Freewriting Adventures at Pinto Art Museum on Oct. 24, 2015!

Freewriting Adventures at Pinto Art Museum is finally pushing through! See you on Oct. 24, 2015! 

Quick facts:
What: writing sessions for young writers
Where: Pinto Art Museum, meeting place SM Megamall steps, near overpass opposite Star Mall
Date and Time: Oct. 24, 2015 9a.m. at Sm Megamall, estimated time of arrival at Pinto is 10a.m.
Fee: Pinto entrance: P180, writing workshop: free, transpo (kkb), fx P50 one way, P20 trike one way), food (kkb)
Register: send your name, e-mail address, and cellphone number to freewritingadventures@gmail.com, and you'll receive cell number of facilitator

For the first time, Freewriting Adventures will go beyond Manila. As you know, Freewriting Adventures has organized writing sessions in unexpected places. Established on July 6, 2013, we've taken young writers on a hop-on-hop-off LRT expedition, on a hunt around Luneta park, on a tour around Manila’s top art galleries, to a Buddhist temple, and other exciting places. 

Now on Oct. 24, 2015 from 9a.m. to 4:30p.m., we are going to Antipolo's Pinto Art Museum, a venue that's getting famous because of its scenic views and galleries filled with sculptures, paintings, installations, etc.

We can meet at the steps of SM Megamall, near the overpass that is opposite Star Mall at 9a.m. Participants have to pay Pinto's entrance fee of P180 and for their own transportation and food. The writing workshop for this event is free. 

We will be riding an fx to Antipolo and participants will each pay the fare of P50(one way). When we get to Antipolo, we will ride a tricycle (P20 one way). Participants can also go straight to Pinto if they wish. (Pinto Art Museum is located at 1 Sierra Madre St., Grand Heights, Antipolo, Rizal. Go to rotunda to Antipolo until you reach L. Sumulong Memorial Circle, watch out for the sign to Grand Heights and Pinto Art Museum). 

To register, send your name, e-mail address, and cellphone number to freewritingadventures@gmail.com. Once you register, you will receive the cellphone number of your facilitator, Ja Cruz.

Next Freewriting Adventures will be on July 25, 2015!

Mark your calendars! The next Freewriting Adventures will be on July 25, 2015! Stay tuned for updates by checking this blog. After July, our next adventure is on Oct. 24, 2015.

Freewriting Adventures are writing sessions that happen in unexpected places. It takes place on Saturdays, four times a year (dates vary per year). It is open for young professionals and college students who want to try their hand at writing. The young at heart are also welcome to join. There are no fees on certain dates. To register for a Freewriting Adventure, send your name, e-mail address, and cellphone number to freewritingadventures@gmail.com.

More about Your Facilitator of Fun

 Who am I? 

I am a creator.

When I was a kid, I thought that the popular Cops and Robbers Game was such a bore. Surely there was something more fun that just sitting in a circle while a “killer” slaughters “villagers” through death winks? 

So I made my own interactive version where three groups of “cops”, “robbers”, and “children” chased each other; faked their identities; and engaged in an intense trade of fire tree flowers, sticks, and golden leaves.

My addiction to creating new things came in handy when I was studying Creative Writing in Ateneo de Manila. There I wrote a poem about my first pimple, another poem about a seductive apple, and a Mallarmé-inspired concrete poem about insanity.

For my fiction class, I wrote short stories about a dystopian society that went crazy for gory Barbie dolls, a chick lit short story (with a feminist twist in the end) about a woman CEO who had to embark on a mad hunt for a husband before her ovaries succumbed to cysts, and a short story about a kinky carnival that puts the concept of freedom into question.

With such written pieces, not only did I graduate Cum Laude, but I also received Ateneo’s Creative Writing Program Award. After college, I decided to become a lifestyle writer, and since then, I have been published in The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and FemaleNetwork.com.

Now I work as an art reporter for a newspaper. I cover art exhibits, plays, cultural events, and more. I have the best job in the world, but I can’t kick the habit of creating, so I decided to build Freewriting Adventures—a rebel in the midst of classroom-bound writing workshops.

To write creatively, I believe that the learning process must be creative as well. That’s why I’m going to free you from the four corners of your classroom and unleash you into the world. Immersed in the grit of reality, we will write what we see, hear, and feel. Experience will be our ink; the everyday, our muse.

This is the process that I teach because I am an experiential writer. I have a knack for processing, analyzing, and verbalizing personal experience. I am also drawn to ordinary things, to the ugly and unappreciated, to kooky streets, to unglamorous lives.

What happened so far at our Freewriting Adventures (VIDEO)

Thank you to everyone who joined the Zen Freewriting Adventures last April 25, 2015! During that adventure, we toured writers around the Mabuhay Temple. If you missed this event, don't worry, the next Freewriting Adventures are on July 25 and Oct. 24. 

For updates, subscribe to our blog http://freewritingadventures.blogspot.com. Follow us on Twitter @FreeWrtngAdvtrs and Facebook at freewritingadventures. 

To register for an adventure, e-mail your name and cellphone number to freewritingadventures@gmail.com. Slots are limited.

Freewriting Adventures are writing sessions that happen in unexpected places. What we do is we visit these interesting areas and use them as inspiration for our writing exercises. It is open to young professionals and college students who want to try their hand at writing. The young at heart are also welcome to join.

Freewriting Adventures is headed by Ja Cruz. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Creative Writing, she graduated Cum Laude from the Ateneo de Manila University and received the Creative Writing Program Award. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, and Cosmopolitan Magazine have published her articles. She worked at Summit Media’s Female Network as an editorial assistant, and she is currently an art reporter for a newspaper.

