Jewelers and watch repair persons are capable of operating fountain pen hospitals. They can even fix nibs or grind them to produce italics.

Never throw away old fountain pen converters. They come in handy, and universal models usually fit different pen brands.

Every cosmic writer authors works outside the frames of reference of religion and nationalism.

A Valentine's Day Eve Memory

In 1993, approximately a year after the release of my book Cubao 1980 At Iba Pang Mga Katha, I received a letter from a Chinese man named W. who said he'd read my book from cover to cover and wanted very much, in so many words, to meet me. No one had ever written to me like that before, and so I agreed. As it turned out, he took me to restaurants and to movies and showered me with all kinds of gifts. The whole thing, however, was a mess. I never liked romantic commitments, and it eventually became clear that his image of me in his mind was that of Tom, the protagonist of my novella who was some kind of male prostitute. I felt so sorry to end our friendship, and, wherever W. is now, I hope that he is happy and well and has found the love of his life. He had no idea at the time that he was actually up against a well-read intellectual whose interests were quite esoteric and far from Tom's. This episode in my life may have made me feel subconsciously guilty, and that may be why I am extra kind and generous to my Chinese friends.

I am sharing this with you because you will inevitably come across people who think that they love you--you as a person--and only because they love your work, and therefore you must always be wary of your falling into awkward situations.

Many readers think that they know their favorite writers so well. They cannot conceive that writers' works span the entire heights and depths and breadths of life, and sometimes cannot believe that, while we are indeed writing from The Heart, we are also creating worlds populated by entirely fictional characters with fictional lives.

All art has historicity. Yet, while literature cannot be hung on a museum wall like a painting, it infuses itself on all of the walls and corridors of readers' minds.

Every writer who fears being misconstrued ends up writing nothing.

After a writer cracks the mystery of a character, he tends to move on to another.

Caution: Do not apply this pattern to your personal relationships.

Phenomenology Exercise 1: Somewhat Unplugged

Live through a day off the Internet, TV, and your mobile. Be aware of the passage of time, your feelings, your attitude to breaking habits, your relationships with people, and what you choose to do in the absence of electronics.

Write your reflections in your journal.

An article by Ime Morales, a former student in creative writing:

https://moralesime.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/do-writers-lie/