Drown yourself in your emotions so you could understand why you are feeling it.

The text
entitled Trip to Quiapo, is a scriptwriting manual written by Ricky Lee, who used three different and
unique types of writers in creating his story. It was published in 1998, and the author is a prolific one,
who then created this work for aspiring writers to read. The story revolves around three writers, who
all journey to Quiapo with their own ways, all have managed to do so, each having a different
approach. The author wants its readers to feel and to know what kind of writers there are. Some
might be the first traveler (writer) who used the instructions the past travelers did in order to arrive at
his destination. What he did was the conventional way, metaphorically, this pertains to writers who
have no originality per se, creating works from the scraps of others to craft their material. It is not
bad, but compared to the second one, the first is a no match. The second writer was described by the
author as rather a crazy one. He traveled the unusual way, went to the river and mountains, avoided
conversation, but still, arrived in Quiapo. The author even tried to mock him for doing so, even
inviting the readers. But, he is a much better traveler (writer) than the first one as he discovered a new
path to the place, a new adventure. Going to the last writer, whom the author described as the ‘insane’
out of the three. He circled around the wet market, the church, the river and mountains, even almost
robbed and lost, but still, questionably, arrived in Quiapo. The author then described him as the best
among them all. He was laughed at, mocked for what he did, but still managed to do so even if it
looked impossible. What he did was similar to ‘magic’ as what the author has defined. This is what art
and literature must be. It does not take you to the easy path, the normal way of travelling. Rather, it
takes you to different places in order for you to enjoy your journey before arriving, because the purpose
of this journey is for you to be a different person compared to where you have started. You grow and
develop.
As to what the author has said, art does not have any standard rules or regulations to follow.
There are rules, but we do it for ourselves. The only rule is that there are no rules. In art and literature,
you take the initial flow of how a good story must be. But, as you learn this flow, you eventually need
to guide it so it can flourish itself, creating a newer one from a thousand of its kind. Take for
example, the work of Joan Didion, who has written Why I Write that tackles the creative ways of
how she became a writer herself. In the first part, she claimed that she took the same title from
George Orwell. But then she explained that she liked the title and there were no other titles that
matched her vision with her essay. She did not copy the same content from the same title she took it
from. She had a different path for her story, her essay, in order to explain her own story to her
audience, her unique, and own way, she followed her own rule after following the first one.
Going back to the story, the author somehow tells the audience to be creative freely. The
author made an example for this by comparing the system from which we have grown into. There are
things, rules, that we have grown up with that influence us by the time we are capable enough to
make decisions for ourselves. We are drowned in the fact that we are molded by society to think like
this, do that, without even realizing that the world has so much to give. He was compared to blinders.
We have grown half-blind, and that these blinders are preventing us to see more, to see completely.
We need to remove these blinders, if we want to see something new, or something that will make us
transcend to a different kind of thinking. Like what the fox said in The Little Prince, “It is only with
the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” If you see this in a writer’s
sense, one could understand that we have always overlooked what is important and essential in
creating works. It is not how dangerous, fun nor sad it could be, but how we portray our messages to
them. We have the eye to see, but we do not use it, we have the heart to use, but we do not feel
everything.
The author also has said that we have to feel everything, to see everything. Let your emotions
be your drive in creating your works. In this way, we can incorporate these feelings to the readers so
they could understand it as well, by letting them experience it on their own, by sharing it with your
words, words are powerful, as many have said. It could create vortexes of thoughts and emotions if we
know how to properly use it. We all have our little person within ourselves. The author indirectly
described this person as curious. In writing, it starts with curiosity. We are interested in knowing, and
so we experience, feel, and see it on our own. This curiosity will lead you to what you need to
understand, in order to write, as with this, we will collect experiences that will be our own map to our
own version of Quiapo.
Lastly, we must be able to imagine. Art and literature is what it is not there, or ever was. As
the author described. Imagination lets us sew these concepts and thoughts. We are all looking for
something new, even when we are older. We let our imagination take over ourselves, and that is fine.
This imagination will help us be focused on the details that may seem so little but contribute
differently to what we are trying to convey.
In summary, the author wants its readers to be able to see, take off those blinders, in order to
experience. Experience gives us things we can use to help finish. And let our curiosity take over until
there is nothing left. Imagine, so you could be an effective writer, expressing your story for which they
have never seen before. The author’s work symbolizes the stepping stone of our aspiring and future
writers, I could be one, or you could, no one knows. But, it is his message that will awaken this driving
passion in writing that will, possibly produce significant writers in the future, creating works for
which has something new they can offer. It is this combination of practical advice and inspiration
that has made Trip to Quiapo an invaluable contribution to literary studies. This work is not just a
manual, but a driving force for these writers to realize their potential.