How I Started Writing
Reminiscing my writing origin story.
I spotted a book on writing while I was at National Bookstore Bohol (a rare occurrence!). I bought one again and added it to my growing list of unfinished books. This year, for some reason, I responded to my urge to buy books on impulse.
Okay, back to my book purchase. It is called "The Happy Writing Book” by Elise Valmorbida. There are moments in my social media content writer career that I am happy to write and post, especially when I just started working. I lost the joy when I was 5 years into it and burnt out on my first work. It continues to be a challenge to bring back that joy consistently. I want to bring out more of my happy writing again, having worked on clients I really like this year.
The first chapter talked about Why the Author Writes. The last sentence of this chapter asked the question, “Why write?” and invited the reader to reflect on this question.
This brought back so many memories and thoughts when I was younger…
Home is where it all started. I started writing because I was introduced to stories and reading early on. I started writing because I genuinely enjoyed reading and how the words, when put together, created conversations and stories. Stories I enjoyed and return to from time to time.
When it comes to reading, I remember my Mama being an important part of it. I am the eldest of 9 kids. Mama most probably had more energy to still read me stories when I was little. When I was young, I can recall we had books by Dr. Seuss and the classics. Remember those storybooks with a gold strip on the side? We had lots of those. We lost those when we moved to Bohol.
The younger batch of the family isn’t exposed to books like when we used to, the budget has become limited too. When we moved back to Cebu from Bohol, we did not have many books at home for the younger batch of siblings. But Mama still made time to tell stories during bedtime for our younger boys. I remember a story about Bai Monkey and Bai Turtle that was on repeat. It was cute to listen in and hear the brothers also continue the story on their own.
Grade school. I get excited during the new school year. Because that means new school books and new short stories to read. I loved my reading and speech communication books. I finished them in a few days of receiving the book, even before the school year started. When my younger siblings started going to school, I read theirs too!
When I was in elementary school, I also started keeping and writing a diary. When we moved back to Cebu when I was in 6th grade, I remembered burning the pages because I didn’t want to bring them with me. Storage was uncertain, so I’d rather dispose them safely. Too risky to leave them in random family boxes. Heh.
I loved our writing classes (yes kids, there were classes focused on writing and penmanship back then). I enjoyed writing on formal theme books (yes kids, we have these too!). I was able to find these in National Bookstore, so maybe some schools still use these.
Teachers that left an impact. I remember my elementary reading teacher, Ms. Rosales. She was strict but I enjoyed her language and communication classes. I always think good teachers, teachers whose love for what they do is visible in their teaching, are a good foundation of learning.
I remember my high school English teacher, Mrs. Tujan. I remember her teaching our classes well. She was very classy and also expressive. Then there’s Ms. Valles, our Earth Science teacher. She teaches Science and I enjoyed how she communicated Science and concepts to us back then. I least enjoyed her projects though. I realized I also didn’t enjoy the writing part of science experiments back then. Hehe.
Writing letters. I like reading and writing letters. My first memory of letter writing was writing a letter for my parents during a kids camp. I remembered I cried when I read my parents’ letter for me. I wrote letters in high school the most. Long letters written for friends in school and Youth for Christ with CD of songs pa! Even during college, we kept writing birthday messages in handmade cards. I appreciated this experience so much.
To this day, I enjoy receiving postcards with handwritten letters from friends. I also love it that from time to time, I still receive letters from my best friends and write letters to my siblings or friends. This is something I hope all of us get to experience and do. These letters have helped me build confidence in myself as a person and reminded me of my goodness. This provided a glimpse of how words impact a person for me.
I still keep a stack of these letters at home, in a box. This one I don’t mind if family members stumble upon them. No risk involved. :P
School libraries. I am grateful I enjoy library time from elementary school to college. When I was in elementary, one book that really stood out to me is Stories of Lola Basyang. There was only one copy, so I sometimes hid the copy at the book of books. Normal library behavior. :)
In high school, I loved reading Nancy Drew books in the school library, sitting on the floor in our school uniforms. I once wanted to buy and collect them, but back then, books was expensive for me, for us. It was also cool to see a lot students like me just reading. The books I remember borrowing are the Harry Potter books, Chicken Soup, and a couple of Nicholas Sparks books.
In college, the main reasons for staying in the library are to read newspapers and Reader’s Digest and to take a nap. :P There was no fiction books to read.
As much as I loved reading and writing, I did not think of taking up literature or mass communication. I was too focused on choosing a course in the university that was closest to home. Course options were only in the Colleges of Engineering, Architecture, Social Sciences and Nursing.
But even if I did not take up a college course connected to communication, the joy of writing was still there. I blogged at blogspot.com, livejournal.com, multiply.com, wordpress.com and consumed personal blogs. I started writing in 130 characters in 2009. I opened my Twitter account in a school laboratory.
So it is interesting that I write for work now. I sometimes think it was coincidental. I have a hard time calling myself a writer since I did not formally study writing and communication. But I am slowly embracing this part of me.
I also acknowledge my writing is more for social media, newsletters and long blog posts instead of formal writing like annual reports or grants.
I am more comfortable calling myself a storyteller. A storyteller is easy for me to embrace since I believe I have stories to tell, and I simply write them and post them on social media.
So why do I write to this day?
I feel like the context changes every now and then, depending on the season of my life. But it has become clearer now that I’m older and have written more stories. These are my WHYs today:
To make sense of what is happening around me and within me. Writing really helps me with clarity, makes me refocus, and keeps me grounded.
To document stories, everyday experiences that left a mark, people I’ve met, and my family. I most especially remember my Lola. She likes telling us stories about her childhood and Tatay, our Lolo. I like capturing a certain moment in time in words and in photos.
To share lessons learned and things that are important to me. To remind myself and people that life is beautiful, painful, and simple all at the same time.
To connect with myself. To connect with others.
For work: writing on social media since 2010. I am still working on my personal beliefs and confidence as a writer and storyteller. I am learning to embrace this part of myself more these days, not because the people around me say I am but because I believe I am. :)
To spend less time on social media (NEED!)
My personal mission is to continue to enjoy writing for my personal life and work and build my skills and confidence as a storyteller.
Writing feels like breathing for me these days, so I feel I am repressed when I am not able to. I hope I keep writing no matter the circumstances I am in and no matter what I’m feeling.
I guess that’s why the book that I bought spoke to me. Because it’s been a while since I’ve come across writing and happiness side by side.
A happier ego is one that says: I will write. I have my reasons. What I write may shine; it may not. But the experience is worth it. And the end-product is worth it, even if I am the only reader. I will not compare myself to Rupi Kaur or Margaret Atwood - this is not a competition. I will find my own writing voice. I will write because I want to. Because it opens my soul, wakes up my brain, makes my heart sing, connects me more powerfully to the world.
Elise Valmorbida, The Happy Writing Book
It hasn’t all been done before. There’s more to do. Write your creative contribution to the world. It will be uniquely yours, something only you can make, because there’s only one of you.
Elise Valmorbida, The Happy Writing Book