Miah Learns to Write

Photo by Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash Finding the right way to end things is very tough. I think that’s why many stories are criticized across all media. Before I go on, when I say ending, I refer to it as the part starting from the climax until the resolution of the story. For example, in Titanic, I would consider the ending from the time Jack died until the end of the movie. There are some beautifully executed endings like Of Mice and Men or Breaking Bad. What makes them brilliant I think would be the impact it left on me. The stories themselves were remarkably written. And being able to end it the way they did was the cherry on top. I think being able to stay true to what the narrative is saying allowed these stories to end beautifully. The writers didn’t compromise. Based on the events that have happened and the journey of the characters, the writers were able to bring about the narrative to its logical conclusion. You would think that if the story was well-written from the...

Photo by Calum MacAulay on Unsplash My friend has this mannerism. Whenever we chat especially about profound things, she would pause and tell me, “I’m trying to construct the right sentence.” She does this in order to express her thoughts as clearly as possible. It’s a running joke between us to just express ourselves through dance or movement. However I found that I’m afflicted with the same syntactic bug. I just don’t blurt it out loud. What It's Like But this is how it’s like. You can picture something perfectly in your mind but when you put it to paper or write it down, it ends up falling short of your expectations. I have found this to be the case when I try to write stories. When I try to picture a scene, it plays out beautifully. In my mind, I know what’s going to happen. I can see the details but once I try to write it down, it’s like I’m blanking out. The feeling is similar to when you are having stage fright. You’ve practiced your lines and blocking countless ...

Photo by Alex Grodkiewicz on Unsplash There’s always a constant nagging feeling inside me that my writing is never good enough and it irks me. Sure, I am a perfectionist. That tendency is innate. But I think writers experience this in varying degrees. From an obsession with perfect grammar to the need for a logical flow in the narrative to having symmetry in form. I would go so far to say that this need for perfection goes beyond the realm of art and literature. Perfection is something that we all long to achieve I think. Not just as writers or artists, but as human beings. I think that is pretty much rooted in our history and identity as humanity. The Root The Bible tells us the story of creation and how God made all things good. When He made man, both male and female, He regarded them as very good. In a nutshell, I think the fact that man was made to be in constant fellowship with God is the reason why we have this deep desire for perfection. And the moment man was separa...

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash My biggest weakness is generating ideas. But it’s not just about coming up with something. Rather, it’s about coming up with something relevant, unique, or something that is very important to you. My Situation Ideas don’t naturally come to me. Sometimes, an idea pops up out of the blue as I travel. There are times when my mind is just drifting and I get an idea for an article to write. Other times, ideas are triggered while I’m watching a movie or a series. However, when I feel super inspired, ideas would just keep flowing one after the other. As if there are no shortages of ideas, so I just keep writing them down. Essentially, I’m faced with two problems. One, no ideas are springing to mind a.k.a. writer’s block. And two, there are too many ideas popping up. I can’t readily pluck ideas from a tree. In my case, I come up with ideas at random. So I often need to take note of them so that I don’t forget. I also need ample time to really ponde...

Photo by LinkedIn Sales Navigator on Unsplash I have also been self-conscious about sharing my work with others. Fear of criticism is also one big issue that I face as a writer. The thing is, during the editing phase, you feel like you’ve already criticized your work. The thought of others criticizing your work would just make you feel more worthless. And that’s a depressing thought. But if you go to someone whom you trust completely and who only thinks of what’s best for you, I think it would be less of a burden. What good is it? Letting others read your work allows you to see it from a different perspective. You can gauge how your work affects or impacts other people through their response. That could help give you a direction on what to write or how to write it. It also allows for an exchange of viewpoints and ideas. This is probably a good idea to do when you’re editing your work. Getting a second opinion or a fresh perspective on the topic would allow you to make more ...

