UNAIR NEWS – Hoping to break the stigma of lazy youth and spending her spare time, Huriyah Dhawy Febrianti actively hones her writing skills, especially novel-writing. The Faculty of Humanities (FIB)’s Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) student successfully published three novels in a year.
The student familiarly called Dhawy has long wanted to write novels. It wasn’t until 2019 that her wish was realized. Previously, she used to write poetry. She has published several books on poetry since 2017.
“I tried to break out of my comfort zone. Joining a novel-writing parade, challenging myself, it turns out that after being tried, it is exciting as well,” Dhawy expressed.
Addressed social issues
Dhawy always aims to vocalize social issues in her novels. Nevertheless, she kept writing the novel in light language and jokes. In her first novel, Keterpurukan Kedua, Dhawy brought up emotional issues and mental issues themes that often occurred in teenagers.
“The teenager’s relationship is very close with bullying. In my novel, I talk about how a friend should behave and make the teenager acceptable, not bullied,” she said.
Still writing about teenage life, Dhawy brought up organizational life themes in her second novel, Creative Life, Creative Project. The student who actively enrolled in an off-campus organization claimed that experiences in organizations were not always good. Sometimes someone could experience rejection in the organization.
“As a writer, I want to voice and establish the joy and grief of organization. Not always from my experience, but also from friend’s stories and people’s experiences,” she said.
Her latest work, titled Real Child vs Childish, discussed family issues. Dhawy is interested in discussing the issue because many parents often compare their children.
Completed one novel in one month
Joining the writing parade, Dhawy had to finish her novel within 30 days. Every day, Dhawy must submit a minimum of one chapter. At first, this made her almost give up and cry every night.
“Not submitting for one day could make me disqualified. Every once in 5 minutes, I had fallen asleep and was always woken up by my mother. I almost wanted to pull the script, but my mother always gave me support to not give up and convinced me that I can,” she recalled.
The student who actively sings admitted to having run out of ideas while completing her novel. Watching films and reading funny books have been a way to overcome that.
“All of my books are available on google playbook. For the physical books can be ordered directly from me,” she mentioned.
In the end, Dhawy encouraged young people to express their anxieties. Anxieties that are underestimated might damage significantly if we can manage them well.
“We also need to befriend the insecurities we felt. Smile, accept it, and recognize it. Don’t make it as excuses to stop our steps,” she said. (*)
Author: Alysa Intan Santika
Editor: Feri Fenoria
