Learn song writing from Master of Words

Recently Reel Friends of ScreenBox (RFOS) held a successful Up Close and Personal Workshop with Samsul Nahar to delve deeper and learn from the expert on the know how of song writing. After all this man, also known as Tukang Kata, was from the band Ahli Fiqir and have won awards for the songs he written.

Recently winning an award at Anugerah Hit 1 (organised by RTM) for the song he wrote entitled Mara Bahaya, Samsul have his way with words and when he speak about song writing, one can tell that this man is passionate about writing.

At the Up Close and Personal Workshop with Samsul Nahar, Samsul shared his knowledge on tips of good writing with the participants. For Samsul, the scope of writing is wide, writing poems, love letter, scripts and even more. Firstly to be a good writer, one needs to read widely. “They key to good writing is not about writing a lot, but reading widely. Despite writing one song daily, without reading, our lyrics will be monotonous.”

Secondly, one must write regularly to be a good writer. “Just like a knife that has to be sharpened daily, it is the same with writing.” By writing regularly, one can use vocabulary gained from reading into the writing. Like the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

Thirdly is having an interest in writing. With interest, you can find yourself having a lot to write. With interest, you can use writing as a medium to send your message across. Also lastly, Samsul believes that as a writer, you have to have a sensitive heart; be sensitive to your surroundings. You have to absorb everything that you see, hear and feel as this can help you be an all rounder writer.

For Samsul, what facilitates him when writing is his “bank”. Whenever he reads, he would pick out words and phrases that catches his attention and jots it down in a book, creating a “word bank”. Whenever he is inspired or feels like writing, his “word bank” would come in handy and provides him with the words that can be used for his content.

Participants from the Up Close and Personal Workshop with Samsul Nahar learnt a lot during the 1-hour laid-back session. 15 year old student Syafiqah, felt that the workshop was interesting. “From this session, I learnt that when you have a passion in writing, just pursue it and not worry. Opportunities will come to you.”

It was a short yet fulfilling workshop for all, as Samsul was engaging when sharing his knowledge and left no stones unturned, responding to each participants query. Want to catch up with what you have missed at the workshop with Samsul? Look out for the full video from the session that will be uploaded on the website soon!