Yakkstr

am i good writer?

today was the last session of my creative writing workshop.

i forgot to mention, i was attending a creative workshop here in the Philippines. i thoroughly enjoyed the experienced because i met some new people and at the same time i discovered something about myself that i thought i didnt have.

i'm a good writer.

you see in this creative writing workshop we were asked to write a homework. we can choose either to write a short story or a poem.

i wrote both.

what happens is that you are going to read your homework to the group and people would react to it. it would be negative or positive. it can help you though to be a better writer because they also give you some tips and the instructor was also helping us.

now before i tell you how my homework went, picture out the people in my group. we had our instructor who was really nice and she was a proffesor in one of the most famous university here in the philippines and we were surprised that she has two books that were published. in short. she was really good at this stuff. LOL.

i also had some group mates who were nice and simple like me. i get along well with them and actually talk to them after the workshop. these people just like me are mere middle class came from okay families.

the other group, in short the remaining people. were kinda like snobby. i found out they came from prestigious universities, they are esteemed proffesionals. rich folks. lets just say... snobby people. LOL... they were civil and okay.

in our discussion everybody is polite but honest. if they dont like your work they say it. i mean after all, they help you improve in your writing.

now on my first homework, i wrote a short story.

i was nervous reading it, i mean after all i am being judged. i was surprised by some of the comments. some of them are nto surprising after all, i know my work wasnt thoroughly finish. because i suck at grammar and sentence building. hey. english is not my first language so i'm not really good at grammar.

one of them said my story was gross. there was a little gross factor. LOL

now there this one woman who always has something to say to all of us. she was educated, a lawyer, sophisticated lady. really intelligent. and to make it short... kinda snotty and stuck up. LOL.

but she was nice and polite about it.

she said she like my short story because it was something unsuspecting yet simple. but the grammar was killing her. LOL

i was happy with the comments because they like my short story and now i know what to do to fix it.

now the last homework was this evening. i made a poem.

an emotional poem for me.

when i read it out loud my voice broke. made me want to cry because when i wrote it, i wrote my emotions out.

of course i didnt cry i was too shy to do so. LOL

that lady was the first one to say something about my poem.

and she said.

it was her favorite among the group and she like the was how the poem flows and the words the was chosen.

and lastly she liked it because she did not expect that i could write something like that.

during the workshop i was really nice and i joke and laughed a lot. i made everybody laughed.

and she wasnt expecting that i could write something like that so deep.

after the workshop i talk with some from teh group and they were like, wow you made the lawyer love your poem!

they like it as well.

they said i was really good at writing.

now, i'm not saying this to boast or anything. but all my life, only few people actually liked my writing.

i was disheartened to continue it when i was in college. i wrote a bunch of poems and it didnt get published.

it bummed me out that i just stop.

i dont know if i'm that good. but they said i was. even the instructor said so. she liked my poem too.

one of my group mates who worked in a magazine. said that maybe i could write short stories and get it published in their magazine.

it just a small catholic magazine.

but i dont know. i dont know if i can do this.

when i was young i did dreamed of becoming a novelist or something.

but too much criticism push me down and made me quit.

but i dont know. maybe i could still do this.

i dont know if what she said is true but it would be nice to get published.

this really made me smile.

it made me happy that there are some people can see something in me that i dont even see.

maybe i am a good writer...

who knows...

lets just wait till i get publish... LOL...

for now...

keep on blogging

report |
queenparanoia said over 1 year ago ...

sorry for the wrong grammar. i type too fast... LOL

skald said over 1 year ago ...

You can be a good writer, I am sure. Of course you would have to work hard to achieve this. Can you not write in your language. After all that is your mother language and therefor your tool. I would write in my mother language if I would try to be an author. Good luck Queenie and congratulations.

starchini said over 1 year ago ...

Good for you! You ARE a good writer, I enjoy reading you : )

expendable said over 1 year ago ...

There was any doubt?

