hopes of becoming a film director in the future, Fatin dreams of one day seeing her stories move beyond the pages of books and onto cinema and animation screens.
