Write what you want to write, not what others want you to write, and write as much as you want to.

No individual, group, institution, community, society, or nation can ever succeed in tearing down a true artist.

It is difficult to respect literary critics who are heavily in debt, have vices, live in destitute homes, and have dysfunctional relationships.

Why don't they fix their lives and situations first before anything else?

A fountain pen is a writer's jewel. That is why many writers keep more than one fountain pen in their treasury.

Write, and keep on writing.

Do not allow critics to tell the world what literature should be.

It is the writers who should be doing that.

It is not so much what a writer really writes but what he really means that counts, because everything is within a particular context.

Using a fountain pen is the ultimate reflection of a writer's sophistication.

Devote most of your time primarily to your family and only secondarily to your art.

You can create as much art as you want for yourself, but God creates for you only one family.

There are art academies and creative writing centers, but all these teach theory, history, materials, and techniques. Graduating from these institutions means nothing if the graduate's art does not come from his heart, for only when it comes from his heart is it authentic and original.

An artist draws his personal truth only from his heart, and his social truth from his firsthand experiences. He otherwise becomes a collective carbon copy of all the teachers he ever had.

Many of my contemporaries believe that to be published, to be awarded, and to have one's plays produced are the hallmarks of a successful writer.

Having been there and done that, a successful writer, to me, is someone who writes whatever he wants no matter what and whether his works will be published, produced, or not, AND, AT THE SAME TIME, not be a starving artist but one who enjoys life, has a good house and home, has a good family, buys whatever he wants, and is able to STOP WRITING AND DO SOMETHING ELSE at any time.

Why write AT THE EXPENSE OF ALL THOSE THINGS I MENTIONED? It doesn't make sense.

When someone criticizes your work, write ten more works.

Never let criticism stop you from writing, even if it means writing what other people hate. That would be like having a car mishap and never driving again.

Writing is everyone's final duty, for it is writing that records history.

Your e-mail message:

"Hello sir here I am again  full of questions. Your suggestion sir about sublimating helped me a lot. I chose sir to write stories. Fictional stories. 

"I love stories sir for they helped me live in this world more , to keep me more in tune with my surroundings; fiction they may be but  believe that fiction consists of lies that tell the truth. Fiction released from me my animal desires. It feels like I am purging my darkness. 

"But sir I have been suffering these anxieties and ocd  and I have tried sports as a sort of relaxation  but still stories are the best for me. 

" Suddenly sir I have had this thought: why do I care about my characters if they are not real? They are nothing but the products of my imagination and that line of thinking has caused me to fall into a sort of pseudo metanoia  . I know deep down that these thoughts are valid but I still choose fiction or stories as the outlets for my confessions. 

"Could you recommend sir anything? Any methods?  or maybe  I am just over thinking.

"thanks sir."

My reply:

Hello _________________!

A writer is a god who creates a world and populates it with his characters, all of whom are extensions of his Inner Self. It is natural for a writer, therefore, to care a lot not only for that world but for the characters he designated to live in that world.

Always alternate writing with reading or some other activity, such as sports. Sometimes you need to rest from what you like doing best.

Paint, and paint as well as you can, but do not get fixated on it. Your next obligation is to write.

Ordinarily, everyone needs to undergo secondary reflection in order to remember, backtrack, or retrace something.

Creative writers, however, need to undergo tertiary reflection in order to produce their works.

Every writer is chastised by poetic justice.

Be a good father and grandfather before you even begin dreaming of being a good writer.

Many of my co-writers are frustrated with their attempts to use dip pens, because they use the pens straight from the box out of ignorance.

Before dip pen nibs are delivered from the factory, they are brushed with linseed oil to prevent corrosion while they are in transit, in storage, or in shop window displays. The film of oil dries and hardens to a fine gel.

Before using a dip pen nib, therefore, first wipe it thoroughly with lighter fluid or turpentine. And then use it--the ink will then flow smoothly.

