Writing

   Writing would always be there come what may.  Once a writer as in music, would always remain a writer. Unless of course you don’t give damn nor feel crazy about events happening in the country.  For evil to thrive, simply relish seeing good men doing nothing.  That’s a no-no attitude and simply rhetorical as such is a mistake  any writer cannot afford to commit.  Media designated as Fourth Estate acting as watchmen on three other equally important institutions is definitely very tall order.  But the true blue-blooded practitioners just did it at the expense even of their lives.

This is so for writers like other spokespersons in the community are not only blessed with gantas when God created men compare to handfuls given to the rest but most specially, have minds pregnant with meaning. Moreover, they have   better appetites in pursuing and developing their consummate skills.  They come in different packages – graduates of paperbacks the likes of Blas Ople; college drop-outs or undergrads the likes of PDI’s Conrad de Quiros, Nick Joaquin and NVM Gonzales or  plain retirees that pursue writing first as hobbies and later as career the likes of Joseph Conrad, Irving Wallace and Agatha Christie or simply man with gung-ho personality to learn the craft like Ninoy Aquino.  Different persuasions, idealism and creed but the essentials remains the same – that of communicating driving home a message across the general reading public for good.

Mindanao, no question about this, was once Land of Promise. Whatever happens to that promise whether or it was delivered or not and who are benefiting most could be a task for example a writer would explore to write about.  Its big cities are melting pots and where people  are forming into one cohesive whole there ensues struggle polarizing those who  have from the poor and or fragmented into different ethnic groups; hence, reminding those in powers-that-be  of the excesses committed against  them beyond fair game is definitely worth doing.

As for style I submit that any person aspiring to become a writer should be a wordsmith or what you  write would end up as maze or an abstract not allowing  tone color to develop.  That means you must use the language of the people using standard grammar, syntax and consistent use of tenses.  Most importantly, you should know what message you’re driving across to the receiver.  These are the fields where men are separated from the boys.  No question on honing the aptitude in writing different categories as in straight reporting, editorials, features or  newswriting.  But as in the past column, I normally employ research allowing the data to come out naturally first and then make the necessary clincher of what it  implies.  This is crucial as all of the categories writing articles carries with it big impact from the reader.

 I remember writing on Divorce as third option when the issue was like hotcake then hotly debated in both Houses of Congress and Senate. Who’s not for divorce anyway given the realities of Filipino marriage specifically how Filipinos institutionalized  querida system. But my God after conducting research – from books, periodicals at Xavier Library – it soon dawned  to this writer that precisely the idea of divorce thrives because of weak foundation of marital bond.  Strengthen it in other words and you’re securing  the sanctity of marriage into the grave. Naturally my conclusion then was – No way for the Third Option! What lesson I both learned as writer and father.

Second when I write about Reproductive Bill.  Of course it was such an important subject specially its implication to the public is such that you have to present it in its entirely as intelligible and understandable as it should to the general reading public. And you could only do that when you conduct research on the subject.. Incidentally, Fr. Joe Swegmann had relevant data on the subject from the internet. Doing the writing myself, the collaboration leads to very important article.  
The result was an article “Trojan Horse Runs Wild and Galloping No More”, my synthesis  on the subject showing that the subject has more than what it meets the eyes.  Its part of the deal of Military agreement  US had with the government as precondition in addressing overpopulation. All other relevant issues then are also included in the package – feminism, abortion, environment and all that; hence, a Trojan horse actually in reality and therefore does more harm than good. It is in this reason  that it would never saw light in Congress and senate.  The  lessons learned when it didn’t muster enough support is there confirming the danger it imposes to gullible Filipino women in this country.

So it depends what you feel and how you would do it. For starters, it better to write any journalistic piece just to have feel of it as in newswriting, storytelling.  You can graduate later to column writing when time comes. When would that be?  I think that happens when you also graduate as regular bookworm in any library, bookclub or reading  periodicals of national dailies and tabloids. It’s the only way to do it. Writing is merely an extension of reading! In fact, you should read incessantly as much than you’ll write. Writing is simply putting your thoughts in order in paper.

 In a nutshell, I’m very comfortable using investigative journalism. Data, like statistics as my friend now PARO in DAR-Bacolod writes, is  like bikini. It  might be bare and insignificant. But they hide what is important and essentials.