Facilitator of Fun

Hi I'm Ja! I'm your facilitator of fun!

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. She has been published by Rogue Magazine, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, Spot.ph, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Cultural Center of the Philippines' Ani Journal, Coconuts Manila, BusinessWorld, Art Plus Magazine, etc. She is currently working as an English and Literature college teacher at a private university.

If you like this post, please subscribe to this blog. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. E-mail us at: freewritingadventures@gmail.com. 

*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.

Mission Vision

"The aim is to burn through to first thoughts, to the place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor, to the place where you are writing what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel."--Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

With Freewriting Adventures (FWA), young aspiring writers will learn how to reconnect with first thoughts. We want to free your mind from what causes writer's block--the negative mind chatter telling you, Don't write that, that's stupid/boring/not good enough. Silence those insecurities, banish those doubts, so that you can finally write wild--write free.

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.