Art changes because values change.

Values change because art changes.

There is nothing quite as precious as a clean sheet of paper and a pen in your hand, waiting for the reality of your thoughts to become the reality of your words.

Your creative unconscious responds to the color of your ink. When experiencing "writer's block," switch to a different ink color, e.g. from black to blue or from green to red. Try purple too!

Of course, for a default color, there is nothing quite like black.

A story writes itself without your having to get stressed over it.

Thoughts become immortal whenever you put them in words.

Whenever you are unable to write, it is because it is time for you to read.

Never write or paint to music--it will interfere with the creative process of your psyche. Long after your work is done, you will find it difficult to recapture your original, creative state and will find it almost impossible to revise your work satisfactorily, if you have to.

Always write or paint to silence, for it is only in silence that you can listen attentively to your heart.

Creativity is born of inner suffering and hardship more than it is born of satisfaction and contentment.

It behooves the creative person, however, to seek balance and inner peace from time to time, so that he does not go over the edge and push his creativity to the realm of destruction, for only a thin line separates the two.

Only a beautiful heart is capable of telling beautiful stories.

To write from the heart is to write from a state of love, for there is only one emotion, and that emotion is love.

A musical number is a narrative interruption.

A writer is never bored even when waiting. All he/she has to do is pick up a pen and write.

Open a blog and document your life and your works in a diary. Even if no one reads it, it will pay off in the long run. As a matter of fact you may even set it so that only you can read it.

Writing is neither a hobby nor a career. It is a lifestyle, because only then does it truly engulf one's mind, heart, and soul.

Dramaturgy for Shen, Isaac, and Ahmad (March 20, 2015)

Photos by theater management intern Atiqah Majid

Dramaturgy for Shen was done via a long-distance call, since she was in Melbourne en route to Tasmania on an adventure.

Isaac

Ahmad

A writer who shares nothing is an unsuccessful writer because, unbeknownst to him, he also shares nothing with himself.

Workshop for Singaporean Children (Ages 7 - 14) for South East PSG Family Camp at Changkat Primary School, Bedok (March 21, 2015)

During this workshop I used the publication Inang Bayan's New Clothes, easily adapting its messages to the Singaporean setting, especially on the occasion of the country's year-round celebration of its independence. 

The story book and exercise sheets imparted to the participants:

--The importance of a written story

--The possibility of adapting a story set in another country to one's own country

--The symbolism of color

--Historical and cultural influences on costume

--Combining pieces of apparel to create different appearances

--Imagining a symbolic dress for one's mother, grandmother, or sister

--Imagining a symbolic dress for one's mother country

--Appreciating a story while engaging visual-motor skills

--Appreciating not only one's own work but the work of others as well

--Working in groups, or teamwork

Workshop for Singaporean Senior Citizens, Seniors' Learning Camp Alumni, at Lifelong Learning Institute (March 19, 2015)

A director must know his playwright before staging his/her play. Otherwise that would be like curating an art exhibit without knowing anything about the artist.

Theater is a necessary art. It can never be replaced by any other medium or any other form of art.

You are defined not only by what you choose to read but by what you do not choose to read as well.

The perception of literature changes as one's mind matures.

That is why it is a bad idea to:

--Be a "tabloid" writer, i.e. a writer whose works revolve around current issues that eventually become passe.

--Be a "cool" juvenile writer, because all audiences, and the writer himself/herself, eventually grow up.

Dramaturging JR's Screenplay

"Isla del Fuego"

Hi JR!

First of all, are you sure you want to use this title? This is the title of Eve Mascunana's book, and people might expect your film to be a version of it. Moreover, your film is not about the entire island but about one particular young woman on the island.

The entirety of your screenplay, however, and the story are very interesting. Your film promises to be several notches above the works of everyone else who owns a video camera.

