Saturday, July 5, 2008

WRITER’S BLOCK – or WHY DO WRITERS NEED A WINNOWING TRAY – or WHO NEEDS BES PASCUAL’S MAGIC BILAO?



New writers have one problem that we can also consider as a writer’s DEMON. This monstrous pesky vexation is simply called: WRITER’S BLOCK. One has to EXORCISE this demon in order to be set free from bondage.

And how do you exorcise this demon?

The answer is quite simple. Just like a MANANAWAS, SANTIGUADOR, MAMBABAWI, ARBOLARIO… they use the winnowing tray to triumph over the enemy. Therefore, as a writer, why don’t you use the same tool to overcome your writer’s block?

No, komiks writer-illustrator BES PASCUAL didn’t use the winnowing tray to exorcise his demon, but he used it nevertheless to write MAGIC BILAO in LAGIM KOMIKS in the 60s, which was made into a movie starring APENG DALDAL.

Pero, no, mi compañeros, amigos y colegas… I am not telling you to copy Bes Pascual’s fantasy tale and claim it as your own, but use only the bilao to redeem yourself from the clutch of the writer’s demon. And how do you do this?

Well, look at the image. How many kinds of fruit can you put in a winnowing tray?

A lot. Isn’t it?

Well, you can also do the same with your writer’s block.
You can win over this demon by using CLUSTERING.

The winnowing tray is your topic. The fruits are the related objects that need to be placed in the tray.

Therefore, if your subject is HOSPITAL, place that in the tray. Then, like what the image shows, write every possible things one can see or feel in the hospital. By doing this, it will open doors for you to develop your story.




Simple, but it works. Try it next time when you’re possessed by the demon. This is the best way to exorcise the bastud!

7 Comments:

Blogger Randy P. Valiente said...

Very effective itong 'bilao trchnique', JM. Malaking tulong ito sa mga walang maisip minsan, gaya ko. Thanks:)

July 7, 2008 at 7:24 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Randy, unfortunately, I goofed when I said that MAGIC BILAO was done by BES PASCUAL. Hindi pala. Simon of Video 48 emailed me a poster of the said movie, and it starred APENG DALDAL, alright, but the story in REDONDO KOMIX was actually written by AMADO CASTRILLO & ALFREDO ALCALA.
Yun nga palang kay BES PASCUAL ay BATIKOBRA AT FLYING SALAKOT. Si APENG din yata ang gumanap dito o baka si CHIQUITO pa kaya? Naku, 1965 na-serialized iyon sa LAGIM KOMIKS at 5 anyos pa lang ako noon, kaya lang nakita ko uli yung mga lumang komiks noong teeanager na ako.

Maraming-salamat sa iyo, Simon. I will post the movie ad by Alcala. It looks really fun.

July 7, 2008 at 10:09 PM  
Blogger Ron Mendoza said...

JM,

Akala ko sa kutsinta at puto lang ginagamit ang bilao. He he. Nice, very informative posts.

July 7, 2008 at 10:39 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Ron:

Puwede rin pong ilagay sa bilao ang BANANA CUE! He-he.

July 7, 2008 at 11:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sa REDONDO KOMIX, nga iyun JM. CASTRILLO & ALCALA nga, pero ito yung period sa CRAF na medyo pa-decline na sila...

Si Bes Pascual naman eh puro rip-off siya sa EXTRA KOMIKS noon, mga EC horror lines ang source niya, ang pangit ng drawing pero ma-eenganyo kang magbasa. It has a certain appeal na I can't explain.
Tungkol sa WRITER'S BLOCK, mi suggestion ako: Magbasa sila ng Dyaryo o much better, mga TABLOIDS, ang daming reports ng pwedeng i-develop. Sa screaming Headline pa lang mi mapupulot ka na: PINUTULAN NG ARI NI MISIS ! DEDO, LOVERS SA MOTEL, NATIKLO NG ASAWA ! SIOPAO NA CARTON ANG INGREDIENTS NAHULI !etc....

Parang ala TRUMAN CAPOTE. Nabasa lang niya sa dyaryo yung Kansas massacre ng isang pamilya, at naintriga siya. Ginawa niyang fictionalized ang account at naging BEST-SELLER, IN COLD BLOOD.

Pero bakit hindi na niya nasundan ito ?



Auggie

July 8, 2008 at 6:18 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Capote was very talented, but according to John Malcolm Brinnin, his friend ( and critic) Capote failed to join the ranks of the truly great American writers because he squandered his time, talent and health on the pursuit of celebrity, riches and pleasure.

''I had to be successful, and I had to be successful early,'' Mr. Capote said in 1978. ''The thing about people like me is that we always knew what we were going to do. Many people spend half their lives not knowing. But I was a very special person, and I had to have a very special life. I was not meant to work in an office or something, though I would have been successful at whatever I did. But I always knew that I wanted to be a writer and that I wanted to be rich and famous.'' Success, both as a writer and as a celebrity, came early, when he was 23 years old and published his first novel, ''Other Voices, Other Rooms.'' It was a critical and financial success, and so were most of the volumes of short stories, reportage and novellas that followed, including ''Breakfast at Tiffany's,'' ''The Muses Are Heard,'' ''The Grass Harp,'' ''Local Color,'' ''The Dogs Bark'' and ''Music for Chameleons.''

But the book that perhaps solidified his claim to literary fame was, like what you have mentioned, ''In Cold Blood,'' his detailed, painstakingly researched and chilling account of the 1959 slaying of a Kansas farm family and the capture, trial and execution of the two killers.

Published serially in The New Yorker and then as a book in 1965, ''In Cold Blood'' consumed more than six years of his life. But it won him enthusiastic praise, mountains of publicity, millions of dollars and the luxury of time to work on ''Answered Prayers.''

But he accelerated the speed of his journey to celebrity, appearing on television talk shows ( and one of these talk shows he was slapped by writer NORMAN MAILER), and, in his languid accent, which retained its Southern intonation, indulged a gift for purveying viperish wit and scandalous gossip. He continued to cultivate scores of the famous as his friends and confidants, all the while publishing little and, he said later, developing a formidable ''writer's block'' that delayed completion of ''Answered Prayers.''

And this where the writers block I am talking about. Even if the writer has already a story in progress, he could sudenly experience this demon. So, even if your story is based on reality like "In Cold Blood", expressing that story in the most creative way could encounter a blockade of memory.

Though, sometimes, after making so much money, a writer or an actor or a businessman, one tends to "get tired" and just take it easy.

That's exactly what happened to Capote. When you are financially indenpendent, you always wanted to take a breather. Kaya nga ang mga artists, mas matindi ang gawa habang gutom pa at wala pang kayamanan. Pero sa sandaling nagkaroon na ito ng limpak na salapi, ayaw na halos gumawa ng art or story. Ganito ang naganap sa buhay ni Capote.

July 8, 2008 at 9:32 PM  
Blogger pamatayhomesick said...

makakatulong tong site nato sa pagpapalawak ng komiks art satin...saludo ako!

October 6, 2008 at 10:49 PM  

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