You too can write
Media
Part of National Weekly
- Title
- You too can write
- Language
- English
- Year
- 1949
- Rights
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- Fulltext
- October 8, 1949 ARSENIO JI. LACSON Writing is a cre~ti~e ar~ - a prDLuct of one s 1mag1n:;i.tive pow.er ; not mote of an imitation of thre S$!tentific1 art learn1 ed in sdfools of journa-l!sm or philosophy and lette:rs. If so, all writers woul<l be journalism graduates or English majQ:t:s and none of th,ose who ha~ not tormaUy :..tu.c Hed tlie "real stuff." Indeedr· ~,ot al named writers or poets .are lookin?; down from schc5lastio heights. Writing i~ prima~iJy t hinki"ng or deal~ on thinkincr at le:ast. Of course :tll peopk ca:n1 think and they think i:i1a. : they can but putting yourf l houghts. down in black and white is reR<?rved o!lly for those who try how c, d do it. Wr iters who are. not bothered by r ules write in their typ1cal, simp1e, natu:ra.l, SJi011ta11eous, and unsopbiic;ticated style because the "r1 .1les of the ·game" do · not bother them unlike th~e wh0 have formally studied the ~i.rt a:nd 1 ·eligicusly adhere t o the i·ules. To go to college may be helpful but not 11:ecessary. Writing is an art that one must do by one's self, soon<'l" or later, of one's own initiative, mind, and er.ergy. It could be said that roUege makes writers as well as ·unmakes hem. Good c0llege professors,· for example, can blaze the trail - show tha eight way- but college trainNATIONAL WEEKLY You Too Can Write By PATRICIO G. ALTURA ing has the perils of sta:~ <lardized judgment, of affect · 0d admiration, of pedantry of learning. Writin?; •:annot be learned nor ··.!an it Le a<'hieved by learning wl1:i.t to avoid and what to leave out ·1 here must be sornPthing written or put in befor1 ::yoa cross or leave anythin.g our.. Vvriting, therefore, come£ not from studyin~ alone bn~ from having something t9 say and writing them down in a manner j:hat 0thers will unde1·stand and appreciate Reardin" this art of the ·11inged Pageans, it is nePdless w he a "good follower' '-t-:~ t:e rad'ical is all right. For example, your E-n-gli5h teacher may surprise you if she judges your sentence con~ trucrion as gramn!atically ''trong or your piec.e :is no.: clear-cut in plot, as not havin1 g a uniformity of thought :rnd ,1ther what nots ·.vhen in fact, ::uch art!cles had been published in the Manila weeklies, or is the accepted style in present-day journalism. Bnglish books would say that we should use "ve1·y" instead C •f "really" as the latter ls overused and' abused. Right, bu.t won't it grate your ears if some..me asks "very?" i!lstead C1f "really ? " Oh, there arc lots of "dont's" t o make yo~ thi'n.k that everything : yon write is wrong! And now c,,mes good w:i2,ge. English teachers would lee · turie on the topic as if a mistake in ~ood usage is a disgrace to the English language, n.ay, the greatest blunGer in one's scholastic life ! Yet, one could not be a pro· lific writer unless ~1e knows or uses, actively or passively, the dirtiiest words in thf' Enlish la•niguage. S:>me col.umists could not ev~n earn a d:amn cent to makz both ends meet -i they be so proface and decent in their ::s :;lection of words; if they be likP. living- a:1gels in· the wa'/ they write. Remember Lacson, v1hik referrinJ?" to Gl's P"st rnmantic role, "d;gging foxholes with their knees<:>s 1 " This is .i ~st a mild arid rnell,lw example, not med:oning che trenchant strok,'s of <lei Fierro and' his coll:~a~u('s. Jon classrooms, when teac1J·· er and student di.-5agree on what is right and ·what is wroni:;, the former snmet:mes takes c r.ecourse to "I'm rigM because I'm a. teacher." But 1 t doe-;n't mean that if you gc against 0r disa!{.ree with ''our t::u:her (literallv that ls, ·not personally), ·as in -:ther cases, you arc <~n idiot 0r you are bound to nowhere. i~emember ":The Sonl2: to Re'nember?" The ycu1:g- Chr, · !