{"id":155,"date":"2008-09-27T09:12:26","date_gmt":"2008-09-27T16:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/specfic.philsites.net\/2008\/09\/27\/a-reaction-to-an-essay-on-philippine-speculative-fiction\/"},"modified":"2008-09-27T10:43:58","modified_gmt":"2008-09-27T17:43:58","slug":"a-reaction-to-an-essay-on-philippine-speculative-fiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/2008\/09\/27\/a-reaction-to-an-essay-on-philippine-speculative-fiction\/","title":{"rendered":"A Reaction to an Essay on Philippine Speculative Fiction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Tan wrote an essay here<\/a> defining Filipino speculative fiction. He brought up a lot of good points and it is an essay well worth reading. However, I would like to call special attention to this passage:<\/p>\n

Philippine speculative fiction, on the other hand, recognizes that fiction doesn’t always have to be socially relevant. Can’t we write stories simply to entertain? That’s not to say local spec fic isn’t socially relevant or doesn’t possess gravity. More than a few modern spec fic stories tackle that (spec fic is inclusive, remember?). But the biggest differences is that writers are now able to write and pursue their own agendas without feeling guilt about the lack of Filipino characters or Filipino settings or importance on how their work will change the face of Philippine literature while still being able to gain a certain amount of literary acceptance.<\/em><\/p>\n

I have to put my two cents out there.<\/p>\n

I’m not going to deny that we have realist writing traditions. We have celebrated literature that aims to represent our unique struggles, as people and as citizens, and even now we’re in dire need of skilled wordsmiths who aren’t afraid to reflect Filipino society, its glories and ills, in their fiction.<\/p>\n

But, you see… as a writer of speculative work, I have never felt like I had to break off from or go against any traditions. Or felt guilty or scared because I wrote stories that other Filipinos might not enjoy reading.<\/p>\n


\nMy own publication history encourages me to believe that the local market never outright discouraged fantastic fiction. In 1996, I had one science fiction-ISH (perhaps in the same way you would consider “Spaceman” fantasy-ISH) story printed in the Women’s Journal<\/em>; it was titled “The Godfather.” I’ve had two horror stories (“Moonlight Ride” and “Legend”) and one fantasy story (“Spaceman”) printed in the Philippine Graphic<\/em>. I must point out that “Moonlight Ride”, also printed in 1996, was a fantasy horror that had absolutely no Filipino elements.<\/p>\n

Moreover, the two stories which got me shortlisted for – and later fortunately accepted into – the 1997 UP National Writers Workshop were both speculative in nature. One of them didn’t have Filipino elements, either. Although I clearly recall that it was Sir Butch Dalisay, a teacher of mine at Technical Writing and now a supporter of spec fic, who said at the workshop that he thought writing fantastic fiction seemed “frivolous” and that there are already so many interesting prompts in real life one could write about. Yes, Sir Butch, I’m afraid I was never able to move on from that :P<\/p>\n

I felt very strongly as a young writer that I needed to bring something new and interesting into this country’s rich literary heritage. And that what I had to bring were stories that were speculative in nature. And now that my “non-realist” stories have been published, I am very uncomfortable with the idea that some people think there was NO market for speculative fiction before recently.<\/p>\n

There may be more avenues now thanks to the Internet, and to the brave, talented, enterprising souls that have put out calls for speculative fiction exclusively<\/em>… but to say that before now, Filipino writers were not free to set their imaginations loose, because their big bad professors\/teachers\/mentors were going after their heads?<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

This is unfair and disrespectful to the institution of Filipino literature.<\/p>\n

It’s not a matter of debate that speculative fiction has been around for many years as a big part of Filipino culture. Some of our best published writings, in English and Filipino and other local languages, have had elements of fantasy and folklore woven into them. And yes, they have been thought of as “serious writing.” The methods of writing employed were simply good enough to merit critical acclaim.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, there have been speculative stories written purely for entertainment, in the form of komiks and horror and fantasy paperback novels. People submit to these “masa” publications (often not in English) for money and fun, and… I suppose it is safe to say the authors also<\/em> have no aspirations of winning a Palanca or a Pulitzer. They simply want to put their stories out and get read, and maybe get paid a little too.<\/p>\n

I understand that people are clamoring for a “middle ground” – a place where writers of speculative fiction can just have fun and at the same time get read, without striving for literary recognition or resorting to outright “masa” status. But there is really no need to give false impressions of our local writing market, in our search for this.<\/p>\n

I fear that young writers actually believe<\/em> this generalization – that local publications WILL NOT accept your work if you don’t write with Filipino elements, or if you don’t write in a realistic style. I know it’s daunting enough to submit anywhere, especially to national magazines… but please.<\/p>\n

If you have never submitted your speculative work to local publications before, why haven’t you? And if you have, but it was rejected, are you sure it was because your piece is not Filipino or realist – or because it simply needs more work?<\/p>\n

Or perhaps, it just wasn’t suited to your chosen publication. Have you done your research? Do you know the kinds of stories this publication normally accepts, and have you chosen the right story\/tailored your story appropriately?<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

I want to ask young writers who want to enter our literary world through the spec fic arena – what kind of writer do you want to be? Ask yourself that right now, because that will help you define your artistic path from here on out. Do you want to be a “serious” writer, or do you just want to write for fun?<\/p>\n

If it’s the latter, congratulations: there’s a whole world of possibilities out there for you. There are even new publications that could help you meet your target readership! And if all else fails, you can always self-publish. The Internet makes things so much easier.<\/p>\n

But if you’re the former, you have to understand that being a “serious” writer is entering a battlefield. You have to meet standards that are older and bigger than you; it is intimidating for a reason. It’s not enough that you come into it with bright eyes and a lot of fresh ideas – you have to polish your technique and in the process do a great deal of self-reflection, get a better handle on your strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n

Above all, you have to learn how to suck it up and not whine when you’re not praised or acknowledged. You may be a “newbie” writer, but understand that the publishing world is not obliged to go easy on you. Blood is spilled in these halls.<\/p>\n

Rejection is a soul-wrecking thing, every writer worth his or her salt knows this – you will need to grow a thicker skin, to be able to keep trying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Charles Tan wrote an essay here defining Filipino speculative fiction. He brought up a lot of good points and it is an essay well worth reading. However, I would like to call special attention to this passage: Philippine speculative fiction, on the other hand, recognizes that fiction doesn’t always have to be socially relevant. Can’t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-container-style":"default","site-container-layout":"default","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-transparent-header":"default","disable-article-header":"default","disable-site-header":"default","disable-site-footer":"default","disable-content-area-spacing":"default","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-essays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philsites.net\/specfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}