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What is PinoyWriters?
Is a Global Network of Creative PinoyWriters.





What PinoyWriters Does?
Create. Communicate. Celebrate.


What PinoyWriters Nurtures?
* Persistent & profitable creativity
* A helping attitude among editors & writers
* And standards of excellence for the Philippine writing profession


PinoyWriters' Greatest Dream?
One day, one of PinoyWriters will rise to become an international best-selling author, the kind who will join the ranks of J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Nicholas Sparks, Frank Peretti, and more. We dream of this because we know we can do it. It's only just a question of "when."

At present, from a handful of writers who started the group back in September 2000, five years later—it has grown to 706 members in our Yahoo! Mailing list and still growing, though they're in the process of resurrecting their Web site, please visit pinoywriters.multiply.com for more information.



The Mini-Module Writing Workshops
Today, the workshops at PowerBooks Specialty Bookstores are intended for writers who hanker for inspiration. Most are aspiring and beginning writers, but there are professional and seasoned writers who take part in the workshops.

The workshops are practical and are designed to be unique and dynamic as opposed to the other writing workshops. Participants are exposed to various writing prompts that will harness their hidden writing potentials. New techniques are enforced to make any individual confident to pursue writing as a profession.

The group believes that all writers need support, thus the creation of mini-modules began. Writers young and old crave such critical attention. Writers want editors to discuss story ideas, to show them new ways of seeing and writing, to help focus and organize stories, to discover new approaches in storytelling, and to help them identify what works and what needs work. In short, they want to progress in their craft. Growth can be accomplished without animosity, in ways that build a relationship of trust between writer and editor and among writers as well.


Workshops on Wheels [WOW]
It was in 2001 that PinoyWriters pioneered Workshops on Wheels. As the workshop title implies, it was created and conducted on a moving bus. Participants were treated to several stopovers in some writer-friendly ambiance, the likes of historic Intramuros, the panoramic view of Makati skyline, and the brewed aromatic smell of a Filipino homegrown coffee drink in a shop that perks the writer’s soul from within.

The theme for that particular workshop was Poetry in the City.


Snapshots: HUE with Words!
Back in May 2004, the group held a festive getaway and a workshop set in Lucban and Tiaong, Quezon. Participants were provided a respite from the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila. Snapshots: Hue with Words was a 3-day and 2-night activity which aimed to bring out the writer's creativity through helping them reach out to their readers through words that awaken the five senses, comprehend and explore human emotions and the human condition, to use words to paint mental pictures that leap from the pages, and to experience the province's lush heritage the likes of Pahiyas sa Lucban and a sanctuary interspersed with cluster of houses and materials such as cement and bricks with glazed, ceramic fishes and butterflies as accents to enhance the mystical aura of a noteworthy stopover at Augusto Bigyan’s [a.k.a UGO] place in Tiaong.


PinoyWriters’ Web University?
Just like the program that Suite101.com, it is the group’s vision to offer their existing and ongoing real-world workshops for audience online.

This is to reach other PinoyWriters who are based in the provinces as well as across the globe. It will be a workshop delivered through email or will be facilitated on a real-time scheduled online meeting or session.


Facilitators
At PinoyWriters, workshops are given by *facilitators* because it makes it easier for anyone who wants to learn how to write. The approach is a combination of coaching, facilitating and teaching.

Coaching is defined as private tutoring. Facilitating is making it easy, helping to make it forward, while teaching is imparting knowledge or skill or giving instruction by example.

All PinoyWriters facilitators are chosen for their experience and expertise in their writing genres and industries—and for their commitment to helping other writers grow.

Through these workshops they hope to attain such conversion, a new way of seeing, a change of heart for the participants.


As facilitators, they:
* Respect the writer’s individuality
* Understand and tolerates the writer’s idiosyncrasies
* Uses sincere praise to bolster the writer’s confidence
* Helps the writer to conquer writer’s block
* Inspires the writer by sharing things to read
* Persuades the writer to revise, especially through *cutting*
* Tempers perfectionism with reality


To sum it up, they coagulate. Their main goal is not to offend, but to inspire.



Aileen Santos is the Head Honcho and Trainer. She is a Soul-Writer, Spirit-Nurturer, and Idea-Muse. Her name literally means "light of the saints," and her life purpose is to "inspire creativity in the youth and young professionals, that they might use it to enrich their lives."

Professionally she is a creative writer, an innovative trainer, an emerging artist, and a creative therapist who is available for speaking, training, and workshop facilitating engagements. Her areas of expertise include creativity, personal development, and business communications (both written and oral), and her training style involves "the rekindling of enthusiasm & passion."


Key Personnel
This time, Vanessa Suquila, Chris Castillo, and Jude Cartalaba as part of the Writer-Facilitators’ Core Group join Aileen. There were others who followed and took the challenge of imparting their learned skills and approach. This is a proof that the group is a growing community.


Vanessa Suquila
A dash of whimsy, a smattering of playfulness, and a cup of acceptance is Vanessa’s method for self-coaching. She didn't know that spontaneous bicycle rides on Mondays, reading out loud written works to friends, and painting underneath canopies of trees could unblock other people, too. She attended seminars from a leadership center and was trained to become a Life-Coach.

She painted profiles for several magazines covering successful businesswomen, celebrities, singers, and champions of inner and social change. Currently she is combining her love for writing and social development through her work in PinoyWriters and another foundation that hopefully will inspire people to tap their creative power.


Chris Castillo
She considers herself part creative writer, part adventurer-slash-explorer. After outrunning a tornado and dealing with creepy crawlies Fear Factor style, she returns to the Philippines from a one-year stint in one of the best Outdoor Education Centers in the U.S.

At present, Chris works as a freelance writer for varied publications and as a management consultant specifically for action learning programs, both for corporate and public audiences. She enjoys creating and working on innovative projects that lead others to empowerment, whether through writing, personal development or growth in their business organizations.

Her passions include words, books, people and places, not necessarily in that order. :-)


Jude Cartalaba
He imparts knowledge through emphatic and active listening coupled with exploring one’s rare creative gift. Dubbed as the team’s “driving force” that infuses fresh and enduring values, Jude’s tagline reflects his mission statement as a writer-facilitator: “I refresh. I soothe. I blend.”

He strongly believes that writing is both an innate talent and an acquired skill, thus he constantly seeks to heave individuals and unleash them from their misconceptions. His print and online freelance writing gigs here and abroad are stirring testaments for anyone to break into bleak, but “once risked” territories turn out to be leap of faith, profitable adventures!


How to Contact PinoyWriters?
You may reach this email address: rjcartalaba@gmail.com or send an SMS to this handy phone number: +639275287380.