i am the batman!

I remember that the first character I ever drew in my entire life is a whole-body image of Batman. Since I was just a little kid, Batman has been my hero, next to my dad of course. I didn’t like Superman and I definitely didn’t like Wonder Woman. Bob Kane and Bill Finger should really be in the list of my most favorite people in the world. Thanks to them, there’s Batman in this world!

I suppose everybody knows who Batman is. Who doesn’t right? But if you’re one of those aliens visiting the earth and don’t know a spec about the Dark Knight, I’ll tell you who he is. He’s the greatest superhero ever! Yaaaaay!

Bruce Wayne witnessed the horrible murder of his parents when he was very young. Traumatized by the unfortunate event, Bruce decides to train himself. He became master of martial arts. He’s a fluent speaker of a God knows how many languages. He’s also studied theatrics and other useful crafts to prepare himself to his self-proclaimed role as protector of the weak in all of Gotham City!

So by day he’s Bruce Wayne the philanthropist, playboy and owner of the prestigious Wayne Enterprises and by night he is the Caped Crusader Batman patrolling the streets of Gotham fighting crime and what not. What I like about Batman is that he’s not like the rest of the other superheroes. He’s not flashy and he’s not really gentle to look at. He’s headstrong, brooding and sometimes sinister. You’d actually feel that he’s one of the good villains, if there is such thing.

On my opinion, he’s the best member the Justice League ever has. He doesn’t have any powers but he’s actually better than the rest of them. Even Superman. Of course, it’s quite debatable but you don’t expect me taking it back. I’m a stubborn Batman fan!

chicken-egg

Time is quite fast when you’re doing something. Time is so damn slow when you’re waiting for someone or for something to happen. Time is also an established magazine!

We’ve passed our memoir and our flash fiction (through post, mind) and are now getting set to do the real deal. We’ve recently made a character sketch for our upcoming fiction making which is also our midterm project.

No, I still haven’t finished making up stories in my head. There are so many material but I still don’t know how to wield them up and manipulate them for my own liking. It kinda reminds me of the good old days when I was still ignorant of these things. So much for that.

I’ve been encouraging my blockmates to submit for the Iligan National Writer’s Workshop this summer. It would be quite wonderful if they’d undergo the same experience I had last summer there. Free hotel, transportation and all the food you can eat! What’s stopping you? Oh yeah, you have to get fried by the best and respected writers in the country. But heck! It’s a rewarding experience all together. It’s both humbling and flattering at the same time.

But back to my dilemma, I still have to think of a story with my psycho-killer character. We’re going to start materializing our stories tomorrow in our class and my meditation moments are still inadequate.

What is Talecraft? People have been running around UP advertising that Talecraft contest. We’ve been encouraged. Our teacher’s a judge. There’s a waiving of the grade when you win. But still, what is Talecraft?

It’s a hectic back-to-school year. I’m glad I’m back here at UP. No, my friends, Christmas happens after New Year. It’s not a Chicken-egg question. New Year happens on January, the start of year. Okay?

Happy Back-to-School!

fiction fricative friction

I’m done with my Custard Cake essay. Hah! Really didn’t expect that to finish. Another product of bluff-writing. Hehe. It’s probably the the first time you encountered that term. It’s like writing a lot without really telling something. Or something like that.

But I’m quite excited to say that we’re going to venture to the amazing world of Fiction Writing the first thing next year. It really is very exciting for me to once again stretch my hands and try myself in making short stories.

I wouldn’t say I’m that bad. But I’m sure as hell not that good. This year’s summer, I joined the 14th Iligan National Writer’s Workshop. I didn’t know how honorably horrifying it was to join there. Of course I was grateful for the country’s top writers to discuss my work but I wasn’t ready to be humbled down that easily by them.

Haha.. Oh well, I enjoined the experience though. They’re really cool people, those writers. I mean they’re way ahead of me on age and experience but they can still relate to everyday things. They still hang out with us rookies. And they are good in conversation. You’ll learn a lot from them.

Speaking of learning from them. I learned that my story which I really was quite proud of wasn’t really a story… Not yet! Haha… But I’ll spare you my optimism. They said that it was plot driven and the characters weren’t real.  There was no clear setting and the was not clear imaging. The words were poor and the language mediocre.

I’m not going to justify that I was only a first year with The Chained Girl as my first short story ever. Or that it was done in a cramming situation because it was an assignment for my AH4 class. Or that because I was still a crappy writer at that time. Haha..

They were right though in all points. I learned now that the plot is more or less a by-product of the character. So I have to make my characters real. I mean damn real. That’s a challenge for me. I’m quite glad that the goddess disguising herself as my professor in CW101 required us to make a character’s sketch over the Christmas Break. In that way, I’m compelled to do something that I needed to do for myself as well.

I really really really want to tell you more about my short story The Chained Girl. After all, she was my first baby. But I don’t know. Maybe in another post in another time. I really want to give her justice. No, I still haven’t started to revision the whole thing. I don’t know what I’m waiting for. But I know that I’m still waiting.

I’m hoping that Fiction Writing would prove to be my genre. But for now, I’m still thinking.