When I was in grade school, my teacher assigned us to write Filipino poetry about nature. I don't know how to write a poem back then but with the help of our professor, I managed to learn about the basics of writing a poem the same day the teacher assigned us to write a poem about a certain topic.
Four lines per stanza that rhyme at the end. That's the only thing I knew about. So I started to work on it. Trying hard to get that rhymes without abandoning the topic itself, and so I did it. The teacher asked us to pass on our works and read them out loud in front of the class. We're about fifty students in the room and it consumed three days just to recite all of our poems.
I recited on the third day. I was nervous, my palms are sweating. And my mouth seems to make a mistake every time it attempts to speak. So I took a deep breath, imagined I was never in front of the class and I was the only person reading my work. I looked at my paper and recited it. After a few minutes, I looked at my teacher, she's smiling. She seemed proud of me and I never feel that proud of my work before that day.
I don't exactly know when it became my passion. But every time I reminisce about those days, I always miss the feelings. And so, when I started high school. I excelled at writing poems in Filipino and even English. I slowly increased my vocabulary, made a poem for a loved one, excelled at essays and any writing forms. Joined contests and won some of them.
I was happy that I found what makes me happy, never really thought of earning from it though until I found this platform. Before I became fond of writing poems, I wanted to be an artist and since I am a gamer, I wanted to develop games back then. But never happened since I was really bad at drawings.
So I started to share my pieces to my social media accounts, some say it was good. And some just think I was being crazy for a girl since the poems I wrote are about admiring a person. I don't mind them and over the years I just thrive to improve my works slowly but surely, learning about new techniques and formats.
I'm also a bookworm, I read a lot of short stories and series on the internet and books from modern Filipino and foreign authors. I admire their works and learned a lot from them. So I tried to write some short stories coming from the mind that also helped me overcome or at least lessen my overthinking. I convert my thoughts to works and apply some flavor to them. And the results make me glad that it made me feel the same feeling when I wrote my very first poem. Glad that I made a separate social media account just for my works, hiding my identity because I want to become known for it, not because of who I am. I read more over the past years and I wanted now to become a published author. The only problem is I still don't have the right ingredients and dedication to work on it. But with the support of my few readers and my friends, I will work harder to make it happen.
My thoughts are becoming more vivid as I grew older. Making me one step closer to what I dream of. Experiences from reality make a unique story that will have a chance at success in a book. I wanted to learn more about how to write stories that will captivate readers and make them feel the emotion you want to feel them reading your story.
I started to write my stories bit by bit, idea by idea. I never missed a day without writing at least ten sentences for my story until I make it done and I will post it to my separate social media account to make them comment on their opinion and constructive criticisms. I also dared to write short series and every time an idea lighted up in my thoughts, I'll immediately write it on my notes before it disappears.
And now, I'm still looking forward to being a published author and I just need to make a lot of stories and experience life more to make one. I hope this is the platform that will support me in doing so.