Summer Getaway: Freelance Writing Workshop

The certificate I received from the workshop.

I have a different summer experience this year. Aside from the typical summer outings in beaches or mountains, having a Visita Iglesia or even staying in home with my family, this year is different. It was a summer getaway in Makati City where it is educational and relevant for aspiring writers like me.


I attended a two day workshop entitled "Jumpstart Your Freelance Writing Career 4.0" last April 30 until May 1, 2011 in Powerbooks, Greenbelt 4, Makati City. Before, I wanted to attend the preceding workshops and events of Writers Block but I missed it due to the location and lack of expenses to attend the events. This year, I was able to attend due to family support and I paid in the early-bird rate discount of the workshop. One day before the workshop, I was thinking that I would not attend this workshop because of financial expenses, transportation concerns where I am going to travel from Cavite to Makati plus the prediction of having a traffic jam in the Metro which I hate the most, and the jitters because I was intimidated and nervous at first.

However, when I made it to the workshop, everything was in good flow. I experienced a smooth-sailing trip from Cavite to Makati and I made it two hours early to the workshop (afraid of getting late in an appointment). My classmates in the workshop were very nice which allows us to exchange our ideas and experiences about writing. The facilitators of the workshop were so accommodating and knowledgeable. In other words, I feel comfortable in this event.

Therefore, the most important thing there is the investment and the long hours of travel, definitely WORTH IT! I learned a lot from the speakers, the topics and the activities in the workshop, I realized my strengths and weaknesses which contribute to my skills as a writer, I received a lot of giveaways and a certificate plus the soft copy of the topics discussed in the workshop, and I met new friends with the same interests in writing.

10 Things I Learned from the Workshop:

1. Freelance writing is not a RAKET!
2. Making a writing pitch is the first step to please your editor to publish your work. Be creative and technically concise about your pitch. In addition, critiquing our pitch by the speakers of the workshop is the most exciting part because I need to know the things that I need to improve.
3. Media ethics which helps importantly to become a disciplined writer.
4. The seven steps in creative process which is applicable not only to writers but also to other artists.
5. Dealing with writer's block. 
6. Different styles applicable in freelance writing. (I found out that travel and entertainment are my top 2 interests in writing).
7. Different writing techniques and the art of interviewing.
8. The Life SWOT where I learned to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses which contribute in writing skill and how it affect the threats and opportunities in freelance writing.
9. Writing is not easy. It takes a special skill to communicate with effectively and a write-up should be based on research and facts. 
10. Sharing your articles to your circle of friends.

Therefore, I would like to extend my appreciation to the speakers and founders of Writers Block Philippines Nikka Sarthou, Ana Santos and Nina Terol Zialcita for this great opportunity to handle a workshop for aspiring writers, to the guest speakers Tweet Sering and DJ Vince Golangco, to my family (especially my sister and my mom) who gave me financial and moral support to make it on this event, to my workshop classmates and new friends I met, keep up the good work to achieve our dream in writing (see you soon in the upcoming workshops of Writers Block), and most of all, to God thanks a lot for this wonderful opportunity that I achieved in order to improve my writing skills and I will share it to my friends and people who are willing to become a writer someday.

I would like to close this note by asking this question: after I made it on the workshop, is it the way to step out from being a personal blogger to a freelance writer? The most important thing running in my mind is keep on writing to achieve my dreams.

The freelance writing class of Jumpstart Your Freelance Writing Career 4.0 held at Powerbooks, Greenbelt 4, Makati City. (Source: Writers Block Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/writersblock.ph)