I started out as a diary writer. When I was in grade 3, I wrote my first diary entry.
A blog reader asked me how I became a writer, so I decided to write a post about it. There wasn’t really this one moment that pushed me to become a writer. I used to like singing when I was a kid, and a possible explanation for this could be that I saw my grandma singing, and I imitated her. My mother writes, but I don’t remember seeing her write, so writing could not have been passed on to me by virtue of imitation. I have other theories on how I became a writer: I got a diary, my mother used to bring me to her office and writing was the only way to entertain myself, it was a way for me to express myself even though I was shy, etc. These are all rationalizations that I’ve made, which can all be true, but I myself do not know the real reason why I’ve started writing. All I know is ever since I was young I always wrote.
Childhood Stories
If you’ve read “What Little Ja Wrote,” you’d know that I started writing stories ever since I was a kid. I had this big heavy red expander that I would bring whenever I went to my mom’s office or to Batangas. Each slot in the expander had a different story, and I would work on one story, then skip to the next story, then the next story, and so on. I never finished anything.
Shifting Spree
College days
When I was in college, I didn’t know what course I wanted to take. In my post “To Shift or Not to Shift,” I talked about the many courses that I took in college and how I finally realized that I wanted to shift to creative writing. When I finally discovered what I truly wanted, I was surprised to find out that I had always known what I really wanted, but it took time for me to realize it.
First Published Work
Aaaalelujiahhhhh!
When I was in first year college, my teacher, Sir Cayanan, asked the class to make their own version an essay entitled “Education of a Writer,” where the writer talked about how she the way she was brought up and the things that happened in her life made her learn how to become a writer. When I was thinking of my own take on the assignment, I had one goal in mind: I wanted my essay to be different. My diary obsession came to mind, and I started writing about it. During my consultation with my teacher, he ran out of things to comment on and just simply said “I-publish mo na nga yan!” I was so surprised because I never thought that anything I wrote was worth publishing.
I didn’t send my essay to newspapers until my third year in college when I was about to shift to creative writing. Shifting made me feel insecure about my writing credentials, so I decided to take the risk and try to get published. I bought Inquirer, looked for the Young Blood column, tore off the piece of paper that had the instructions on how to send contributions, and I sent my essay. It took a long time for them to reply. I remember it was months, and I got into the creative writing course without that credential supporting me. I finally received an email saying that my essay will be sent to the editor for consideration. One day I went into my org room, and one of my orgmates said “Ja, I liked your article.” Surprised, I said “It was published na?” They told me it had been published weeks before as “Diary Malady.”
Working at Summit Media
Me and my officemate Belle in an event for work
My job hunting days were focused on getting a job related to writing. I applied for magazines, TV networks, and advertising agencies. I found Summit Media’s website where it listed all the magazines that they had, and when you clicked on each magazine, you’d see the email of the editor in chief. I emailed almost all of those magazines, and I ended up getting an interview for Town and Country. I didn’t get the job at Town and Country, but they did refer me to Female Network where I became an editorial assistant. I uploaded content on the cms, edited contributions and archives, wrote articles, and maintained a staff blog called “The Self-Help Junkie.”
Blogging and the Future
Blogging was popular ever since I was in high school, but I didn’t get hooked. I dabbled sporadically by creating accounts in Live Journal, My Space, and Multiply, but in the end they didn’t hold my interest for too long. I didn’t understand what was so great about blogging. I was also very shy about my written works, and so publishing them for all the world to see was terrifying. Then I went to the U.S. and while I was waiting to get a job there, I got so bored that I decided to start a blog. That’s when my blogging obsession began.
Nowadays, my friend Johanna and I go to blogger events that we’ve found online, through my connections in the publishing world, or through the Facebook pages that we follow. I am so excited for the future. I don’t know where I’m going, but I know I will always be blogging, writing, and dreaming.
Notes:
[1] I-publish mo na nga yan=Just publish it!
[2] It was published na=It was published already?
Check out my other writing posts:
- Writing Exercise: The Morning Pages
- Writing Exercise: A-Z Sentences
- Evolving Writing Habits
- The Light
- Where Writing Exercises Meet
- Descriptive Essay: Think before You Act
- To be Read, To be Loved
- Tell Another Story
- Free Writing Adventures
- Particularity of I Love You
For more about blogging, check out these links:
- Blogging Tip: Add an In-Case-You-Missed-It GIF Sidebar Picture
- Top 10: The Countries Where My Blog Viewers Come From
- What post made you want to subscribe to my blog?
- Migrating Photos to Imgur
Check out The REaD Hunter, an online bookstore that sells second-hand books through Facebook. We ship books all over Metro Manila and selected provinces in the Philippines. Orders made during the week are shipped every Saturday. We accept payment through MLhuillier and Gcash.
Check out my other blog categories.
Age of the Diary by Jasmine T. Cruz. If you like this post, please subscribe to this blog. Follow Ja on Twitter: ageofthediary. Email Ja at: ageofthediary@gmail.com.
