Carljoe Javier's Blog, page 3

The First Run

It was a shade before four in the morning, still dark and as I walked down the street I saw a crowd along Morato blocking traffic. Underage girls were pouring out of a club, their dresses glimmer and glitz and their faces smeared with lipstick and drunkenness, and on their arms their boys, drunk too and unsteady flagging cabs. The crowd collapsed into itself as a scuffle began and I made me way further down the street to the meeting spot. It was not too long ago that I might have been stumbli...

You Need to Read

The semester begins and with it I meet a new crop of creative writing students. The ongoing debate over whether creative writing can be taught is far from being resolved. I approach it in the same way that I think of sports talent. There will be people who will just never be able to grasp it, no matter how much work they put in. And then there are the Jameses, Bryants, and Durants whose skills seem innate, who would have been great through sheer talent and then took the time to hone their abi...

Writing Tips!

I compiled these from notes made in the second semester of last school year. I would be reading student works and then writing notes like these, then presenting my notes to class for future improvement. But I thought that maybe this sem’s students would benefit from hearing these off the bad. And maybe other people online might get something out of it too. Anyways, here you go, a few tips on how to write better.

WRITING TIPS

Show Don’t Tell.
Why are you writing? What are you trying to say?
Writin...

Reading List for Creative Writing 10 (Creative Writing for Beginners)

Last year at the Manila International Literary Festival I presented a teaching plan that was styled differently from the usual syllabi. Other syllabi usually when chronologically or by genre or theme. My plan took from those ideas (and it could be seen arguably as both chronological and genre-based still) but it focused on the output that the students would be expected to submit. As such, I went for different ideas, effects, and genres, all coming together. Students would be expected to deliv...

They Come in Bunches

The title is in reference to freshmen, UP freshmen in particular. It is an observable phenomenon after all. The first few days and weeks of class they move in bunches and sometimes in big groups. Sooner or later, they start to break off into smaller unit. Finally, they will become confident to walk the campus and take the ikot jeeps on their own. Also, after initial weeks eating in CASAA they will start finding other places to eat. This can’t help but spark some reminiscence when I was just l...

Prometheus Review

Thundering into cinemas is Ridley Scott’s big, bold return to the Alien franchise. Let’s be honest, while the creatures themselves have maintained their scary factor (thank you Giger), the franchise itself has lost its way with the AvP mash-ups. Good to see then thatPrometheus brings it, generally, back to form.

One of the things that the filmmakers were very careful about were guarding the film’s background, maintaining that it wasn’t necessarily a prequel, but rather something set in the sam...

The Messiest Break-Up

“I’m sorry, but it’s over,” I said.

Silence.

“It’s just that, well, I want different things. I feel like I’m starting a new phase of my life and it’s clear that you don’t belong there. In fact, you sort of get in the way.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry. That was a bit mean. We did have some good times, right? Fun times. Really. I mean, we did spend more than a decade together. And we did a lot of fun crazy stuff during that time. I’ll never forget any of it.”

And still the silence.

“I never thought it would...

The Head and the Heart (Physiologically Speaking)

Sometime when I was an undergraduate, I thought that I had made a major intellectual breakthrough. I managed to justify, on intellectual-philosophical terms, that I should not exercise. Ever. It was because I came to believe that the body was a mere husk, a vessel for consciousness. Why take care of the body when I would be leaving it to occupy a new hybrid body with the coming of The Singularity? And so I decided that I would only exercise one muscle, the one muscle that mattered and made us...

Cool Now?

My sister and I were walking through the mall and everyone was wearing a Marvel T-Shirt. I lamented this fact. Though I like it that more people are into superheroes, it’s a bit of a drag to see people wearing it as if it were now nothing, whereas previously wearing shirts with superheroes was a badge of membership to a small group of enthusiasts (okay, geeks) and also a possible reason for people to think of you as being weird.

I know that last line sounds like a hipster lamenting the mainstr...

Prospects, Concerns, Opportunities, Expectations

It’s at this point that I can admit to things not ever turning out as I expect. Then again I think it’s safe to assume that it’s only the very rare person whose life turns out as planned.

Nearing 30 was tumultuous, and being 30 has not been much easier. I’ve written before that I swung between manic and depressive states throughout February and March and my mind has been a cauldron of trouble. Work, money, personal life, family stuff. And more recently old man trouble makes another visit in my...