First Celebrity Interview Published: “THE SUN ALSO SETS FOR THE DAWN”

Day 29 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaJanPoblano2022” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “First Published”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.

This was my first celebrity interview ever, which could be the only celebrity interview I’d have in this lifetime. (I lost my chance at interviewing Lea Salonga much, much later.) I have my first-ever editor in college to thank since she assigned this to me.

I did have a partner or co-writer. I didn’t mind since I was still new to the school paper and needed to learn the ropes. He knew more about the music, plus, he was much cooler than me. Honestly, I wouldn’t really know if I could do the interview without him. We were interviewing celebrities…! We were to interview THE DAWN, “pioneers of Post-Modern Rock” here. I’m not sure who came up with that one (“pioneers of…”), my co-writer Butch or me, or if we got that somewhere. But pioneers, they really were.

The concert ticket, front…

…and back

They were doing a concert at our university. So the paper got permission from the organizers for the interview, which they arranged and made happen. We were allowed since the band had an important album out so, you know, it’s still publicity, however small. It was actually maybe an hour or so before the concert. They let us go inside their parked bus to meet the members. Unfortunately, for some reason, Jett Pangan, the main vocalist, was kept busy outside the bus. Usually, it’s really the vocalist who’s the main face of the band, right? So it was a bit of a downer that we couldn’t talk to him. I only have three out of four autographs. No cellphone yet, no camera, so no photos 😦

Not that we didn’t enjoy the interview! Of course, we did! I didn’t particularly know all of them then. I really just knew them as The Dawn. I just hoped I was asking the right questions. So thank goodness, Butch was the enthusiast. It wasn’t me who described Jett’s voice as “nasal”, though. (It’s true, Butch, so please don’t come down from heaven and scare me.) I wrote the first draft, he did the final draft where he added everything else. I do disagree about the description. We went to the concert (for free!) after the interview and, despite my headache caused by being near large loudspeakers, Jett sounded fine to me. Many years later, I would watch Baby The Musical and hear Jett sing live on stage again — great voice and definitely not nasal!

Being a writer does have its perks sometimes.

First and Only (So Far) Advertorial Published

Day 27 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaJanPoblano2022” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “First Published”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer. Related page: Critic’s Corner.

When I worked for a tertiary school, I had experience copywriting a few things under the PR & Advertising Office. My next job, which was a joke, for lack of a better term, got me as Copywriter. I copywrote stuff for them but I will never know if or when and where they were published. This is a whole different story that will have to wait to be told. But let me emphasize that because that second one was a joke, I don’t count it as employment (I didn’t get paid either).

Published or not, not any of my previous works qualified as an advertorial. The online Oxford Dictionary defines “advertorial” as:

1. a newspaper or magazine advertisement giving information about a product in the style of an editorial or objective journalistic article.
2. early 20th century (originally US): blend of advertisement and editorial.

It is safe to say that I only had my FIRST ADVERTORIAL PUBLISHED when I joined the cancer-focused publication. There was an ex-deal and I was assigned to write the advertorial. But here’s my problem: It was basically a medical advert. Medical...Of course, I could not say no, however much I wanted to. It was my job, right?  But I was very skeptical of the would-be outcome. I wasn’t sure I could write a good advertorial. I did not want to humiliate myself. Mostly, I did not want to humiliate my bosses and cause a problem with the clients. I had to try my very darn best!!!

I was to write about a particular drug that’s for a particular type of cancer. I was to advertise, editorial-style. The good news was I was given materials to read about it. The bad news? The materials were thick. The words were quite medical and scientific. And I had to balance the medical/scientific jargon with the layman’s terms.

I remember spending nights at the dormitory’s common area reading and trying to write. Mind you, at that time, I had no laptop. I had to write notes and underline things on the photocopied pages. Cellphones weren’t that sophisticated yet back then plus, for the longest time, I used analog phones. So guess what? No access to the Internet outslde work unless I went to the Internet Cafe. That could help me understand things more but I did not want to spend my own money for that.  Surprisingly, I found that I was not nearly as ignorant as before about cancer as I thought I would be. So I wrote it.

It was not like I would just write it then we’d publish in the upcoming issue. The pharma had to check my output, which was very understandable. I did want them to check the advert so they could correct errors and I could revise things. The biggest surprise to me, however, was they hardly changed anything! I don’t even remember that they did. You wouldn’t know it just by looking at me, but inside, I was kind of dumbfounded. I didn’t expect it to be that “easy”. It gave me more confidence in myself.

