Behind the Pen, Beyond the Paper: Ricky Lee
When you begin to write — may it be for yourself or the world — you could oftentimes feel like there is still a lot left to be desired.
Perhaps you have a standard you want to reach, or you feel like you can’t start — much more finish — your piece. It’s also a very common thing to look at someone you look up to and their work, comparing yours to theirs, which often does not end well.
Ricky Lee, an acclaimed Filipino writer who has been writing for five decades, shares that despite the heights he’s reached, he is no different from the ordinary writer. Speaking with ESME in a Live Learning Webinar called The Man Behind the Pen: The Life Journey of Ricky Lee last March 11, he says that he goes through moments of self-doubt, as well. “Dumarating ‘yung ganung mga panahon, iniisip ko na ‘nagkamali bang naging writer ako?” he expresses. “But then eventually, you realize that “no, this is what I want to do. This is where I feel complete as a person,” Ricky continues in Filipino. The only way out of a rut, at least according to Ricky, is by reminding oneself why one writes in the first place.
(Moments like those come when I ask myself if my decision of becoming a writer was the right thing to do.)
One could feel Ricky’s love and passion for writing as he talks about the inspiration behind his masterpieces: nothing. He writes for no one; instead, he writes to live. His whole being is embedded into the act of writing. It has become his “breathe” of life — the thing keeping him going.
Albeit, he exposes how it wasn’t always like this. Anyone successful was once a beginner. In his novice years, what inspired him was the need to make a living. “Sa akin, hindi nakakahiya na inspirasyon ‘yun,” he argues. Writing is, after all, honest work. Other times then, what drives him to work are all the narratives he wants to tell the world as well as the desire to show his skills in writing.
(For me, having that as inspiration isn’t something to be ashamed of.)
With the experience and accolades such as his, the writer voices out how aspiring artists in the art of words should never stop trying to become a better writer. He provides a sensible yet difficult tip for everyone: “Learn to pay attention.” Beyond looking, you have to see and notice things that perhaps not everyone would. When you truly see things, you will start to think, feel, experience, and imagine beyond the sensical world and enter perhaps a world you create yourself.
He also believes that being open to life helps. This doesn’t only mean that you will experience things; this also means that what feelings you get from those experiences, whether or not they may be painful and hurtful emotions, you have to let flow through you. These are respective feelings in themselves, Ricky shares, emphasizing how important knowing how feelings work when you write.
In the end, on the other side of the writing process, Ricky puts a premium on being able to connect with his readers. “‘Yun ang mahalaga para sa writers…na naka-connect ka sa readers…na-appreciate ka…nabasa ka.”
(That’s what is important for writers…that you were able to connect to your readers…you were appreciated…you were read.)
“Lahat tayo may kakayanang gumawa ng kwento…‘wag kayong matatakot na hindi niyo kakayanin,” he imparts. Ricky encourages not to aim to be like other writers, and instead to find one’s own voice in the stories they tell and the way they tell their stories.
(We all can make our own stories…don’t be scared that you can’t do it.)
