I made the most of the workshop classes in UP during my college days. Every chance I got, I’d use a workshop to refine another chapter of my novel. Only nonfiction, normal fiction, children’s stories, and graphic novel were set outside of Chimera Anamnesis, but even then I still wrote stories in a parallel universe as much as I could. Having a singular focus on my novel for six years was a big help.
I love the workshop process, being able to prepare a chapter as a short story, weaving descriptions and character development and plot all together until I have a finished piece. Getting feedback from other students and most especially our professor… And then later, incorporating their work into a refined piece that satisfied everyone.
My favorite professor was Ma’am Rosario Lucero, borrowed from the Filipino department, in whose fiction class I received my toughest critique. Her words were so harsh, after the class I thought I’d give up writing all together and start a book-binding business. But the next week, she started the class by saying that if a writer had poor quality of work and needed encouragement, she’d give it, but if the writer had good quality work (and a big ego) and needed to refine it to make it even better, she’d criticize them. The more she liked it, the more she’d criticize it, so the writer would strive hard to write better. She revealed that week how much she’d loved the chapter I’d written (Chickens in the Armory) and I set aside my book-binding plans and dove back into writing with glee.
By the time I started my final semester at UP, I had half of my then-manuscript already completed and refined in the workshop process.
The other half I wrote in two weeks. There were gems, but some of it was terrible and that’s why its taken me so long to get to the end. I ‘finished’ the book in time to submit it as my thesis and graduate, but it was far from ready for a publisher back in 2013.
Now, rewriting, the workshopped pieces only account for a third of my novel. I’m adding a lot more content to the novel, more adventures, more characters, more monsters. I’m having a lot of fun with this, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. 🙂
17 May 2020