Lesson Number One: Taking up graduate studies is not really my dream. I always think it is God-given. It is not really my aspiration to get into the masters program, the program accidentally found me.
Two years into the masters, and I still owe everything to luck, and probably to my modest talent in writing. Much as I would like to give up and do other things in life, the program gives me a sense of higher purpose besides my career. It is an opportunity that I do not want to waste.
Lesson Number Two: In high school, we had only two subjects that addressed our issues with the technicals of the English language. In college, we only had one. In the days preceding Diliman, grammar had never been an issue - nobody questions me with the tenses that I used. Nowadays, my technical ineptitude has become the greatest blunder in my academics. The thought that I might be committing mistakes I am not aware of due to my lack of grasp with the shifting tenses, nouns, pronouns and prepositions distracts me from expressing my thoughts freely.
Lesson Number Three: Journalism did not teach us to read and appreciate good books and novels. Our noses were all over Philippine Daily Inquirer, Time Magazine and News and Information Programs on TV. Journalism taught us to be sensitive, nosey and aware of our surroundings. Creativity comes second in our chosen field.
The major taught us to be detailed in our story, straight in telling it and our story should always have a reference in history. If I knew I would take Creative Writing when I was still in the undergrad, I should have taken Literature instead.
Lesson Number Four: I should always remember: Several months before I was admitted in the master's program, I was denied thrice in my application for Internet Content Writer. Now I understand that the reason for such failure is because I was forced to write without my heart into it. I was like a drone writing something I was never interested in the first place. Learning my lessons from it, I should never write for money.
Lesson Number Five: People tell me that I should read books - novels, short stories and essays. I would love to, the problem is, reading books is not my passion. In fact, the only reason for me to read is because I was forced to by my subjects. Someday, I would like to change my style and make book reading a habit. The problem is, how could my reading compete with my very short attention span? How could I read, when I love to write most of the time?
Lesson Number Six: Writing should be a free exercise. So long as a person can express his thoughts and his voice coherently, nobody, not even the best writer should have the right to tell him what to do. After all, the reader have all the freedom to ignore the things that person wrote.
Now, if the budding writer wishes to learn the craft, then he should pay attention to what the mentor is telling him. He should be patient and humble enough to follow the mentor's instructions. When the mentor says he should expose himself to the books other great writers have written in their times, then he should follow.
The budding writer should be ready to accept constructive criticisms, especially from those who have perfected their craft through such very harsh and very demoralizing workshops before him.
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Two years into the masters, and I still owe everything to luck, and probably to my modest talent in writing. Much as I would like to give up and do other things in life, the program gives me a sense of higher purpose besides my career. It is an opportunity that I do not want to waste.
Lesson Number Two: In high school, we had only two subjects that addressed our issues with the technicals of the English language. In college, we only had one. In the days preceding Diliman, grammar had never been an issue - nobody questions me with the tenses that I used. Nowadays, my technical ineptitude has become the greatest blunder in my academics. The thought that I might be committing mistakes I am not aware of due to my lack of grasp with the shifting tenses, nouns, pronouns and prepositions distracts me from expressing my thoughts freely.
Lesson Number Three: Journalism did not teach us to read and appreciate good books and novels. Our noses were all over Philippine Daily Inquirer, Time Magazine and News and Information Programs on TV. Journalism taught us to be sensitive, nosey and aware of our surroundings. Creativity comes second in our chosen field.
The major taught us to be detailed in our story, straight in telling it and our story should always have a reference in history. If I knew I would take Creative Writing when I was still in the undergrad, I should have taken Literature instead.
Lesson Number Four: I should always remember: Several months before I was admitted in the master's program, I was denied thrice in my application for Internet Content Writer. Now I understand that the reason for such failure is because I was forced to write without my heart into it. I was like a drone writing something I was never interested in the first place. Learning my lessons from it, I should never write for money.
Lesson Number Five: People tell me that I should read books - novels, short stories and essays. I would love to, the problem is, reading books is not my passion. In fact, the only reason for me to read is because I was forced to by my subjects. Someday, I would like to change my style and make book reading a habit. The problem is, how could my reading compete with my very short attention span? How could I read, when I love to write most of the time?
Lesson Number Six: Writing should be a free exercise. So long as a person can express his thoughts and his voice coherently, nobody, not even the best writer should have the right to tell him what to do. After all, the reader have all the freedom to ignore the things that person wrote.
Now, if the budding writer wishes to learn the craft, then he should pay attention to what the mentor is telling him. He should be patient and humble enough to follow the mentor's instructions. When the mentor says he should expose himself to the books other great writers have written in their times, then he should follow.
The budding writer should be ready to accept constructive criticisms, especially from those who have perfected their craft through such very harsh and very demoralizing workshops before him.
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The essay that I submitted last week has already received its first flak from the professor this afternoon. His criticisms, which were not only directed to me, but to everyone who submitted that day were pretty harsh. I would not go into details, but I remember this metaphor he said to us. He said that writing is like building a house. As long as we don't learn how to use the saw, the nails and the hammer, the house which we are building will never be completed at all.
He was extremely disappointed because he thought we were professional writers; that we were admitted in the Creative Writing Program because we know how to write. In his opinion, he thinks otherwise.
He was extremely disappointed because he thought we were professional writers; that we were admitted in the Creative Writing Program because we know how to write. In his opinion, he thinks otherwise.
My essay is set to be workshopped next week in class. I know that it is a lousy essay, which I never thought of as a good piece to begin with. Lacking the time to embark on a writing spree intended for my subject, I handpicked several entries from the blog and made a theme out of it. Knowing that it was written for my own story, I never bothered to elaborate it, flesh out the characters and the plot, or present it as an essay intended for everyone to read.
The countdown before the grilling begins tonight.
And I promise, even if my dignity and pride will be hit hard by such unforgiving workshop, Lesson Number Six, which I wrote above is my assurance that there will never be surrendering at all.
I intend to finish this course alive. Even if I get burned because of what I have written, then let my ashes be my very own resurrection.
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