Me and creative writing, long history. Growing up, I have always wanted to become a writer. And I did become one. Of sorts. I am a blogger, and my main bread comes from writing long mind numbing articles, features, and news stories on the web (with about 98% not under my name. And while it does have its perks -pay is good and all, it doesn’t come with the bragging rights of having written them.
So every year, at around the last week of October, I’d be digging up my creative writing notebooks for the Nanowrimo. For the uninitiated, it’s a yearly challenge of writing and finishing your book every November, an annual event in which participants commit to writing a 50,000-word novel between November 1st and 30th. It began in 1999 as a challenge between friends, but NaNoWriMo has since grown into a global writing marathon with hundreds of thousands of participants each year. I first joined about a decade ago and have not won against myself since then.
Yep, because truth to tell, unlike other sports out there, writing is really about winning against yourself. A battle against deadlines, of words and swords, your belief system, nay even your entire soul.
But enough about the drama. The reason I’m writing this is that a colleague reached out to me to see if I’m interested in joining an online creative writing workshop hosted by Ricky Lee. If you’ve ever wanted to learn storytelling and the creative writing craft in the Philippines, a Ricky Lee workshop would be on the top 10 list of things to do for your career.
He is creative as hell and has been bent on pushing the boundaries of scriptwriting in the Philippines. His name would be up there in the list of the who’s who in the Philippine writing scene and he’s not even dead yet (knock on wood). His book Trip to Quiapo (1998) is now one of the country’s premier textbook on scriptwriting.
For years, he has guided and influenced generations of Filipino writers through his screenwriting workshops (which I heard is free when he’s conducting it at his home). He has probably honed half of today’s most prolific writers, filmmakers, and screenwriters.
So I figured that this year, I’m gonna step back on stressing over my 1k words for Nanowrimo and attend the online creative writing workshop. Why haven’t I attended till now? Me and Ricky Lee’s workshop, the stars always haven’t aligned. In the past, either I’d learn of the schedule too late, or I’m too poor to attend, I’m on the other side of the country, or frankly, because I’m just a ninny and was always afraid of feedback and putting myself out there.
But now, this November 15, what the heck, I’m too old to be a sissy. I have already accepted that I’m not a genius at creative writing and I need a guide. And because learning doesn’t end even if you’re old, I can probably list a dozen authors who started publishing at the age of 60. Not that I’m 60 but Im giving myself a leeway.
And because it’s a webinar, I don’t even need to take a bath, brr before going out. It’s 3 hours long so I’m preparing some snacks and probably, err, some beer for inspiration?
If you’re interested to join me in this online creative writing workshop, here are the details.
Date: November 15. 3PM
Fee: P900
Curriculum:
- Classic approaches in storytelling.
- A thorough analysis of story building from the ground up.
- Effective communication skills—viable in writing, marketing, teaching, and many more.
What you’ll get:
Here’s the link to join: Ricky Lee’s Story Telling Workshop. Limited slots only!
