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If you want to organize a Writing Boot Camp in your office or city, email saffron.safin@gmail.com.

You’ve always wanted to write, but you don’t know how to get started.

You used to write, but you haven’t done it in a while and you feel rusty.

You’re sort of interested in writing, but you’re afraid to even admit it.

You’ve started many stories, but you ran out of steam.

You think you can write, but you need a second opinion.

You have a writing project that you’ve been putting off, and you just looked at the calendar and it’s almost 2018.

You want to learn the basics of storytelling. (Or you have a friend who is any/all of the above and you want to give them a little push.)

Join our Writing Boot Camp! The objective is simple: to start and finish a piece of writing (a short story, a personal essay, or a piece of fanfiction) in two weekends.

Dates: July 22 and 29, 2017, from 1-5pm.
Venue: WSI Corporate Center, Metropolitan Avenue, Makati (near the Makati fire station at the end of Ayala Avenue)
Cost: Php6,000

Note: No one has ever burst into tears or had a nervous breakdown at our workshops.

For inquiries and to book a place, email saffron.safin@gmail.com.

David Sedaris does.

This advice has worked for us for many years, so at our Writing Boot Camp in July, we’re issuing these pocket notebooks to participants.

Paper cover pocket Moleskine journals I futzed with.

The objective is simple: to start and finish a piece of writing (a short story, a personal essay, or a piece of fanfiction) in two weekends.

Dates: July 22 and 29, 2017, from 1-5pm.
Venue: WSI Corporate Center, Metropolitan Avenue, Makati (near the Makati fire station at the end of Ayala Avenue)
Cost: Php6,000, but if you pay on or before June 30, 2017, you only pay Php5,000.

For inquiries and to book a place, email saffron.safin@gmail.com.

You’ve always wanted to write, but you don’t know how to get started.

You used to write, but you haven’t done it in a while and you feel rusty.

You’re sort of interested in writing, but you’re afraid to even admit it.

You’ve started many stories, but you ran out of steam.

You think you can write, but you need a second opinion.

You have a writing project that you’ve been putting off, and you just looked at the calendar and it’s almost 2018.

You want to learn the basics of storytelling.

(Or you have a friend who is any/all of the above and you want to give them a little push.)

Join our Writing Boot Camp! The objective is simple: to start and finish a piece of writing (a short story, a personal essay, or a piece of fanfiction) in two weekends.

Dates: July 22 and 29, 2017, from 1-5pm.
Venue: WSI Corporate Center, Metropolitan Avenue, Makati (near the Makati fire station at the end of Ayala Avenue)
Cost: Php6,000, but if you pay on or before June 30, 2017, you only pay Php5,000.

No pressure, no tears, no time like the present.

For inquiries and to book a place, email saffron.safin@gmail.com.
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After one Saturday afternoon of discussions, readings, rough drafts and outlines, the ten participants in our just-concluded Writing Boot Camp got to work on their stories. This last weekend, nine read their stories to the class.

The more I do these workshops, the more I realize that there is no shortage of writing talent out there—they just need a push, a few practical suggestions, and some assurance that they are not alone and that there is a point to putting in the work. Few things can match the satisfaction of having produced a story exactly as you imagined it.

These nine stories (and hopefully another one) will join the ten from our previous Writing Boot Camp (October 2016) in a planned anthology to be published this year.

The Other Girl by Ilsa Malsi. We all have someone like her: the classmate or contemporary we constantly measure ourselves against, whose triumphs we regard as silent rebukes, whom we wish in our darkest heart of hearts will fail.

Origin Story by Chuck Smith. The unflinching, painful, and hilarious tale of a boy whose life has been defined by a rumor: everyone thinks he’s the son of a dead 1980s bold star.

As It Was In The Beginning by Anne Tamondong. A current take on an old story: the deal with the devil.

In the Faculty Center by Will Liangco. The students in a Creative Writing class are intrigued, scandalized, and revolted when it appears that their classmate, a zealous feminist, has embarked on an affair with their greasy, moustache-massaging, altogether unattractive professor. What is the truth?

The Lizard by James Fajarito. A freshman at a seminary, ostracized when he is revealed to be gay, gains the respect of his judgmental classmates.

That Song by Rex Monteverde . As a child Brenda discovers that she can see ghosts, and she is taught to abide by the first Rule of the Gift: Never let the ghosts know that you can see them.

Salvador by Vicky Marquez. On a trip to Bahia in Brazil, a Filipina just out of college strikes up a friendship with a European boy, but does not realize its significance until years have passed.

Silver Belles by Gilda Guillermo. A lawyer becomes fixated on the dance number that her law school class will perform at its 25th alumni homecoming. When circumstances prevent her from attending the homecoming, she starts plotting her revenge.

The Favorite Tita by Tina Vitug. When their sister is killed in an accident, two sisters with contrasting personalities and values find themselves embroiled in a custody fight for their two nieces.

The next Writing Boot Camp will be held in May. For inquiries, email saffron.safin@gmail.com.

The objective of Writing Boot Camp is to start and finish a short story between the two Saturday sessions.

Writing Boot Camp consists of a lecture, readings, discussions, and the screening of a classic short film. Light snacks will be served.

Here’s the map to the venue.

To register, email saffron.safin@gmail.com before Saturday. The fee is Php5,000 for the entire workshop.

Stop threatening to write, and just write something.