* Masarap ang chopsuey. Lalo na kung maraming klase ng gulay, tsaka quail eggs at atay. Pero hindi masayang magbasa ng chopsuey.
* image from Google images
* A prolific imagination does not guarantee you can be a good novelist. You also need that ability to translate the images in your head into picturesque and emotional prose that will hook your readers just as you are hooked by the stories you make up.
Lemme explain further…
Aspiring writers have this … uhm… shall we say, disorder. They think (and say)
I can be a good writer. My family and friends tell me I have a vivid imagination.
Yes, we all get that. I was also told by my dad I could be a good lawyer because, according to him, I liked to argue and I was (am) really articulate. But there’s more to being a lawyer than arguing and articulating just as there’s more to being a novelist than having a prolific imagination.
Writing needs talent and skill, I maintain. For some, their talent and skills may be immediately and greatly apparent. With others, they need to be trained to sharpen what they can bring out. But well, if you’ve got nothing, then you’ve got nothing.
So if you do have something, you have to remember, learn first the ropes. Learn the basics. Focus on simple things before you move on to bigger stuff. Unless you have a big mouth, you can’t put the whole cake in there. Try bite-sized pieces first. Practice. Practice. Practice. You can’t improve by constantly asking what to do. Because what you should do is write.
And what I mean when I make a comparison between chopsuey and a novel is the plot going haywire. Anything goes. This isn’t your first and last piece of work. Don’t put everything in there all at once. It shows how shallow a grasp you have of your plot. That’s not good.
Again, practice makes perfect. Practice brings out a good read.
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