That’s the advert below. I blurred the title that carries the name of the drug and the logos of the pharmaceutical company. I’m just not sure if they’d be okay with it. The words in the article are also tiny so I suggest you don’t check anymore. Personally, if I were them, I wouldn’t mind as that would be free advertisement. I’m not them, though. Additonally, I’m not sure if the product is still out there.

First Book Review Published: “WHAT TO EAT IF YOU HAVE CANCER (A GUIDE TO ADDING NUTRITIONAL THERAPY)”

Basically, I’m just supposed to be continuing what was supposed to be finished last November. But heck, I’m so near-finished now and I’m loving this theme I came up with, anyway. It’s making me want to continue writing again. I just almost gave up a few weeks ago (more on that some other time). I’m happy to share more of myself. So, to continue…

Day 26 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaJanPoblano2022” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “First Published”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer. Related page: Critic’s Corner.

Until I joined the Philippines’ first (and maybe only) cancer-focused magazine, I had never really done a book review outside school. It was not something I was sure I was good at. Honestly, I’m still not sure I’m good at it. The best I can say is “I try.” I had no plans of writing any until the Publisher/Boss asked me to review a book that someone recommended to her. So I did and had my FIRST BOOK REVIEW PUBLISHED.

The book was “What to Eat if You Have Cancer” by nutritionist-authors Maureen Keane, MS and Daniella Chase, MS. I hardly imagined that I’d review a book for cancer survivors, let alone, a book giving dietary guidelines. I’m a fiction girl, ergo, I expected to review fiction if I would ever. But there I was. I also tended to write longer, so writing this short one was a challenge. I did it, though. I survived my initiation. The book is most probably very outdated now. I haven’t checked if they’ve written any updated ones.

After that, I would go on writing two more cancer-related non-fiction reviews. Surprisingly, it was I who volunteered! Those were books that I found. One was “My Breast” by former journalist Joyce Wadler and the other, “Cancer Schmancer” by comedienne Fran Drescher. I have shared both reviews here in my blog. These experiences gave me the courage to try and join a call for book review submissions. If you are interested, I reviewed Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple” and Victor Hugo’s classic “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.

Anyway, I think it’s possible to read the words on the image that I have provided if you just enlarge it, except I just found out now that light reflected on some parts. Sorry! I know I have the soft copy somewhere but I have to find it first.

First Photo Essay Published: “THE MASKED ANGELS”

Day 20 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaDePoblano” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “My Firsts”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.

The publication I worked for was focused on cancer awareness and one of its major sections focused on children with cancer. I am not sure now if the original plan was, indeed, to create a photo essay for that issue, but I wrote an essay-slash-vignette. I don’t know if I pitched the idea of using it or the inspiration came because I was assigned the section. The bosses liked it, though. This came out in the same issue as that of the article I shared last time. I guess that technically, this should be my first published article as a professional. I didn’t/don’t really consider it that way, though. For me, it’s a story.

Now, I didn’t want to make anyone cry, but I heard feedback that it did make a few people teary-eyed. I felt good and bad–good that it was effective, bad that I didn’t want to make people cry at all, not because of cancer. I now realize while I write this that it wasn’t the first time I’d been told I made people cry. If memory serves me right, this was the fourth time that something I wrote (song, story, essay) had a similar effect. I don’t know why that is, to be honest.

The End Justifies the Journey

NOTE: This was written as a photo-essay about children in the cancer ward for The Big C magazine (January-March 2006, Children’s Hour section)

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Here where many wage wars, little heroes fight their own battles armed with a dash of hope and sprinkles of innocence, coated with a touch of loved ones’ tender loving care. Every smile has a story.

Imagination takes flight and little Masked Angels make where sweet dreams lie, to bask under the morning sun or traipse on a moonlit night calling out to friends hidden behind trees or under makeshift carton houses. “Pung! Huli ka!” they cry out racing towards the base to be saved.

They run and laugh and play. Sometimes they tumble. But heroes are made of sturdy stuff. After every fall they take a stand against unseen enemies in defiance. Sometimes, imagination flies back to the classroom—there’s the little girl he loves to…

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First Professional Article Published: “FIND THAT SPECIAL CHRISTMAS GIFT”

Day 19 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaDePoblano” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “My Firsts”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.

Sorry it took me days to post again, but I only found my copies of our magazine. It was the publication that got me as its Editorial Assistant and in-house writer. My main position was the first for which I did various tasks that I don’t need to enumerate here. The second just came with the job description.

