everytime i get random compliments from friends about my writing, i get queasy.
during these instances, my response has always been quick, compacted, but consistent: yes, i know how to write, but knowing how to write is different from breathing these words through the ethereal shimmer of a genuine writer's beautiful words.
in any given day, i may be able to spew out my adjectives, pronouns, and linking verbs to come up with a technical writing piece that most American moms may find useful, but does this make me a writer?
i certainly do not think so.
my mastery of onomatopoeias and plurals only makes me adept with words -- but this same mastery, unfortunately, is the reason why a qualified demarcation has to be established between a writer and someone who merely knows how to write.
for me, being a writer requires so much talent, it necessitates obsession, and it thrives within the inextricable union between the writer and his writing. in my mind, it needs to commence with the virtual lack of delineation between a writer's words and the air that sustains his breathing.
the label, unlike other prostituted generics that people throw around without restraint, needs to be guarded against superficial self-claims and undeserved self-gratitudes.
and even when i want to claim that i am a writer, i cannot. even when vanity consumes me incessantly in most days.
i cannot.
because of the mutual respect that i have: for myself and the craft that has both enslaved me and taught me how to hope.
20 comments:
"breathing these words through the ethereal shimmer of a genuine writer's beautiful words."
hindi pa ba gawa ng isang writer ang phrase na iyan? lol, hehe. ang masasabi ko lang, claudio: humble much!!! haha.. :p
siguro para maging maganda ang discussion sa comments, itanong natin sa kanila:
PARA SA IYO, PAANO MO MASASABI NA WRITER ANG ISANG TAO?
nose bleed!!!!Miriam Defensor kaw ba yan???hahaha!!!Kaw na magilas sa english!Walkout na ko!
will: para sa akin, iba talaga ang katagang writer. hindi siya madaling angkinin. pero to be fair, feeling ko kaya ganito ang pananaw ko ay dahil mejo exlusibista yung persepyon ko ng mga writer sa mga literary charvalang. kaya siguro ganun. ikaw, what do you think? ikaw yung nagpasimuno nito kaya dapat sagutin mo din. hehe :p
2ngawzki: hindi naman ako baliw pa na katulad ni miriam. bwahahaha. joke lang po sa mga miriam santiago lovers out there.
saludo talaga ako sa mga writer lalong-lalo na paghumble... di kalimitan kasi sa iba pagpinuri lumalaki ang ulo. At para naman sa amin na hamak na mambabasa lamang ay dapat handogan ka namin ng katangi-tanging parangal... ECHUS...
hahaha... keep it up... galing mo kahit in-denial ka... wahehehe
ang hambol (bisaya eh, ehehe) naman ni kikomax. pero totoo yung sinulat ko dito.
actually, matagal ko ng sinasabi yan sa mga kaibigan ko. kasi meron naman talagang distinction yung pagiging writer at marunong maging writer (ang labo). hehe.
hindi to pa humble effect noh, totoong impression ko talaga to.
para sa akin, ang mga writers ay yung mga greats. so blasphemous umangkin ng label na 'writer' (given my self-conceived qualificztions)
ayun. haha. ang labo na nito.
@Kiko: Tamaaaa. Minsan talaga naiinis ako sa mga writers na porke't meron lang Palanca sa kanilang mga kamay ay mayroon na silang karapatang magyabang at maging bitch (marami akong kilalang ganun). hehehe.
@claudio: iba talaga ang pananaw ko sa salitang "writer". kung ieexplain ko ang pananaw ko, usapang semantics ang tatalakayin ko. para talaga sa akin, ang "writer" ay isang taong nagsusulat dahil iyon ang kanyang propesyon o hobby. ewan, pero dun ako mag-iistick muna.
gets ko yung idea mo about a writer, at saludo ako sayo dahil ganun ang pananaw mo. pero para rin sakin, everyone can be a writer, but not everyone can be a good writer. parang ganun na lang ang sakin. labo, no?
bow. :P
Times are changing, and the people who call themselves "writers" find themselves among the real seasoned writers and the newbies alike. There's nothing wrong in that, I think anyone can call themselves anything if they want... with no need for crisp definitions. A guy with a camera phone will call himself a photographer, if he believes so and he's happy then so be it... it's just labels anyway.
Your case is different, you're being labelled a writer and you think you don't fit the profile, right? Which is still OK, anyone can deny anything they want.
You probably loaded the word "writer" with a heavy definition... To me, anyone with a pen and paper, and can write legibly, is a writer.
And you are a good writer!
dahil nakulangan ako ng alak kagabi (ang sakit lang ng ulo ko), ipagpapatuloy ko ang krusadang to.
i think it all boils down to individual values, because these standards will ultimately affect the individual lang naman eh.
for the most part, i think relativist talaga ako pagdating sa mga ganitong bagay (ie on being a writer). some people might agree with me, some might not, but in the end, these are my self-conceived perceptions -- and i choose these worldviews in viewing the world.
for me kasi, even when i am a pretty decent writer, hindi ko pa din pwedeng masabi na writer talaga ako. at lahat na ito ay naka-angkla sa aking persepyon na ang term na writer ay para lang sa mga bihasa, at yung tipong nabubuhay for writing.
i know people might fault me for being exclusivist, even when most landscapes are changing -- but weirdly enough, i'm bent on this rigid characterization, even if i get excluded from the label in the process. feeling ko ay parang literary purist lang yung stance ko. ever since before pa talaga.
again, it's just my opinion. me thinks (ang corny, hehe)
gusto ko kasing i-guard ang pagiging writer from encroachments sa mga taong gustong-gusto na magclaim na writer sila, kahit na hindi naman talaga (again, from my biases ulit ito.)
in the end, mananaig pa din ang opinyon ng lahat kasi relativist ako. hehe :)
sorry pala sa litanya. hehe :)
@caludiopoi - magbisaya nalang ko kapoy man magtagalog.. wahehehehe... sige na impression mo na yan... pero saludo parin ako sa paninindigan mo... nyiha...
aw, bisaya man tuod ka sah? haha! :)
apir! gamay ra biya tang mga bisaya diri. hehe :D taga asa gani ka? adto tag manila bai! atong imeet ning mga bloggers. hehehe. ga plan ko by december. :D
Oh oh, well evryone is entitle to have their opinion.. teka gawa ako post about dito. hehe may utang pa pala akong isang post. : D
sige gawa ka din! :) anong utang ito, ahmer?
Yung sulat sa sarili' hehe
aaaaaaaaaaaah. tama! gawa na kasi u! hahaha :p
Awww, ang gondo gondo naman ng mga sinabi mo dito. I super agree! :)
it reminds me of the line from Disney’s Ratatouille “Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.”
there’s a large distinction between being a writer and being a great writer. Not everyone is, or can be, a great writer. EVERYONE can be, simply a writer.
...anyone can be a writer, because everyone has a story to tell. And if you have a story and you know the way how to say it, why not doing so?
i’d say if you’re a blogger, you are a writer.
and i agree with glentot : )
magnifika: diba? apir! :)
ahmer: sabi ko nga sa previous na comment ko, literary purist ako. nagegets ko ang ibig mong sabihin, pero with all due respect, i beg to disagree (chos!). haha :) hindi porket marunong magsulat ay writer na. because again, there has to be an allusion to what our perceptions of writers are. kaya ayun. :)
hehe i know we are all writers & we will all write our own way.
everyone’s writing is different. the technicalities can come later, it’s about laying the ideas down on the page (or up on the screen).
ayaw paawat. haha : D
ahmer: suntukan nalang? haha :) gets ko ibig mo sabihin, mehn. apir!
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