Your main problem is dialogue. Your characters talk when they do not have to, and when mere close-ups would suffice. And, when they talk, they don't talk the way people do. For example, no one really uses the word "ngunit".

In the beginning of the screenplay, the mother says, "Anak, gising na. Baka tanghaliin na tayo sa pagpunta sa Dumaguete." In real life the mother would simply say, "Gising na!"

The girl's response is equally unrealistic: "Pasensya na po, Inay, napasarap lang po ng tulog. Mag-aayos na po ako." In reality the girl would simply rise, say nothing, and go to the bathroom.

In Seq 20 the cashier confesses that she really knew nothing when she applied for her job. No personnel manager would ever hire someone with no background for a cashiering position.

You have many dream sequences but you describe only the ones toward the end of the film.

Seq 31-B is your real point of attack. It is when your story begins. Nothing has been happening so far except to provide a backdrop for the story.

Try to avoid contrived situations that are mere tricks to push your story forward: the mother's sprained ankle, missed boats, etc.

If the grandmother is truly an effective healer, why couldn't she have healed the mother's sprained ankle immediately?

Be aware that Siquijor is an herb-and oil locale. The magic practitioners there never use talismans or medallions.

The ending is not optimistic. You should show what Dada proactively decides to be. Following your story, she should embrace her future as a sorceress. As it is you leave her in a psychologically comatose condition.

Give closure to the other characters as well: Bea and Pao especially.

I see your passion in your screenplay. Although this is about a turning point in a young woman's life, it is really about your discovery of Siquijor and Dumaguete and the marvelous things you found there. Go for it, and I wish you the best of luck!

It is impossible to prevent other people from reading any piece of writing.

It is equally impossible to tell a writer what he should write.

A writer without a personal worldview, no matter how much you'd disagree with it, is not worth reading.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Gabriel

"We Fell In A Marathon"

Hello Gabriel!

This version of your play is so much better, and so much more effective, than the first.

Your point of attack is perfect. Dramatic action begins and moves on swiftly.

Dialogue: It is Anthony who is the poet. Be wary of how the other characters speak. On Page 2, Fifth Line from Bottom, for instance, Mr. Seow says, "It's either you submitting to me or that." In a normal situation, a man would blurt out spontaneously, "Give me what I want!" or "Give it to me!" (Or something more explicit than that.) There is something primal about your subject matter, represented by Mr. Seow, and he should speak accordingly.

You have cleverly gotten rid of cell phone conversations. Congratulations.

I commend your work because it has become more honest and more emotionally truthful. It is no longer hampered by the masks and disguises that you endowed the first version with.

There is, however, more work to be done:

--You need to develop all three characters, particularly their historicity: Where are they coming from? Where are they going? What do they really want? Otherwise the audience will find it extremely difficult to sympathize with any one of them. This will make your play longer and fuller.

--Your ending is ambiguous. The ending should give closure to all three characters, not just Anthony. The audience will also want to see, comprehend, and understand what is in the letter.

You've stepped from the shore into the water. Now go for the deep end.

Write and paint because you MUST, without thinking of how much money you can immediately or eventually make out of your work.

Writing for money and painting for money change the quality not only of your work, but of your artistic soul.

There is really only one way to improve your writing or your drawing by leaps and bounds, and that is to practice it eight hours a day.

When writing or drawing, the hand of your teacher should never be evident.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Helmi

"My Father Wears Bras"

Hi Helmi!

I enjoyed reading your play. Comedy is your forte. This would make a wonderful twin-biller along with "My Mother Buys Condoms", in the sequence in which you wrote them: "Mother" first, followed by "Father". The result would be a theatrical diptych that would comprise a pleasant evening for the audience.

I have a few comments:

--The title is written from the point of view of SON, but SON is absent from the stage most of the time. He is one-dimensional and only serves as a foil to provide plot tension.

--"PLU" (in the Philippines anyway) means "People Like Us", not "People Like You".

