Writer,
Wizard, &
Whatnot...
I'm sure that you have at least one spellbinding experience when you look outside the window and expect someone (or something) to take you far, far away. I've always made sure that there was at least one window in the house where I could fit in just in case an event like this happens. When I first discovered that we had boxes and boxes of books to be shipped out and given away, my life was changed forever. What a pleasure to be constantly reading one story after the next. I started reading even though I noticed nobody else in my class was.
When I was on the fifth grade, my family moved to Bulacan. Two more years and I would move on to yet another school. This was the time I started dreaming to be a writer. How cool would it be? I thought. You could draw people into your own world of fantasy or whatever you wish them to imagine. And so, I started writing short stories. I used to have this enormous notebook where I would write different ideas and sketches. I was very inspired. I could remember very well that the very first story I wrote was about a family with blue skin.
When I entered high school, I tried harder to hone my writing skills. It takes more than a dream to become a writer. It takes passion and an awful lot of time. IMHO, before I can be the writers I dream of emulating, I'll have grown long gray beards. Anyway, I started joining impromptu speaking competitions. To my surprise, I started winning and my school couldn't be any prouder. The best part about these competitions was that I was given a lot of free time to read and learn. I enjoyed my solitude in our library. Making speeches was in a way a good training for writing because, after all, they both require an effective use of language. It was during this first year of high school that my first completed version of "Charlie Sparks: A Sorcerer's Tale" was born. Times passed and reality stung me hard. I found out that dreams weren't that easily fulfilled. Otherwise, we would be a very, very, veeeerrryyyyy happy world.
When I was already in college taking up Linguistics from the University of the Philippines in Diliman (U.P.), I thought I could surround myself with people who share the same interest. U.P. was a very ideal place to meet very interesting people. Unfortunately, although I had a handful of scholarships, I still had to work to support myself and send some money back home. From high school, I worked as a private tutor dealing with different kinds of children (and even adults!). And so, I spent my mornings until noontime learning and the rest of the afternoon until night time teaching. During sophomore year, I managed to put up a couple of businesses that, until my last few months of college, would crumble. My college years were the most tiring years of my life. I succeeded and failed in different aspects of my life over and over.
A year after I graduated, fresh from the painful experiences of failed business ventures and regrets from things I should have done (and done better have I had more time) in college, I decided that it was about time to try again. With the help of very encouraging family, friends and mentors, I scrapped the first version of my novel and wrote it all over.
I think what makes this passion to deliver a novel very different is that I don't aim to be the next anything or anyone. I just want to make a wonderful gift that I hope would make children and adult alike smile for a day or two. In the end, whatever happens, I will be a happy man. After all, I had a dream, and I made it happen.
When I was on the fifth grade, my family moved to Bulacan. Two more years and I would move on to yet another school. This was the time I started dreaming to be a writer. How cool would it be? I thought. You could draw people into your own world of fantasy or whatever you wish them to imagine. And so, I started writing short stories. I used to have this enormous notebook where I would write different ideas and sketches. I was very inspired. I could remember very well that the very first story I wrote was about a family with blue skin.
When I entered high school, I tried harder to hone my writing skills. It takes more than a dream to become a writer. It takes passion and an awful lot of time. IMHO, before I can be the writers I dream of emulating, I'll have grown long gray beards. Anyway, I started joining impromptu speaking competitions. To my surprise, I started winning and my school couldn't be any prouder. The best part about these competitions was that I was given a lot of free time to read and learn. I enjoyed my solitude in our library. Making speeches was in a way a good training for writing because, after all, they both require an effective use of language. It was during this first year of high school that my first completed version of "Charlie Sparks: A Sorcerer's Tale" was born. Times passed and reality stung me hard. I found out that dreams weren't that easily fulfilled. Otherwise, we would be a very, very, veeeerrryyyyy happy world.
When I was already in college taking up Linguistics from the University of the Philippines in Diliman (U.P.), I thought I could surround myself with people who share the same interest. U.P. was a very ideal place to meet very interesting people. Unfortunately, although I had a handful of scholarships, I still had to work to support myself and send some money back home. From high school, I worked as a private tutor dealing with different kinds of children (and even adults!). And so, I spent my mornings until noontime learning and the rest of the afternoon until night time teaching. During sophomore year, I managed to put up a couple of businesses that, until my last few months of college, would crumble. My college years were the most tiring years of my life. I succeeded and failed in different aspects of my life over and over.
A year after I graduated, fresh from the painful experiences of failed business ventures and regrets from things I should have done (and done better have I had more time) in college, I decided that it was about time to try again. With the help of very encouraging family, friends and mentors, I scrapped the first version of my novel and wrote it all over.
I think what makes this passion to deliver a novel very different is that I don't aim to be the next anything or anyone. I just want to make a wonderful gift that I hope would make children and adult alike smile for a day or two. In the end, whatever happens, I will be a happy man. After all, I had a dream, and I made it happen.
Contact me/Follow me through:
Website: cyrilltan.com
Facebook: C.N. Tan
Twitter: @cyrilltan
Instagram: cyrilltan
LinkedIn: Cyrill Tan
Wattpad: C.N. Tan
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: cyrilltan.com
Facebook: C.N. Tan
Twitter: @cyrilltan
Instagram: cyrilltan
LinkedIn: Cyrill Tan
Wattpad: C.N. Tan
E-mail: [email protected]