Most comfortable: dark contemporary drama with a thriller/horror edge. Think teenlit with real stakes, plus psychological suspense. My recent work leans toward Halloween killers, a man-eating tree, a girl trapped where no one hears her, a pickpocket on the run, and a split-personality sibling. All of it is set in modern, recognizable places like clubs, apartments, Ikea, and churches. That setting lets me put the focus on characters and their messy inner lives, and the genre gives you built-in tension to push them against.
Most avoided: probably high fantasy or hard sci-fi. Those genres lean on heavy worldbuilding, rules, and systems, and my method is character-first, with plot coming out of psychology. Even my royal is grounded in real-world lineage and modern settings. Another possible one is pure fluffy romance, since my characters tend to carry something darker underneath. The “why” is that I seem to write best when people are the engine of the story, not the world or the plot machinery.

LANCE: he genre I feel most comfortable writing is romance, particularly stories in which a character develops one-sided feelings for someone close to them. Lately, though, I’ve found myself interested in exploring more than just unrequited love. I want to understand how my characters fall for someone they fancy, what sort of circumstances bring those feelings to the surface, and what makes them realise that they’ve grown attached to another person. Whether those feelings turn out to be romantic or purely platonic, I find it fascinating to explore how affection develops between two people and how seemingly ordinary moments can lead to something meaningful.

As for the subject I tend to avoid the most, it would have to be death. I’m not entirely sure why, but I suppose I’m simply not ready to write about my characters dying or having to face the loss of someone they love. Perhaps, for now, there are still too many feelings surrounding the subject that I haven’t learnt how to put into words.

Thriller kriminal paling enjoy, spesifiknya kriminal kolong. Gue sejujurnya gak begitu bisa nulis kriminal yang mafia-mafiaan dengan kesan elegan dan high-class gitu. Bisa sih, cuma hasilnya gak semaksimal kriminal kampung. Mungkin ini berhubungan dengan visi menulis gue sendiri yang ingin memahami kriminalitas sebagai anomali sosial sampai di tahap yang radikal. Dan apa yang gue temukan selama nulis kriminal kolong ini ternyata cukup menarik. Kejahatan di gelapnya terowongan Manggarai dan bantaran kali Ciliwung tentu gak sesederhana kejahatan yang dilakukan miliader brengsek dengan ego segede dosa Prabowo. Rantai sebab akibat antara faktor sistemik dan opsi-opsi ekstrem di masyarakat terpinggirkan ini yang ingin gue ceritakan.

Kalau yang paling dihidari kayaknya religi. Alasannya simple, gak ngerti agama kecuali yang wajib-wajib aja.

Hello, writer Isaak. This is Cendana, a writer of Mr. Berkah. When it comes to Berkah Nusaraprasa, my favorite thing to write is when I can write something a bit quirky, strange, and in today's parlance, NYAWIT. Wkwkwkwk. Entah kenapa saya kalau di Berkah ini merasa lebih senang dengan hal-hal yang kayak gitu. Mungkin efek dari plot kali ya. Genrenya mungkin yang lebih menjelaskan tentang pekerjaan ini saya bisa bilang lumayan riset, dan hawanya senang juga. Tapi disatu sisi yo jelas capek karena cukup menguras energi.

If there's one writing I avoid... perhaps because I'm 21+ and not very good at it, it's playing the role of a rich person. Being used to creating characters and writing in everyday language sometimes makes me awkward when asked to play a rich person. Maaf kalau terkesannya sekampung itu, karena jujur susah banget.

Thank you for asking my writer, Isaak. Regarding the character Gunawan Adhiarjaika, Lucian, as his writer, i am very happy when writing and researching topics related to psychology, proper parenting, and the father-child relationship—these are the kinds of writings that bring me joy, happiness, and new knowledge. Also, as someone who chose the role of Director for this character, I’m quite happy to be able to write about my opinions on certain movies. Because, to be honest, my writer really enjoys watching movies—though I’m not exactly a cinephile nich ya.

Then, if asked what genre I avoid in my writing, I’d probably say the 21+ genres because I’m still not very skilled in them. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like those genres—it’s just that whenever I use 21+ vocabulary or phrases, it feels like something’s missing, like it’s a bit bland. If you don’t mind sharing, what’s your secret to writing 21+ plots? Who knows, maybe we can discuss it so I can learn to write them too, hahahahaha.