--The ending is quite unfinished--perhaps because you didn't know exactly how to end the play? There is closure for BA and SU, but no sufficient dramatic change for SON and JAC. They go back to Square One--a no-no in dramatic writing.

I hope you are able to re-work this play. Afterward, send a copy of BOTH "Mother" and "Father" to TheatreWorks.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Mayura

"Paper Thin"

Hello Mayura!

I enjoyed reading this version of your play. It is tighter and clearer, though still heavily dependent on technological aids. It is, however, a nice poem-for-performance and a commentary on gender, reality and stage reality, and unreality.

Go for a reading at this point, and listen to how the dialogue flows.

You may submit this to TheatreWorks after you are satisfied.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: A Message for All

Hello Playwrights!

Just a short message I'd been meaning to impart but kept neglecting to:

While I dramaturge your work, I do NOT proofread it for spelling, grammar, syntax, and idiomatic sense. All these should be clarified and corrected during the reading, rehearsals, and final production, and only after then should you work on encoding a definitive, publication-ready copy.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: De Jun

"My Promise to My Animal Tamer"

Hello De Jun!

I enjoyed reading your play. It is very poignant and unusually mature (considering that you are just 16, I mean).

Here are my comments:

--It is difficult to cast a ten-year-old child in a play for various reasons. Be prepared to have the role played by a young man onstage.

--Incorporate more stage directions and scene descriptions. This should make clear to you where action takes place and how characters transit from one scene to the other, especially if they have to change or add items to their costumes. The director and the scene designer may or may not envision the play as you do, but at least you should proffer yours while they are reading it for the first time.

--Your ending is abrupt. It should give closure to all three characters. I suggest that each character be given a monologue that addresses either the audience or themselves.

Please sned me back the play with a fuller ending.

A good disposable pen that can substitute for a fountain pen--because its ink is highly fluid--is Pilot V Ball Extra Fine.

Be careful, though--it has a fragile nib and gets ruined when you drop it on its nib or apply too much pressure.

A writer is also a reader and, as a reader, should be able to peruse another's work and tell, by the writing, whether the author was healthy or ill, sated or hungry, focused or distressed, merely by means of the passage of writing. A reader should also be able to tell which of the myriad of emotions was dominating the writer's heart.

Reading is one of the best exercises in writing.

A writer who paints will prefer to hold his brush like a pen.

When a writer rests, he reads.

As in painting and in cooking, teaching students all of your creative writing secrets and techniques is no assurance that they will write the way you do, for the very reason that they have inherent, individual styles.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Beverly (Four-Character Version)

"Untitled"
Version with four characters

Hello again Beverly!

This version seemed more promising because you present not only two kinds of men but two kinds of women. However, the Wife is underdeveloped and simply drops out toward the middle of the play. I realize that it will take a lot of work to flesh her out and carry her over through the end--and making this a long, full-length play--and so let us go with the version that has only three characters. It is tight and complete, and does not have the melodramatic flair that the addition of the Wife gives us.

For I now realize that this play is not about any of your past loves.

This play is about your two real lovers: Lucre (Dan) and Literature (Man), and how you are constantly torn between making money and living a comfortable life and following your heart and barely surviving.

Indeed, please prepare a clean copy of the three-character version and submit it to TheatreWorks Singapore.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Beverly (Three-Character Version)

"Untitled"
Version with three characters

Hi Beverly!

I will read the version with four characters in a while.

In the meantime here are my comments on this version:

--The play is excellent. It is a thorough and mature articulation of love between adults in relationships and a serious attempt to arrive at a definition of love.

--Page 5, Line 13: The line is not too extreme. It is, actually, your point of attack.

--Page 7, Line 9: Not contrived.

--Page 8, Line 13: The alternate wording is better.

--Page 31, Line 2: It will become evident during the performers' reading, which is when a playwright adjusts his dialogue, but always be alert to theatrical phraseology. Your line "Besides your art" will not project well inside a theater. Rewriting it to "Aside from your art" will. Recite the two and hear the difference.

