“THAT Ilonggo writer” refers to what people call me because of the audacity of my online writing workshops.
Of course, it can mean “that Ilonggo writer who has the gall to teach creative writing.”
But also, “that Ilonggo writer who can, and who did.”
Either way, I’m happy to be “that Ilonggo writer.”
I just love to teach.
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A poem that doesn’t improve from a first draft is 1% genius and 99% laziness.
The 99% always shows, and the 1% is forgettable.
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I don’t really know what I’m saying here.
But I want to say in the strongest words possible that a writer writes, and writing is very much rewriting.
A writer who cannot expand the sentence “The fox jumps” is illiterate.
Of course, with a period, “The fox jumps” is a complete sentence by itself.
But alone, it is less artsy, or has no art at all.
Not very writerly.
Compare it with “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog near the river bank.”
Compare it with “The quick but arrogant silver-brown fox with grey-white stripe on its tail jubilantly jumps over the lazy bleeding dog probably dying of a popped hemorrhoid near the bank of the fancy River Seine.”
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Improving the draft is the heart of good writing.
It means making things better.
Making the expression flow.
Finding the right, perfect, accurate words.
It may include playing around.
It may include adding, deleting, changing, transposing words and phrases.
Doing what you got to do to make things bright, brilliant, and comprehensible.
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The goal must always be towards readability.
To show a masterful control of the language.
Thus, the lines and words must be faultless.
The grammar and syntax must be devoid of errors.
Sure, “The fox jumps” is faultless.
But where’s the art in that?
Where’s the imagination?
Where’s the imaginative use of the language?
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Not everybody can be a genius.
But with practice, and education, everybody can be a writer.
Writing is a craft as it is an art.
The imagination gives us the genius of the art.
The manipulation of words is the real craft aspect of the art.
But sometimes, the artful crafting of words and phrases becomes genius.
Revision, rewriting, and the remanipulation of the draft make writing more art than just craft.
It is the writer’s investment in what s/he is writing that makes the piece more beautiful, more perfect, more art.
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Avoid clichés: Can the sun not be dying at sunset, and instead just resist the evening’s advances and dark intentions?
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Avoiding clichés does not only mean saying “I love you” differently.
This is a cliché, but I’ll say it anyway, because for some people, this is not yet understood:
Avoiding clichés does not only mean thinking outside of the box.
Maybe more importantly, it’s realizing that there is no box in the first place!
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Wannabe poets worry so much about finding a different word for love.
So they check the thesaurus for synonyms.
But maybe, just maybe, love does not need new words.
Maybe a kiss is enough.
Maybe tonguing is enough.
Or, f*cking is enough.
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Although if you ask me, f*cking is never enough.
And I… thank you!/PN
