SciFi novelist dares Filipino writers to dream Ansbert Joaquin Central Luzon Desk
November 23, 2007
SUBIC BAY FREEPORT ZONE, Philippines -- Science fiction novelist Neil Gaiman lauded the potential of young Filipino artists and writers and admitted he likes Philippine folklore, even as he urged them to bring such literary gems to the world as "the trend today is moving towards global acceptance."
"It is really fantastic," he said of the local folklore. "The first time I came across it about a couple of years ago, I said to myself: 'Why did I not know about this before?"
Gaiman, writer and creator of the DC Comics series “Sandman,” also gave nearly 4,000 delegates to the 20th Philippine Advertising Congress here the same message that he gave the Chinese delegation to the science fiction summit in Chengdu, China earlier this year: He dared them to dream.
Gaiman's Sandman won 12 Eisner comic industry awards and a World Fantasy award for best short story, the first comic ever to receive a literary award.
He stressed the importance of imagination in creative processes, comparing it to a mirror which can show the world in different angles.
"It can also hide, distort and banish things," he said.
He said people should "see things, (often) taken for granted, with new eyes."
As to his experience, Gaiman said he will never get enough of his fascination to bringing characters in his dreams to life.
"Before there were chairs, poems, and fields, they were imagined," Gaiman said as he belied the notion that imagination is special, magical and is only for the blessed.
"At 21 years old, I started dreaming that I could write," he said. "I just pushed for it and now I'm a writer."
Gaiman, who also wrote the best-selling novel “American Gods”--winner of the 2002 Gram Stoker award, Hugo award, and the Nebula award for best novel--also advised would-be writers to write and finish things.
"What separates men from boys and women from girls is the determination to finish those which they have started," he said.
He said that as in most feats, one cannot do much if he is not driven to get to his ultimate goal.
"Aspiring writers can have hundreds of ideas in their minds but unless they learn how to end it, these brilliant ideas will just be put to waste," he said.
Despite coming across various works of art from across the globe, however, the acclaimed writer admits he is charmed with Philippine folklore.
The Philippines has the "coolest folklores in the world," he said.
But he challenged writers to bring such literary gems to the world as the trend today is moving towards global acceptance.