Photo by annekarakash on Pixabay When I started blogging, I just wrote stuff that came to mind. I didn’t pay any heed to whether the ideas were coherent or not. It didn’t matter to me whether the paragraphs were too long or whether the words were too big. I was probably breaking a cardinal rule of writing which is to always edit what you write. You won’t get an article, a story, or any piece of writing right the first time. It’s a process of laying out your ideas, straightening them out, and polishing them. You do this until you’ve exhausted all possible ways to make it better. There are a few editing mistakes that I’ve done besides neglecting editing. This all depends on your mindset when looking at your work. One: “There are too many flaws in my work. Or for that matter, the whole thing is flawed. It’s one big mistake. So I should just scrap the whole thing.” This is the wrong mindset. I know I shouldn’t focus on every mistake I make. Technically that’s what makes us huma...

Photo by Mikito Tateisi on Unsplash As I mentioned, I have been blogging since 2011. But I have been writing even before that time. I was editor-in-chief of our school paper in grade school. While I also became a feature writer for the Filipino publication in high school. The problems I faced back then are still the same today. I don’t know if other writers experience the same thing. But I would like to share with you my experiences with writing and how difficult it really is. Getting started on writing Everybody procrastinates in one way or another. When we put something off for a later time even if we can do it now, we procrastinate. I don’t think procrastination in itself is a bad thing. It could be viewed as conditioning oneself to be in the right frame of mind to tackle whatever task they need to do. That requires time to prepare. Procrastination becomes an issue if it takes too long for you to warm up. Then you find yourself pressed for time. If you have deadlines, ...

Cliffhangers have always been a pet peeve of mine. There is some type of effect that lingers upon one's mind and emotion when you finish an open-ended story and that effect is an annoying one. There are so many questions left to be answered and so many possibilities of how the conflict should be resolved that one would simply choose to go over the cliff just to end the agony of not knowing what happens next. However, this does open up the chance of a sequel but not all stories have a sequel or not all authors choose to write a sequel so there is a pestering feeling of irresolution because the story is missing a definite end or that there is no release for the tension that has already been built up from the preceding events of the story. In my experience, it may become frustrating to a certain point but as time passes by, the feeling will dissipate and you will most likely forget about it because you have your own life to live and that story is continually being revealed to you s...

I just finished reading a love story today. It reminded me what my English literature professor told us about stories. She said that there has only ever been two subjects that stories talk about: love and loss. Of course, that's probably an oversimplification but then after careful consideration, I do think that behind the story of the thing we call "life" from which almost every other story is set upon, that adage contains truth in it. There are a few questions that I would like to address, more to myself than anyone, as a form of catharsis I guess. The first question is: Will you bear to risk loving someone even though you know for a fact that you will get hurt, you will feel broken, and you will be reminded of those moments when you felt so alive because you were with that person, all the while knowing that you will never be able to hold that person again? Are you willing to love someone even though it will probably cause the most intense pain you would ever feel...

I enjoy learning about literature in my English class because my professor tells us random facts about those stories and pieces of text that I took for granted when I was a child. I simply accepted these stories the way that they are told, never wondering what they mean or how they are related to me or to life, culture, and society in any way. But when our professor started talking, our perspectives change and the way we look at literature is never the same. Our current topic is the short story so our professor asked us what our concept of a short story is and whether we have encountered any before. Comparing poetry and short story, she gave us an analogy of where our knowledge or concept of these two literary forms, more or less, came from and she said that nursery rhymes and street rhymes are to poetry as myths, legends, and fairy tales are to the short story. So, she went on to talking about the fairy tales that we remember from our childhood and from there, she just gave...

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep ~ Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods  on a Snowy Evening  Stopping by woods is probably one of the best poems I have ever read. Not only does it have perfect form and it creates a very vivid image in one's mind, but it also contains a deeper meaning of what life is and its complexity. It gives a sense of fantasy yet it will abruptly pull you back to reality. It gives a depiction of our desire to break away from society's grip, to break loose of the bars of responsibility, but we are also reminded that we must continue on with life, no matter how difficult it is. As I read the poem, it gave me an experience that I can only have in my mind. It brought me to this winter paradise, the snow slowly falling from the sky, collecting itself on the ground, and I mire at it. There were no worries, no problems to think about, no duties to atten...