-in, when interrupte<l by h's music teacher on h: ~ fir!'t < ·.ttempt on composit;vn, ·.ven t •m his own way as he ca1ml·r ~ aid, "Profrssor, I lik8 it thi5 '"ay.'' Had Chopin hlin<lly i )llowed all that hi,; mu:-;i ~ teacher wanted of nim to do, instead of doing th i:1~ the way he liked it. th:e \rnrld probably would have missed a Chopin and you and I would have missed his immortal music that "takes awav from the 8oul the dust of · eve1ydav life." Others are 'lfraid to writf.' '·simply because" (reao;;o·n, ala Blondie) they are bothered by so many tilings. One of this perhaps is misspellings. Just in case -.rou are antagonistic to Mr: Webster, -y··~ Hhead a:nd write what you have in mind. Why fot ~pel ling bother you? Even P res Jackson missed his spellings. And when once renlinded of it, he answered, "It's a damn poor minrl that does not know of more than one w&v to spell a word!" That's ri.g-ht, he's right. Therefore, when it ·Page 23 JOSE GARCIA VILLA comes to writing, don't ever let your EQ (English Quotient) bother you. Even if your English is not above average, jot down ~our thoughts to make them enduring and to let the world ~hare them with yvu. Edgar Hice Burroughs of. the "Tarzan" fame, in one of his books wrote, " If you wa"'11it to be a good writer, don't study English." Strange, but he did it. So why c-rn't you? Never hesitate to write just hecause you can't come ac oss the right words for your ideas. Dan.'t be afraid to us~ a new word that you are in doubt of. For sure, yot! won't go to Bilibid or be haunted by the FBI ;f you do so. Ar. English Prime Minister was once lambasted , g,t .all quarters by th" I ,ondon Press when he used a new word that was not m good usage then. But as the vears went by, the word he used became in popular use · a.nd a l)'.u·t of everyone's vocab!Jh .i·y. · \V~)'l'l'~ it be your pride then, 1f you are the first writer t o use -a new wor<l or coin a ne\\.· phrase ? That's n great help to humanity! · Not all named writers arP. good' grammari.a.ns. In fact, most of them are poor gram· marians. It is not strange in colleges for staff mem}>t}rs and E-in-C's of college organs to receive the lowest grades ht their English subjects. Yet, the rest who <lo not ever: contribute a single word to (Cont. on page 34) Page 34 WHAT DO ... (Continued from page 14) was asked by the then furious professor whose facti a!~ ready had become flush lobsterred, apparently disappointed for the failure of the other students to give a correct answer, >.tll "!.. managi!d to say was: "Sorry, Professor, but I did not finish reading all the books you have :is•drned us · to read." Rut .after breathing deeply to rega:n my comvosure, I added: "All I know is that women had ah \\'ay~ wanted to be superior to men." The sneezing professor E:tanding against his desk quickly interpos('d: "There you_ a1~;~ class. Superiority of women ove1· mEn, the man from the Philippines ;o:!ays, is what the fo1·mer likes most in the latter. It's conect." Afte.r a moment, the professor asked me. "'Mr. Cruz, arc ,-ou · :married?" I said no. "Why?" he asked again. ''Ii !ike to b-~ in circulation for a wnile. I ·repiied meeklv." The class ch'Uckied If you think the way my prof P.ssor did at that timt: the riddl~ for you about menwomen relationship is already solved. If vou don't, t~e!l, all t can say is that wome:1 do wh'at thev do because they fig;u.re that beeause they are more or less responsible for bringing us up, men, in this world the right to guide our lives - even our destbjesis also theirs. So. the eternal conflict! Which brin~s us now to that famous quPstion again, which came first: the ~gg or the hen? Or this: w!:'l is 'higher the crowned kfr.g or the man who crowried hm ? But the truth of the matter is that men ·;til~ refuse to give up thei1· ~-uperiorit:;r complex idea over wome , either because there will be more war than we can hand!c or the· (wcme ) are not q~ite rip~ - or mavi>P hav1> nnt enough spr .. ~ time --- fo handle th-~ 1ffairs of t.ht: nation. NATIONAL WEEKLY YOU TOO ... (Continued from page 23) their college papers, receive A's~ Don't let your ter.e.~s worry you. Let it be just as you think it right. Damon Runyon's tenses and style are quite unusual yet he makes millions and turns out best sellers. Who knows that you too might turn out a new literary styLe as DR did? Or you may be a part of that force who, by continu;;i lly doinj!' what is wrong, p1·odt!ces good. Young man (the oltl's are not excluded), YOU TOO CAN WRITE. You can if-you will, you can if you try. Anybody, \;ho has pati:~nce anid tries hard enough, can write. Anybody can learn how to write in a practical way, j,ust !I." anybody can learn how to swim. Nor can anybody learn how to Rwim without trying how. Therefore, try. You may not be Just "dashing things off" or your ideas m~y liot com?. out "like a flash," so to say. You may not dupli · cate Rouget de L'I5e who composed "Miar<:ieilles'' at c-ne sitting with words and all. or Bret Harte w:th his marvellous