Below was my first-ever published article as a professional writer. It was actually a sidebar article, but it felt like a big one.  I wrote various stuff in this issue (like I always did in all the issues that were published during my time there). In fact, I copywrote the mag’s Christmas message on the left. (That wasn’t my first copywriting experience, though.)

The article on the right was special because it included my by-line. Yay! It’s a piece that wouldn’t win me anything but it still means something to me.

First Short Story/Vignette Published: “DUGO, LAMAN…KALULUWA” (“Blood, Flesh…Soul”)

Day 18 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge, now a.k.a. “NaDePoblano” (heee….) . Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “My Firsts”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.

I have always loved storytelling. That’s really how I started writing in gradeschool. I love fiction. So it’s no wonder that I would someday have one published.

Well, there are actually two versions. The original was written when I was a senior in high school. It’s really more of a vignette with some poetry thrown in. Then when I joined the college paper years after, I decided to share it through one of the regular columns. If I’m not mistaken, that was also my first time to write for a column. I’m not sure, though. (Will have to check on it.) I ended up sharing a second version instead. It became longer and more profound, if not moralistic, to suit the standard.

Truthfully, I’ve noticed that when I write stories in my native language, they seem to be more dramatic and meaningful. I think my style of writing in Filipino relies heavily on my use of deeper/older words that do not suit light stories.

The story here is about a young, unwed mother trying to flee from the garbage dump where she left her baby. But as she tries to run away, she is not able to hide from her conscience and her natural, maternal instincts…Now, while I like both versions, I honestly feel more fondness for the original. I wrote it with more passion. The second is the edited version that relied more on the thinking rather than the feeling.

I decided not to post a pic of the handwritten original. You might not be able to see the words, anyway. Below is the published version. Again, it’s in Filipino. One day, when I really have a lot of time in my hands, I’ll retype and translate my Tagalog stories.

First Solo Article Published: “SIRUFUS”

Before we start. I KNOW it’s past November. But I still want to continue this challenge. The point is to try to keep blogging till I’ve posted 30. Anyway,…

Day 17 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge. Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “My Firsts”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.

This may not be my very first published article (that was last time), but it was my very first SOLO article. Granted that it was just one piece that was a part of one whole collaboration. We featured eateries and restaurants in and around campus back then and I was assigned this. I don’t know If the place is still there.

It is still one whole writeup, however short. Feel free to laugh at “Of course, the restaurant also has chairs.” I’M laughing!!!

First Ever Article Published “AWIT NG PAKIKIBAKA” (“PROTEST SONGS”)

Day 16 of the #NaNoPoblano2021 challenge. Major Theme: “A Few of My Earliest Things”. New sub-theme: “My Firsts”. Related post: My Evolution as a Writer.

I know I have been skipping days again. I have been trying to go through things and find writing-related stuff. I was looking for something else that I remembered but in doing so, I found THIS.

This was my very-first published article. I just joined the college paper and was put in the Culture (‘Kultura’) section. My very first editor, a friend whom I had known since childhood, assigned me the topic. (DISCLAIMER: There was no nepotism involved, okay?). I worked with someone else on the article but who cared? I was excited. I was happy to be part of the paper. I was happy to write about relevant things. I was happy doing research, enjoying my time at the library, and writing what I could about protest songs, their history, and their relevance to the Filipino people. I was tickled pink when it came out!

Here it is, titled “Awit ng Pakikibaka: Plakard, Tinig at Gitara” (“Protest Songs: Placard, Voice and Guitar”), my editor’s idea. Maybe for seasoned journalists who write and/or speak Tagalog, this looks amateurish. I understand. It was. I just wish I remembered it last November 30. That would have been a fitting tribute to one of our greatest national heroes, Andres Bonifacio, on his commemoration day. He wrote one of the best protest poems ever. It was turned into a song in the ’70s or ’80s (will check which exact era).

I am just sharing a photo of the article because I don’t have it on Word file. No time to re-type, and definitely no time to translate into English.

My first full article in the school paper

Let Contents Do the Talking #atozchallenge2017

You are a wise person with a business to run. Naturally, you have done your research like a good businessman does. Based on findings, you realize that in order to expand the business, you’ll have to up the ante some more and level-up. Information technology is here to stay and you’ll do wisely not to be left behind, right? So you get a web developer and a web designer who create an attractive, fully functional and easily navigable website for you.

