THERE IS danger in teaching a fixed way of writing as it may limit the creativity of students when it comes to approaching their literary pieces, a Palanca award-winning author said.
During the literary dialogue “Everything is Conversation,” fictionist and editor Vicente Garcia Groyon cited the risks of teaching in a formal setting, noting that some might view such lessons as the universal truth.
“If you are also teaching creative writing, then of course, there’s also that danger where you impose a certain, fixed way of writing,” Groyon, who taught literature courses at De La Salle University Manila, said on Thursday, Nov. 21, at the Tanghalang Teresita Quirino in the Benavides Building.
“Your students…kind of tend to think of it as the gospel—the only way to approach creative writing—so that could certainly be a danger because you take your own specific experience and you kind of make it the universal rule that you apply,” he added.
Groyon recounted his experience in the Silliman University National Writers Workshop, when his writing was received poorly because of its supposed failure to conform with the formalist definition of a short story.
He and UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS) director Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, who also participated in the forum, likewise discussed what it meant to exist as a writer beyond its artistic aspect.
“When you’re trying to establish a reputation, there are certain expectations of you. The way you’re supposed to do [things] and the things you’re supposed to read, how you’re supposed to react,” Groyon said.
When Hidalgo asked Groyon about the validity of chick lit as literature, he recalled how he initially disagreed with the view since the genre involves a specific set of requirements and trope. However, the author said he has also come to recognize chick lit authors.
“Over the years, I’ve realized that writing according to a formula is not necessarily a bad thing. Because it is actually one of the most difficult things to do, to come up with something significant and new while working within a formula,” he said.
“Producing a really good screenplay while adhering to the components of that formula is a very, very difficult thing to do, so I’ve come to respect that more.”
Groyon, also a filmmaker, won a Palanca Award for his debut novel, The Sky Over Dimas in 2004. He ventured into film as a writer, director and actor in many films including Namets! (2008), Seduction (2013), and his latest work, Under a Piaya Moon (2024).
Organized by the UST CCWLS and the UST Publishing House, the event formally recognized the addition of Groyon’s books to the University’s publishing house inventory. It featured Everything is Fiction; Everything is Realism; and Everything is First Person, a collection of essays that reflect over 25 years of Groyon’s relationship with writing. F – Nicole Samson