*Note: The opinions expressed in this blog do not represent the official views of the companies, organizations, or institutions that I am associated with. These opinions are solely my own.

Photos of the Zen Freewriting Adventures!

The writing was intense! :-)

For more photos, click here.

Thank you to everyone who joined the Zen Freewriting Adventures last April 25, 2015! During that adventure, we toured writers around the Mabuhay Temple. If you missed this event, don't worry, the next Freewriting Adventures are on July 25 and Oct. 24. 

For updates, subscribe to our blog http://freewritingadventures.blogspot.com. Follow us on Twitter @FreeWrtngAdvtrs and Facebook at freewritingadventures. 

To register for an adventure, e-mail your name and cellphone number to freewritingadventures@gmail.com. Slots are limited.

Freewriting Adventures are writing sessions that happen in unexpected places. What we do is we visit these interesting areas and use them as inspiration for our writing exercises. It is open to young professionals and college students who want to try their hand at writing. The young at heart are also welcome to join.

Freewriting Adventures is headed by Ja Cruz. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Creative Writing, she graduated Cum Laude from the Ateneo de Manila University and received the Creative Writing Program Award. The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, and Cosmopolitan Magazine have published her articles. She worked at Summit Media’s Female Network as an editorial assistant, and she is currently an art reporter for a newspaper.

*Note: The opinions expressed in this blog do not represent the official views of the companies, organizations, or institutions that I am associated with. These opinions are solely my own.

The Zen Freewriting Adventures on April 25, 2015

Freewriting Adventures has taken young writers on a hop-on-hop-off LRT expedition, on a hunt around Luneta park, on a tour around Manila’s top art galleries, and now we are going to a Buddhist temple. The upcoming event is called The Zen Freewriting Adventures. It will be on April 25, 2015 (Saturday) from 10a.m. to 3p.m. at the Mabuhay Temple at 656 Pablo Ocampo St., Malate, Manila. There is no workshop fee for this event.

Build Your First Writing Kit

So you want to be a writer, but you don't know where to start? You can begin by building your first writing kit.

Arm your kit with a set of ballpens. My writing kit is filled with cheap black ballpens that write smoothly. I don't like gel pens because they feel scratchy when I write. I usually have more than one ballpen in my kit because I often lose them.

Next Freewriting Adventure: April 25, 2015

Here at Freewriting Adventures we believe that to write creatively, the learning process must be as imaginative as the masterpieces that we produce. That's why our participants aren't shuttled into a traditional classroom; we let them run wild through Manila parks and kooky streets. At every interesting stop, we throw them a curious writing challenge.

Post-Adventure Report: Potent Cures to Writer's Block

For my job as an art reporter, I have to constantly produce stories. I can't tell my boss, sorry boss wala kang diyaryo bukas, writer's block eh. When I was just starting out, I didn't know how I'd survive. Thankfully, I just did. Along the way I discovered tips and tricks on how to cure writer's block. Not permanently, but what you can do is quicken the time of recovery from your recurring illness. I learned this from books and personal experiences. Then, I created the writing challenges for Freewriting Adventures' March 29, 2014 event called Potent Cures to Writer's Block at the Rizal Park (Luneta).

Here at Freewriting Adventures we believe that to write creatively, the learning process must be as imaginative as the masterpieces that we produce. That's why our participants aren't shuttled into a traditional classroom; we let them run wild through Manila parks and kooky streets. At every interesting stop, we throw them a curious writing challenge that will help them solve their inky icky problem

Third Freewriting Adventure: Foot-Loose in Manila (Lrt Edition)

3. Freewriting Adventures Foot-Loose in Manila (Lrt Edition) on Sept. 7, 2013 

The third Freewriting Adventure was inspired by the book Foot-Loose in Tokyo: The Curious Traveler's Guide to the 29 Stages of the Yamanote Line by Jean Pearce. It is a travel book where the author went from one train station to the next. At every stop, the author explored the areas near that station. 

For the Manila version, I decided to use the LRT station because the surrounding areas interested me. From Tayuman station, we went to the Dangwa Flower Market and hunted for curious flowers.

Post-Adventure Report: How to Write Funny Without Even Trying

Last Jan. 24, Freewriting Adventures welcomed 2015 with How to Write Funny Without Even Trying, an adventure that brought participants to Luneta Park (Rizal Park) in Manila. In Freewriting Adventures, we believe that the learning process should be as creative as the written work that we produce. An alternative learning experience, Freewriting Adventures challenges participants to explore the world, interact with what they find there, and use that as inspiration.

If you missed our funny adventure, don't worry. Future adventures will be on April 25, July 25, and Oct. 24. All dates are Saturdays, and each event will last from 1p.m. to 5p.m. Further details will be announced when the adventure nears. Each adventure has limited slots, so watch out for the registration announcements. As a special treat, the adventure on April 25 will have no workshop fee!

Freewriting Adventures: How to Write Funny Without Even Trying

Freewriting Adventures presents its start of the year event How to Write Funny Without Even Trying. Believe it or not there are actually easy tips and tricks on how to write in a witty manner. To know these cool tactics, be there at Luneta Park (Rizal Park) on Jan 24 from 1p.m. to 5p.m. Meeting place is at the gazebo to the right of the Rizal Monument if you are facing the monument. Only six slots are available so confirm your attendance by texting Ja Cruz at 0905-441-9386. Workshop fee is P500.