Website, check.

And then what to write? Since information is available right there at the office, content development is done in-house. Your people know the business, they have a clear understanding of what it is about. Who better to write about your business? Therefore, you delegate a content writer for the site right from your own team.

Contents, check. How hard can writing be?

Letting Your Home Grow

All those done, finally, you are ready to launch into cyberspace…Oops! Not so fast, hold your horses! While it seems you may have done things correctly, you just might want to backtrack a little bit and check if indeed, you’ve decided on everything wisely.

The most important parts of a website are not really the “physical” aspects, though they, too, are of great importance. After all, without them, how can searchers find you? Web developers and designers provide all the foundations and structures for your site.

As they say, however, a house is not a home. It’s what’s in it that makes it a home. An empty house is not a home; a cluttered house is, well, simply embarrassing, to say the least. For a website, it’s the contents that really breathe life into it. Just how much life depends largely on the quality of the contents. That is where you might want to focus your attention on.

Let your home grow. Feed it with the right nutrition, not junk. Knowing the details of your company and what it offers is just half of the requirements to ensure quality content. It takes more than knowing what to write, but how to write it.

A good, professional Web Content Writer knows that. She has been trained for it. It’s not just words and constructing sentences for her, but a lot of experience and know-how. Content writing takes more than typing. It involves research beyond existing resources, knowing more about how web development works. Also, a big factor in any business’ success today is good, clean SEO—this, she has learned and practices.

Getting Visitors to Stay

Competition in cyberspace is fierce. You want to be the business that captures searchers’ attention immediately and keep them glued to your site until they decide to avail of your offer. People’s attention span can only last a few seconds, that is the whole truth of it.

An attractive, fully functional and easily navigable website is practically useless if it sends searchers away with missing, low-quality or useless information. If they don’t find what they’re looking for or anything interesting, they either click the Back button or exit. Either way, they leave. You don’t want that. Don’t sweep the welcome rug off their feet.

How confident are you that you or your employees can write well enough to keep searchers glued to your site? Can your people get your business to the top of search engines’ first-page results? Do they have the proper skills that an actual content writer does? No?

You’ve already taken a risk, so risk more away! A web content writer is who you need, just like most businesses today. If you haven’t yet, this is the time to add one to your team. Remember, house walls can’t talk; it’s those inside the house who do.

 

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This is still the continuation of my A to Z Challenge. Last post, I was on the letter “M”. Why the jump to “W”? That’s because the pieces for the letters “N” to “V” have long been posted. The explanation is simple: When I was doing the challenge last year, I skipped letters. I did not finish the whole thing so I have decided to do it and not quit.

As for the writeup itself, just like some other stuff that I did for work, this was also a guest blogging venture. The deal was the article provider would get exposure but the publisher got exclusive rights to the unique article. No money involved. This one, the guest blogging services site owner reserved for her own site (I was actually thrilled!). There’s a story about this, but to make the story short, her site was down for years already and is now removed. I found her new site and could not find the article ANYWHERE. Now, Google found it on another site that isn’t supposed to have it and is not even mentioning me as the writer. Some guy is supposed to be the writer of this bogus page. The article is truncated, leaving a “Click here to read more” message, but the link just actually redirects to various suspicious sites that change every time you click on the same link!

Needless to say, it’s high-time we take back what is ours.

W is for “Web Content Writer”

This piece serves as my Letter W post for the A to Z Challenge 2017.

For my previous posts, kindly visit my A to Z Challenge 2017 page.

New Society with its New Technologies #FeatureFriday

One of the best things about being a content writer, for me at least, is I get to learn new things and acquire more knowledge. I love doing research. I love finding out facts. I love getting and giving trivia.

So one of my tasks at work that I’m enjoying right now is I get to write stuff again (being a content writer isn’t all about actually writing stuff, just so you know). I am kind of OC, therefore, you can bet I usually try as much as I can to find out every useful information. Sometimes, it sucks that I can’t include some information as they are not vital to the specific topics. But I value what I learn so I take notes.

Anyway, here is one of my newer articles that I really liked writing. I got to talk about technology and new stuff in general. It’s not at all that techie that any non-techie reader won’t have a hard time understanding it.

So, for today’s #FeatureFriday I am featuring NEW TECHNOLOGIES.

New Technologies Drive Society Forward

 

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I am all about sharing what people will hopefully appreciate. Did you like this one? Let me know in the comments! 🙂