"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world." - Anonymous

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Why I Majored in Writing

So the semester must have really started. We have this homework in COMA193 (Workshop in Communication Arts) to write sort of a news or feature article based on an interview with one of our classmates and his/her whole relationship with writing. These were the questions I had to answer in my interview and my answers.

1. Define writing in your own words.
Writing is the transformation of plain simple words into meaningful complex sentences to convey one's thoughts both creatively and critically. 

2. What is your type of writing? (Fiction or Non-fiction)
I love reading fiction but I write mostly non-fiction. We are transformed by what we read, I write about that transformation.

3. Who/what are your writing influences? Who is your favorite author/writer?
Ms. Aileen Macalintal is. If only she knew how much impact she made in my life. Before I met ms. Ai, I only knew J.K Rowling, Paolo Coelho, and Nicholas Sparks, and believe it or not, it was from her that I first heard of Franz Kafka, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nick Joaquin, Haruki Murakami, and many other literati. I was like a teenager fed with porn. Ha ha ha. The feeling was orgasmic! Excuse my metaphor. And then I read her blog and again I was hugely amazed. From then on, I knew what I wanted to do ─ that is, to read and to write.

4. What got you interested in writing? (Like a mini history of Yen The Writer)
Reading. Or words, basically. I marvel at how words could be arranged in thousands of ways but when you get it right, and really right, it's like you've achieved perfection. Words are full of beauty, of power, of magic. You are then captured. I realized all of this through reading. I wanted to create my own magic, so then I started writing.

5. What are your experiences in writing? (Blog, School Paper, Contests, etc.)
In grade school, I was a regular at essay, poetry, and story writing contests. As I was a big fish in our school back then, I did pretty win those contests. But then I entered high school and there were lots of other big fishes (even bigger ones), so I and my self-esteem for writing shrank. I stopped writing and studied Math, Science, Religion, History, Music, Filipino, etcetera, instead. I thought I lost it (writing) forever. Of course, school papers never go out of the picture. And then something happened.. my blog happened and only then did I gain my confidence in writing back. (Here's the link to my blog: http://yenwrites.blogspot.com)

6. Do you have any rituals or quirks when writing? If so, describe them. (e.g. eating food before writing, drinking alcohol, cramming, etc.)
I only write when I feel good. You are what you write. We are all pursuing the same things ─ happiness, contentment, love, peace ─ and that's just what I'm trying to do.

7. Who is your reader?
I don't know if people ever read my blog or if my professors in the university ever read our papers, but I write for myself and for those who see the beauty in words.. and in life.

8. How do you feel about journalism as a career?
Every career requires passion. Writing is my passion, so I keep my options in Journalism open. But I must say, it is not my priority.

9. Please indicate your convictions and advocacies in writing. What do you write for? (Yourself, world peace, feminism, happiness, etc.)
I am not a hundred percent pro-life but I write about life because ultimately, it is the human existence that matters. I celebrate life through writing, all in the hope of inspiring the hopeless, the miserable, and the downtrodden because I, too, have been down that road and I would like to show them that there is a way back to goodness, joy, and peace. Writing, for example, is a way.

10. Describe your writing now. Differentiate it from Yen The Writer of the past and Yen The Writer of the future.
It is bold now. I stripped it off all my fears, insecurities, reservations, and doubt that I can't be good enough in this field. I live by Confucius' words now, "It doesn't matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." If before I always had cold feet in writing, today my feet are in motion.. and they shall not stop.

11. Give me a memorable writing experience.
My blog is a whole memorable writing experience. When you put your life into words, you get this feeling that there is an added meaning to your existence.

12. Any advice on how to write?
Write now, or never. 

2 comments:

  1. Interesting posts. I have been reading stuff on your blog for months now and I feel glad knowing there are still people who love to write nowadays--apart from my friends in the Creative Writing Program. Haha. Keep on writing! :)

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  2. Hi there, Mina? It's been over a month now since I read your comment and I have no idea what took me so long to reply. Haha. I just wanted to say thank you for your kind words re my blog and my writing. Thanks for reading ah. You said you are in the Creative Writing Program? Where, in UP Diliman? I checked out your blog too. You have a good one there. Let's both keep on writing! :)

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