Something I was told was to buy, beg or borrow a copy of the magazine they want you to write for and give it a read so you have a feel for what they're looking for.

Then write a few stories for them. Remember to check their submission guidelines. If you don't hear back in six months, you can try selling the story to another magazine. Expect rejection slips - they don't mean you're a bad writer, just that you're not what they're looking for right now in the magazine.

silverphoenix said over 1 year ago ...

queen, if you continue to work on your writing, you will only get better and accomplish more. I completely understand workshops (I've been in creative writing workshops for 2 years and am about to graduate with my degree in creative writing). Not everyone is going to like what you write, as I'm sure you know. It's tough to not take criticism personally, but that's exactly what a writer that wants to improve needs to do.

what expendable suggests is also very helpful. You should submit short stories and poems to publications that ask for the type of material you create.

silverphoenix said over 1 year ago ...

Whoops, I noticed a typo! LOL even after I read what I write, I still miss something.

The taking criticism part: what I mean is try and not take it personally and to heart. I know this can be the tough part.

queenparanoia said over 1 year ago ...

skald: the reason why i write in english because i want a wider range of audience. plus most magazines here are in english. if given a chance to write in my native language i'll do it though it is harder to do it.

starchini: thank you. i enjoy reading you too.

expandable: well let's see. i texted the person but hasnt replied yet. lets just see how this goes but i dont know much about writing in their magazine though... so i'm not really hoping for it.

silverphoenix: it's hard for me to take critism because i dont take them lightly. but i dont know. lets' just wait and see. and yeah it's hard to take it personnaly and to heart.

hegemone said over 1 year ago ...

I don't doubt they did come to like your writing, from what I've gotten to see anyway. Writing is a tough profession, you've got to have a drive and enjoyment to do it, and persistence through all the aspects, and the ability to take and hear criticism and work with it. I doubt there are any published writers out there who can say they didn't struggle, get told no, get turned down or get criticized multiple times before finally being published. Obviously they kept trying and look at the reward. Sometimes ya just gotta push through and realize the audience you may have locally might not appeal to your style of writing, but they aren't the only audience out there. Keep at it!

skald said over 1 year ago ...

Queenie in my little country many authors are translated in many languages, so that could also happen to you. I think one can put ones thought best down in ones own language even though one is fluent in an other one. That is why I suggested this to you. I can not understand why it is harder to write ones own language. I have noticed that in my language there are often sayings and thoughts that I can not translate still I think I am pretty good in English. Anyway what ever you do, good luck to you. I hope you will be a famous writer someday. Then I will say. I know her, we are blog and FB friends. :-)

queenparanoia said over 1 year ago ...

hegemone: well i dont know. sometimes writing can be boring. but the great thing about this is that i can do this anywhere. anyway i'm not really keeping my hopes up. but we'll see.

skald: it is difficult for me to write in tagalog because the sentence structure can be different. i mean i can do it but like in english i have to check my grammar. but dont worry i'll do write something if given a chance. for now i'll just enjoy blogging... (_)

silverphoenix said over 1 year ago ...

Hege, nicely stated. It's true. I have faced TONS of negative criticism, and you do just gotta hold onto the constructive criticism that is truly going to help you achieve what you want to achieve in your story/writing. I've even defended myself when a professor of mine questioned my want/desire to be a writer.

Queen, I just saw your positive post and will comment there too, but just gotta say, I'm glad to see it!

queenparanoia said over 1 year ago ...

silverphoenix: its hard facing negative criticism but i learned to just accept it. i dont know about this though lets just wait and see. if i would be given a chance to write again why not? :-)

silverphoenix said over 1 year ago ...

Qween, okay! Just so you know, it should get better. Depending on the level of your course, if you keep going up in the level, the critiques should improve, become more professional and balanced. :)

queenparanoia said over 1 year ago ...

silverphoenix: well i the writing class is finish and i can't take the advance one. i dont have any money! LOL. but i'll sure take it next time.

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