--Page 56, Lines 1 - 4: Delete.

--Page 62, Lines 9 - 10: Dialogue is better as opposed to mimicry. Mimicry does not go with Dan's character.

--End of play: Beautiful! The first ending is so much better; the second, lame.

You may proceed to make these changes and present a clean copy to TheatreWorks Singapore.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Serene

"Together Apart"

Hello Serene!

I enjoyed reading your tragicomedy, a contemporary commentary on the expectations of two generations. Your play works because, despite the veneer of casualness, you sustain a dramatic tension all throughout, and it is a demonstration of the playwright as thinker of society, in this case, Singaporean society.

Your use of screens for presenting news headlines and mobile information is profuse; however, I like the eventual use of the screen as a shadow-play screen as counterpoint, for it underscores the theatrical differences between two generations.

"Together Apart" is ready for turning over to TheatreWorks Singapore for a staged reading.

Having said all of that, you should take care that your future works take the turn of drama rather than melodrama.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Samantha

"The Whole Package"

Hello Samantha!

Your work in progress is certainly a far cry from the draft you first submitted. Proceed with it. Ensure that your acts are symmetrical. Ensure that all of your characters are well-rounded; don't relegate Melissa and Stephen to supporting roles.

Be very careful with your dialogue. People don't talk the way writers write. They hardly talk in complete and idiomatic sentences. For example, you have a line that reads, "But I already cut down the amount of sugar by half." In reality, a performer onstage would simply say "I've cut down the sugar."

Do send me your complete play as soon as possible. Your treatment and handling of emotions are refreshing and written straight from the heart.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore: Lishan

"Conversations with My Father"

Hello Lishan!

I have only one suggestion at this point: The flashback on page 4 is quite unnecessary. It pushes the play from realism to poetic realism. It also conveys to the audience that sexuality is the key to understanding the subject matter, which of course is not. The flashback technique is better off in the medium of film, as Alfred Hitchcock demonstrated in Marnie.

Other than that, your play is now ready to be turned over to TheatreWorks Singapore. You have created a sensitive vehicle that every actress in Singapore will covet. As I told you last time, casting is most crucial to its success. For the dramatic reading, encourage your performers to memorize the lines rather than read from scripts; total suspension of disbelief will make this play best appreciated.

I look forward to the success of the dramatic reading of your play.

Never make a big fuss out of language. Despite attempts to globalize or universalize English, for example, different peoples will speak their own variety of English and even develop their own idioms.

Life does not depend on linguistics.

Language should be in the service of people, never the other way around,

Inspect The Feelings That Go With Acts

The warp and woof of your work are in your everyday life.

Inspect the feelings that go with acts.

For example, if you are giving a gift to someone, what are your feelings that go with the act? How are your feelings related to the person you are giving the gift to? to the gift itself, and when and where you purchased it? to the act of giving itself?

Afterward, explore the feeling from different perspectives:

Did you give generously? What if you gave begrudgingly?

Did you give unconditionally? What if you gave with expectations of reciprocation?

Did you give to a friend? What if that friend were of romantic interest to you? Or an enemy? Or a mere business partner?

Inspecting and exploring feelings that go with acts--yours or other persons'--help not only in understanding yourself and other people but in creating and amplifying characterization in the service of creative writing.

Despite the quaintness of the notion you cannot write with blood, human or animal.

You cannot write with black coffee for the same reason.

Both blood and coffee will clot on your ferrule after the first three letters.

Every abandoned project is an act of anti-creation.

Everybody can write, paint, and knit, but not everybody has the time, the patience, and the stamina to bring a project to completion.

You are a successful writer if readers need your mind, even if you do not need theirs.

Many people think that creativity is easy to access, simply because everyone has it. The truth is, in order to fully awaken your creativity, you must be emotionally violent on yourself, as you must be in awakening your psychic abilities.

