Pounding The Keyboard

      I remembered that I’ve been planning on writing flash fiction, collect it and probably, just probably, self-publish it when I read this article on yesterday’s issue of Philippine Daily Inquirer about an 11 th grader from International School Manila winning in an international writing contest for teens, flash fiction category.   Flash fiction, of course, consists of stories that are only a few hundred words long. I am particularly bent on writing drabble s ( stories that are told in exactly one hundred words) or micro stories (which are told in 300 hundred words or less) or maybe mini sagas (stories that are exactly 50 words long). I will probably try to fulfill that more than a decade-old plan this year (the writing part; the publishing, I don't know). It's hard to think about publishing when you've only got around five potential buyers.       Here's a sample of a micro story I just wrote, please bear with it: The Jun...

      So you’re a freelance artist/writer who wants to pay taxes and get a BIR receipt. The first step you should take is go to your Revenue District Office (RDO), this is the BIR office that issued you your TIN. But you still don’t have TIN? Then, go to the RDO that has jurisdiction over your residence and apply for one ( I don’t think there are documents needed here, but just in case, bring a valid ID and some cash). Click HERE for a list of Revenue District Offices.       Once inside your RDO (this is assuming you already have TIN),   go to the counter for NEW REGISTRATION (tell the guard you’ll be registering as a new taxpayer so he could point you the right window). Tell the NEW REGISTRATION officer in the window that you want to register as a FREELANCER (Professional), tell him you’re a writer or an artist, and he’ll then give you a list of documents to procure (it will most likely include a barangay certificate, ...

         Pagkaraan nang labingwalong taon, muli akong napilitang lumabas ng bahay at nagtungo sa city hall upang umayos ng ilang papeles. Naninibago sa tama ng araw, nanghahapdi ang balat ko at gustong magbitak-bitak. Pagdating sa city hall, dalawang babaeng kawani ng nasabing tanggapan ng gobyerno ang nakausap ko at nakatransaksiyon, na ang edad ay kapwa mahigit limampu na siguro. KAWANI 1: Ano ba ang trabaho mo? AKO: Freelancer po. KAWANI 1: Freelancer na ano? AKO: Writer po. KAWANI 2: (medyo incoherent) Dubber? AKO: Ano po? KAWANI 2: Ano ka? Freelance dubber? AKO: A, hindi po. Writer po (pabulong) writer-writer-an. KAWANI 1: (may hindi naniniwalang reaksiyon) Writer ka? Ows? Totoo? AKO: Opo. KAWANI 1: May pruweba ka? AKO: (ngumiti lang) (sa mahabang silyang inuupuan ng dalawang kawani, may isa pang babaeng nakaupo, nasa mid-twenties siguro, hindi ko alam kung empleyada rin na nakadistansiya ng kau...

       I learned that there’s an upcoming Komikon (November 12, 2017 at Bayanihan Center; click HERE for their Facebook page), and   I found myself rereading my old comics stories, which some pages were almost faded now. I probably wrote more than a thousand short stories and a few novels (probably around thirty) during my writing stint at Graphic Arts Services, Inc (GASI). I was very prolific then (like many of comics artists then, writers and illustrators), there would be times when I would be writing probably five short stories (4-page stories)   a day. My forte then was horror and fantasy stories. I wrote and wrote and wrote that time. I wrote while watching TV or listening to music, I wrote while at work. I would take   a bath and before I could finish, I already had ideas for three short stories. Even a   flea jumping out of my dog or watching somebody cross the street would give me ideas, then. I would even develop a ...