“Kung saan ka magaling at kung saan ka masaya.”
My desire for writing has started immediately after I realized that I could write, which is when I was really really young. I was about four or five maybe when I kept on writing and writing anything I could think of. My parents didn’t have anything against that, on the contrary, they encouraged me. What drove them crazy is the fact that I wanted to write anything anywhere! Vandalism was like one of the first few long words I really understood.
Still I realized that drawing was easier than writing. My tiny little hands that time was more used to drawing circles and somewhat obscure impressions of Batman. I wanted to be one of the guys who made comics. My mom also encouraged me there but I’m still confused why she never bought me a single comic book.
On my elementary years, I developed a knack in reading. It became a religious hobby for me. I preferred those books with illustrations of course, but when I started reading those little paperback books like R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps and those kinds of books with the front cover as the only illustration, I accepted the fact that I could actually paint my own illustrations thanks to the writer’s effort. If you’re wondering why I didn’t play basketball or tigso or jolens or any other games kid’s that age should be playing is because of the fact that I was a very loser-ish kind of kid when it comes to those games. I don’t mind getting tired, really. It’s the fact of losing and being teased about it that gets me.
In my high school years I accidentally stumbled to the greek mythology craze. I really don’t know why on those adolescent years, people seem to be very fascinated with them. I was quite a fan. Along with that my mother began to buy me anthologies of famous writers from Victoria Plaza’s book sales. I have actually read about Pip on Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and Ebenezer Scrooge in his A Christmas Carol. I’ve read about Rip Van Winkle, and boy! do I like his story. I’ve read Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland and was very amazed on how his nonsense was very intelligent. But I didn’t understand the text that much at that time. I was familiar with the terms though.
In high school I wrote for our school paper but I wasn’t very good at journalism. My field there was feature writing. I had my share of minor awards. I never get to go to the nationals. Still, I never gave up writing as a hobby. And since I was very much exposed in short stories that time, I was somehow driven to write my first short stories on that period.
They weren’t good. They were actually horrible. I wrote about love relationships and fantasy as it was easier to have readers with those themes. I used psychological twists at the end of my stories which I used frequently. Eventually my “readers” found me predictable and I didn’t want that so I stopped writing at that time.
My mother wanted me to take up the nursing course like any other typical mothers at that time. They wanted me to pursue that course in hope of getting a chance to get abroad. My application to UP changed that. Despite the fact that she wanted me to pursue nursing, she was still blinded by the prestige of UP’s name. She wanted me to proceed to law afterward, though.
And so I ended up here. In a writing course, of course. I never did and never will (I hope) regret taking up this course. Beccy Anonuevo once told me over durian shakes with fellow friends at Iligan that her dad told her that in making decisions or choosing preferences (like courses) in life we must always consider two things: One, which choice you’re good at and two, which choice you’re happy at.
I’m glad I made the write (pun intended) choice.