story "Marvelous Blossom'·' at one single sitting too, or do what Beckford did. You mav not be famihar with the Shakespeare-:1.a classic,, with the Ion?: rolling sentences of Gibbon;s anrl Macaulay that swe·ep alon~ like the \\"ave5 on the ch'aunc! beaches, or the short sentences of Scripture tha.t tick likf> the clock of time. Nevertheless. write down vom· thoughts and put aside that cloak of ~hyness. You cannot \Hite ;f you do not and' will not write. When you feel like it "r vou are in the mood (not for. love or calypso this time). For the present. however, 111 'n the world over are for allowing their womenfolk as . heir equals. But for women '.o be superior to men, that's liff erent. I:t's no wo1;der, lhen, that women will forc·ver nag and nag un+.il the end of this world and l:Jng af. ter we have crossed the Great Divide. make a beeline for the near· £-St typew·riter and keep the keys busy. Damn the literary rules! Just write in your usual way, in your natural styl:e. Just write what you think as the ideas come up your head. You cannot copy somebody's style because ~rours is a part of your cha1;acter. You cannot be what you ar·e not. Who knows that what you have writ.ten which you think as trash would turn out iater to be a masterpiece? Yes, whu knows ? Schubert never had the faintest idea that his "Moonlight Serenade" woulrl b() for (•ternity. He did ·not even attend the occasion for .vhich he was suppos·ed to personally play the original piece on the piano. Go ahead, write Even if it is not blood in your veins Eind air in your lungs. Write something about everything and about sometlung. The world is strewn with all sort~ of literary subjects ·from needle to anchor, from footwear to headgear, trom new look to dol')..'t look,~ from bullet to atom bombs, from downswept to upswept hairdo's, from pin up to pin down girls, from pcpsicola to apalachicola, from backpay to payback, and now that election is ensuing, from promises to compromises, etc. Never mind the rejection slips from the "hard- boiled" E:ditors. That's a part of the game. A famous r.:rime story writer had wrilten more than enough crime storit•s to fill up the pel.itentiarifs before he ha<l a sir..gle ~tory published. A Canadian writer had enough rejection slips to paper a room before he ever saw his by line. Just write down your thoughts minus the idea of beinv. an author. At least, sooner or later, you will hit the mark, even iVOU may call it luck or not. If it turns out that wh1t you have written appears interesting-, after enough practice, the sellin?; come<: as a matter of course. If vou ate a sentimentalist, perhaps, like Charl~~s Dickens, ynur tears would roll do1vn your cheeks the first moment in your October 8, 1949 lifetime you can seo your name in print. As Dickens wrote, "I walked down to Westminster Hall and turned. into it for half fill hou'!", because my eyes \\-'._ere so dimmed with joy and pride they could' not bear the street.." Don't give up your ho~s. Joseph Conrad and RLS were sailors, Lincoln was not a college man, our Stevan Javelana did not specially study journalism. Yet, they were abe to write of the immediate things around them. \Vhatever your ca.:reer is, you still can write. Go to it. THE KUOMINTANG ... (Continued from page ~1) ment from the Presidencv early this year, Madam~ Chiang's departure for t.he Umted States nearly ten months agn and finally Dr. T. V. S•)ong'i:z exi;t from th~ Chinc·~e political scene. . - The Soonf?S are regarderl as ono of the most reinarkablP families in China. The old.e.st of the three Soon!!'. Sh~ ters, Ai-ling, married H. H. K-ung. Ching-Hng marrie·l Sun Y at-sen ithe youngest and the best known internationally, Mei-ling, became the wifo of Chian.I!' Kai-shek. The key posts in the Chinese Governmenit from the•1 on, except for brief periot.ls, were in the hands of Chiang. T. V. Soong and Kung. The strug-gle within the Kuomintang is still on - this hme beb~-t!en the "Kwangsi Clique," represented by Acting President Li Tsung-jen and Gerwral Pai Chung~hsi, anrl the righttwing faction liead·e.i by Chiang. Man:y Chinese predict that the struggle will end in the Kwl'l.nS'si Clique seeking comprcmise with Mao TEe-.tun;? and 1;hat Chiang and his associat1~.~ will take political re. fuge Hbroad . Th~ leftwini? faction wifoin the Kuomintang, represeni.1~d by Madame Sun Yatsen, has a~ready gone over to the 0Jmm1mist cause, according lo Communist announc~ ments from Peiping.