Presence makes the heart grow fonder.

Truth and truthfulness in creative writing begin by accepting your restrictions: a man cannot write from the point of view of a woman, a 36-year-old cannot write from the point of view of a 63-year-old, an urban dweller cannot write from the point of view of a farmer.

You cannot creatively write about a drug addict if you have never experienced drug addiction.

Any male creative writer cannot write truthfully about abortion because he will never know how it feels like to have one, not to mention how it feels like to menstruate.

If any writer attempts to go beyond these restrictions of truth and truthfulness, his/her work would not be creative writing--it would be journalism, which renders the writer a mere secondary source.

My personal method for transcending this is to regress myself to previous lifetimes in which I was any of the characters I am want to write about--previous lifetimes in which I was a serial killer, or a prostitute, or an obese woman, or an autistic child, for instance.

Always view your work from the perspectives of other cultures.

In actuality nothing can really be translated without losing the impact of its original.

Only an author can "translate" his own work, and it will usually result in a version rather than a translation.

How you say something matters.

Explore how you phrase, and experiment with paraphrase.

Your heart never ceases writing.

You write even as you sit staring into space, apparently doing nothing.

You write as you eat, and as you shower. You write even as you are doing other things, like painting, sculpting, and knitting.

You write while you are sleeping.

You write even when you are sick.

You write as naturally as you breathe.

Only the heart knows how to pray.

The heart discerns what the mind does not.

When writing a play, use the tiles of a mahjongg set to create a miniature set of the play. That way your characters' entrances and exits and scene changes will be more fluid, and you will be able to see the dramatic movement from the point of view of your director.

Remember, as a playwright YOU ARE BOUND TO YOUR STAGE OR PERFORMANCE AREAS.

Never write a play with the secret intention of breaking into television or film. The closest medium for that is the novel, not the play. The stage and the screen are worlds apart, and your work will only lead you to frustration.

Once in a while, if you can afford it, buy an item you would not normally buy. (You can give it away later or decide to keep it.) Contemplate the item in your hands and explore your mindset, attempting to tweak it into the mindset of a person whom you think would normally buy that item.

This is one way of creating characterization. Contemplate different items--and you come up with an orchestration of different characters.

When you know and accept your own heart, your beauty and your talent will shine forth so brightly that everyone cannot help but love you.

The mind can speak, but only the heart can sing.

You cannot follow your mind without also following your heart, but you can follow your heart without following your mind.

The heart is a more credible storyteller than the mind.

That is because the heart is incapable of untruth, unlike the mind.

When working on a novel, play, or short story, do NOT discuss your ideas, your work, or your progress with other people. This will dissipate your creative force--the energy you put into talking should be put into writing.

Whenever you talk about what you are writing, you will feel unable to go back to your desk and resume your work. That is because your psyche tells you that, having talked about your work and having released it in ether, you have already "written" it. You then feel empty and become bored, and your work is in danger of ending up as an abandoned project.

Creative catharsis is mental, emotional, and verbal. Keep everything within your inner sanctum and to yourself until your manuscript is done--and afterward release the finished work to the world.

True wisdom flows not from the mind but from the heart.

It is more productive to write to silence than to write to music.

More often than not, one does not draw well because he/she is using a poor medium.

The same is true when one is writing.

Take notes while traveling, but do not begin composing text until you get home. Otherwise you will write without reflection.

Whenever you are reading and come across a word that you do not understand, consult a dictionary immediately rather than guess its meaning from context.

Then, take a sheet of note paper and compose at least three different sentences of your own using that word.

It is better to write short paragraphs that expand in your readers' imagination than long paragraphs that will only contract in your readers' minds.

"Writing from The Heart" at University of the Philippines Tacloban and Heritage Research Center

I was very impressed with this group. All of them came on time.

The participants were Mass Communications majors. Although they are survivors themselves, they are being tasked by their university to interview other survivors from different walks of life. They will produce a book of testimonies and stories of the days and the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan.

Rather than sit on chairs, the participants sat on exquisite, grass mats that Leyte and Samar are famous for.

Exploring the campus while the participants were writing passages.

The painting on the wall is by visual artist Dulce (Dulz) Cuna, who had an ongoing exhibit on images of Typhoon Haiyan at Libro, a coffee shop and book store and art gallery on Burgos Street.

A sign on the door identifies our workshop venue.

Joycie Alegre, director of the Heritage Research Center, gives closing remarks.

Group picture

I was given only one day to do this workshop, and so we went overtime, though I was reluctant to do so because many of the students lived at great distances from the university.

Dinner at Zanzibar, owned and operated by the daughter of writer Merlie Alunan

Checking out Dulz's art exhibit at Libro

My certificate of appreciation

A thank-you note from Joycie

An oval mat--for me!

The workshop tarpaulin