MANILA – It was all about words at the third session of Better Than Ever Raw School 2014, a series of seminars for young creatives which boasts a lineup of speakers consisting of the top creative heads of the country.
Attended by a big number of young creatives currently enrolled in the Raw School, the class had the following speakers: Tin Sanchez from BBDO, Don Bautista from PC&V, Lawin Bulatao from Arena, Greg Martin from Ace Saatchi & Saatchi and poet-journalist Lourd de Veyra.
The speakers covered a wide range of topics, all geared towards helping those in attendance write better. Bulatao discussed his 1 Don’t, 9 Do’s philosophy, which he uses as his baseline whenever he writes. “These are the basics. Without these things, you’ll never improve,” he said.
In his presentation ‘How To Write In A Foreign Language: Filipino’, Bautista noted that most Filipino writers are writing in English too much. Bautista, a stout balarila fan, had this to say about copywriters in the Philippines: “A lot of people still don’t know how to differentiate between ng and nang. Why? We’re Filipino, ‘di ba?”
Sanchez gave a small “live art” performance using Microsoft Word of how she works when she writes copy, as projected on a screen. During the “session”, Sanchez typed in: “I don’t know what makes good copy. I just write until it feels right.”
Martin provided his insights on building concepts from scratch, with his topic Putting It All on the Line. “You start with the line and everything else falls into place,” said Martin.
De Veyra himself gave his pointers on improving on the writing skills we already have. He said that there is no mystery when it comes to language, and we should “hang out” with words, if we want to master them. “Powerful writing consists of concrete imagery,” De Veyra said.
The event was informal and intimate. With free-flowing drinks and pizza, everyone had their time to focus, listen, laugh and learn along with the speakers, most of whom stimulated debate among the participants.
Raw School 2014’s principal Third Domingo aims to have the same kind of feel for the remaining fifteen seminars for Raw School, and to enroll even more creatives into the program. “We’ve got fifteen more sessions for Raw School, and it’s going to be great. Enroll now!”
Details, schedules, and questions about Better Than Ever Raw School 2014 can be found on their Facebook page.
