My Journey as a Writer
I am excited to announce that for the whole month of July, Write Things will have a guest writer. Mik Dizon is one of our young writers since 2014. We are also sad that she will not join our writing classes anymore as she will be entering college soon, but we are happy that she is now helping us run Write Things while she is on school break.
She starts her series of blogs with her looking back at her journey as a young writer.
-Aina Cruz
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My Journey as a Writer by Mikaela Dizon
Have you ever experienced getting on your laptop (ready to quench your thirst for words) but instead clicking ‘delete, delete, delete’—until nothing remains—after a few seconds of what seemed like progress? Then don’t worry, you’re not alone. All writers encounter bumps on the road, whether small or large, and if you haven’t experienced any then I’d take a few seconds to think that over again, because we are not only writers but also humans, and humans aren’t perfect. I’ve learned from my own experiences.
Even at a very early age, I would lose myself in all types of written work, from poetry to novels to biographies. One day as a twelve year old I asked myself a question that pressed play on my journey as a writer: ‘How do writers create these worlds that others can escape to with a simple flip of a page?’ At thirteen, I was not only an over-thinker, but also a go-getter, and so I decided to try creating these ‘worlds’ for myself.
Once I turned fourteen, I’d already joined a series of creative writing classes at Write Things. My little musings about how to create worlds with words that I, myself, weaved together had come to an end, and I’d moved on to asking myself other questions (which all writers go through even with all the experience they have): How do I add emotion? How do I add suspense? How do I weave my words together so seamlessly, like a designer fashion piece and not a last-minute Christmas sweater? I’m now sixteen, and until this day I often trouble myself with these thoughts.
What I mean to say is that my journey as a writer hasn’t been perfect. I’ve definitely had my own share of bumps on the road. One of them was having to learn that sometimes you have to embrace what’s not perfect— sometimes the real and the raw is what makes a good piece. Just last month at a Write Things class when we received a writing prompt, my fingers went flying over the keyboard, much to my surprise, because I wasn’t anymore focused on coming up with the perfect piece, but rather a piece that honestly summarized what my journey as a writer has been so far: daunting.
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A Metaphorical Perspective on Writing by Mikaela Dizon
Contemporary Surrealism Art by Rene Schute
No windows, no limitless skies to see.
I remember nights tainted pitch black on repeat.
Memories on pause because
To scratch scars
Might make me bleed.
Words and words scattered outside my 4 by 4 foot box:
Of which i dared not see, dared not reach,
dared not feel.
There’s a door.
There’s knocking on my door.
It goes unrecognized, unheard—
Am I in denial?
When will I learn?
I remember nights on hold.
Walls and walls enclosing a square room:
imagine one measuring a mere 4 by 4 feet.
More words are piling and piling in my skies.
(Outside the box, they say)
But how do I get out when
My words may be lost somewhere in space,
As if floating to universes I’ll never discover—
Mixed up, messed up.
Are my words really outside this
4 by 4 foot black box?
I don’t know what I’ll find.
Words lost in space:
Helpless, yearning to be free.
Nights on hold just for words
To be.
That’s writing to me.
Photo from Picture a Thousand Words
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Young Writers’ Hangout: Creative Writing Classes for Kids and Teens at Fully Booked BGC
July 21
August 4 and 18
September 1 and 15
October 6 and 13
November 10 and 24
December 1 and 8
For inquiries and registration about creative writing classes by Write Things Manila, email writethingsph@gmail.com. You can also send inquiries at http://bit.ly/WriteThings
For more information visit writethings.wix.com/writethings and facebook.com/writethingsph.
This article first appeared in Manila Speak.