Creativity and psychism go hand in hand.

Beautiful penmanship is a reflection of a beautiful personality.

Dramaturgy for TheatreWorks Singapore

Your e-mail message:

"Hello Tony
regarding tge script '___________________________' you gave comments on, i did not make the neccessary amendments for the following reasons.
"1. My health turned for the worst in the last one month.
"2. I lost the drive and inspiration in those weeks as i struggled with a new posting at work.
"3. Making amendments to the ethnic and production issues are fine but strangely, i am unable to articulate more reflections of the key characters, because i think i am experiencing numbing loss within myself of the present dimension. I am afraid i did not spare resources for the script.

"I thought of withdrawing from next ___________________'s session with you.
"What do you think?

"___________________________

My answer:

Hello _________________________!

Don't lose hope. I taught you that there is no such thing as writer's block--neither is there such a thing as "inspiration".

There is a reason why our workshop was what it was; drama is other people, and, before you can know other people, you must first know yourself.

I note that you have manic-depressive moods. You must be able to deal with this not only as a playwright but as a human being. I cannot remember whether I told you this in person, but the root of it all is your sense of identity.

In one of our lessons, I taught you the 30 defense mechanisms. You need to use the defense mechanism called compartmentalization. Build a separate and special compartment for your play-writing so that other aspects of your everyday life won't affect it.

Finally, here is a visualization that you can do. (I didn't teach this to your batch but to the one after it): 

1) Make a clean drawing/painting or a model of your ideal writing room. Pay special attention to the furniture, the walls, the window and what it looks onto. Is it a period room or a modern one? What accessories are in it? Is it full of art or is it bare?

2) Before commencing a creative work, visualize yourself entering this room and writing.

3) Re-read your play draft and begin revising it.

I know that this will work.

It is astounding to me that many writers and artists know nothing about psychology.

It is equally astounding to me that writers and artists who do know something about psychology are terrified of parapsychology,

There are two, immediate sources of creative energy: a personal crisis and boredom.

As a general rule pencils should be reserved for drawing and pens, for writing--not because pencils are not versatile enough but because there exists a whole range of smooth pens for writing in the market.

It is your duty as a writer and an artist to be directive and not submissive.

There are bureaucrats in literature and in art. They continuously attempt to make rules and establish standards, offering grants and awards at the same time. Their foremost goal is to control writers and artists and keep them within the perimeters of their own religious beliefs.

Never fall into their traps.

Take the Lead With Adjectives

Writing is a way of teaching people how to talk.

Avoid using trite adjectives such as "wonderful", "great", "awesome", "perfect", "robust", and, of course, "amazing".

If you use fresh, new adjectives frequently enough, people will begin to use them in their everyday conversations too.

It is useful for a creative writer to believe in reincarnation, whether spiritually or psychologically, because his/her works are filtered through only a single lifetime's frames of reference.

A prolific creative writer draws from selves from other lifetimes, and, therefore, from a variety of frames of references.

In the last analysis, it is the content that matters.

Phraseology is an art.

Every workshop is a personal adventure, because it is a journey into the self.

Ivan's Photos of "Writing from The Heart" with Migrant, Bangladeshi Workers at Dibashram, Little India, Singapore (Sunday, December 9, 2014)

Brendan's Photos of Dramaturgy in the Flesh with Lishan and Day1 of "Writing from The Heart" for TheatreWorks Singapore (Monday, December 1, 2014)

"Writing from The Heart" for Low-Wage, Bangladeshi Migrant Workers at Dibashram, Little India, Singapore (Sunday, December 7, 2014) / Part 5

The theater group rehearses a play.

Mohsin is being interviewed for a TV feature.

Mohsin, the editor of the Bengal newsletter

Bangla was recently declared an international language. This is a shrine to Bangladesh and Bangla.

This electrician aims to save up money and take a degree in Visual Media.

The kitchen