New to writing but not to traveling? If you feel like you want to turn your travel experiences into travel stories worth publishing or just want to write stories to remember your travels by, then this workshop is for you.

It is basically an introduction to travel writing (so beginners are welcome!), and it will have a series of lectures and writing exercises. Here, we’ll break down the essential features and characteristics of travel stories so you’ll get a better chance of getting pulished in print or online publications. Our featured speaker will focus on the processes for finding a subject, refining an angle and identifying relevant sources along with deciding on a tone and defining the parameters of a piece.

Part I: What to write, and how to do it

Here, we explore the basics of a variety of travel stories—

The trend piece – Traveling and eating vegan, combining business and leisure through a bleisure vacation. What are the lifestyle trends that are changing the way we travel?
The roundup – A list of the most interesting travel bits and pieces you picked up on the road written in a way that will make you want to pack your bags.
The travel narrative – You can tell people about your vacation or you can show them through a travel narrative that takes them with you on your holiday without them having to get up from their seat.

Part II: Writing exercise

The second part will begin with a short lecture on crafting a pitch—why it’s necessary and an important practice and how to do it—followed by a pitch writing exercise.

Who should attend the event?

You don’t have to be a published writer to join the workshop. As long as you have an interest in writing—and are 18 years old or above—you can sign up for the event. This is especially ideal for the following:

freelance writers
creative writers
bloggers
university or college students who want to hone their writing skills
employees and/or stay-at-home folks who have passion for writing
anyone who wants to write stories to remember their travels by

How much is the registration fee?

There is a P2,000 fee per person, which simply covers the course fee. We’ll take care of the substance, but you take care of your sustenance, that okay?

How can I reserve a seat?

Simply sign up through our online registration form (https://forms.gle/ZSzF3idGn4M4Cea4A) to signify your interest and we’ll email you the details on how to confirm a slot.

Note: Those who have registered online have no guaranteed seats yet. Participants will get confirmed slots once they have settled the payment.

How can I pay for the event?

You may settle the course fee by making a deposit to our bank account or via Paypal. Details as follows:

Bank: BPI

Account name: Writer’s Block Creative Enterprises Co.

Account number: Current account 1751 0828 82

Once you’ve made the deposit, please immediately notify us of your transaction by emailing us a copy of the deposit slip/screen cap so we can confirm your slot. Please include your complete name and contact details in the email.

You may also pay via Paypal. Just let us know so we can email you an invoice.

Is it acceptable to pay with a WBP gift certificate?

Yes, using a gift certificate is perfectly acceptable. If you have a P500 gift certificate, you may offset it from the full price. Just inform us how many gift certificates you would like to use, give us the gift certificate number, and surrender it during the event registration.

Is the payment refundable?

Writer’s Block Creative Enterprises Co. does not allow refunds on event payments. Failure to claim the seat during the said event will be deemed as a forfeiture of workshop reservation. In the event of such cancellation, the said participant agrees that any and all money paid to Writer’s Block Creative Enterprises Co. will be non-refundable.

Is there a deadline for signing up?

There is no deadline but please note that we will close the registration once all the slots have been filled up. It would be best to settle the payment beforehand so we could prepare your workshop kit that includes a certificate of participation. Walk-in participants who will pay on the day itself will only be accommodated if there are still available slots.

Who is hosting the event?

It will be conducted by Writer’s Block Philippines, a duo of editors and communicators who have collectively had more than 20 years of experience in freelance lifestyle and corporate writing.

Ana P. Santos: reproductive health rights and women’s issues

Ana reinvented herself from banker to public health journalist. She took her 12 years of experience in advertising and financial marketing communications to launch a career as a freelance writer.

Ana started writing a sex column for a now defunct men’s magazine more as a hobby than anything else. When she re-discovered her love and passion for writing, she took the leap and left her post as Assistant Vice President of a financial institution into full-time writing.

Currently, Ana is the Philippine correspondent for Deutsche Welle (DW Germany) and a sexuality and gender columnist for Rappler. As the Pulitzer Center’s 2014 Persephone Miel Fellow, she traveled to Dubai and Paris and wrote about the Filipino migrant mothers who leave their children to take care of other people’s children. Through additional grants awarded by the Pulitzer Center, she covered migrant issues in Europe and the Middle East.

Ana has a regular column in Rappler while some of her full-length features have been published in the The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Deutsche Welle – Germany and Foreign Policy.

Nikka Sarthou-Lainez: lifestyle

Eat. Travel. Write. Repeat. For over a decade now, Nikka’s career as a full-time freelance writer and creative entrepreneur has allowed her to fulfill her passions. She gets to indulge in food and travel, and at the same time, get to write about her experiences as well.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Arts from the University of the Philippines Los Baños, and has written several features for asianTraveler, Travelife, Spark, Celebrity Mom, Business World, Highlife, Mango, Metro, Metro Society, ClicktheCity.com, Spot.ph, Herword.com, Homegrown.ph, GMA News Online, Philippine Tatler, Rappler, and WayToGo powered by Smile magazine.

Nikka has also been published in Filipino publications abroad such as Filipino Star News in Michigan, Hawaii Filipino Chronicle, and Dubai-based magazine Illustrado. With her work, she was able to interact with movie celebrities, former ambassadors, inspiring entrepreneurs, and other interesting personalities.

In 2012, she was chosen as one of the five Asian representatives for Moleskine’s Modern Nomads and was included in its exhibition of travel writers’ kits where some of her travel paraphernalia were shown on display. She was the only featured travel writer from the Philippines, the others were from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.She was formerly a Contributing Editor in Smile, the in-flight magazine of Cebu Pacific Air.

View Nikka’s portfolio at www.nikkasarthou.com.

Featured speaker: Tara FT Sering

Tara FT Sering is a writer, editor, author of several books of fiction and publisher of Visionaria Books. She has worked as managing editor of Cosmopolitan Philippines, as an editor for creative services at ELLE Singapore, and was most recently editor-in-chief of Smile, the travel magazine for Cebu Pacific Airlines from late 2011 to early 2019. As a writer, she covers travel and tourism, art and design, social enterprises and boutique businesses, and profiles interesting people who are making a difference in their respective fields. She's currently working on a book of essays.

Who do I contact for more information?

You can call us through this number (0917) 397.9927 or email [email protected]. Visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/WritersBlockPHL.

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Our story started in 2009, when writers–Ana P. Santos and Nikka Sarthou-Lainez–met at a professional blogging and Internet marketing class and realized that freelance writers had many unique needs that the current landscape was not able to address.

Where do we go to find clients? How do we deal with pricing and competition? Pitching and editors? How can we build a sustainable career as a creative entrepreneur?

While school had taught us the basics of looking for story ideas, drafting news and features, and dealing with the technical realities of our craft, there were many things that we had learned only along the way–things that we felt other writers also needed to know about if they were going to pursue writing as a career.

Our passions and purpose

It is from this desire to share our knowledge and further professionalize the standards of our craft that Writer’s Block Philippines was born.

At Writer’s Block Philippines, we are passionate about words, and even more passionate about the idea that we could make a life (not just a living) doing what we love most.

Nikka had long left the corporate world to combine her two loves–travel and writing; Ana left a lucrative career in banking–foregoing the vice presidency and the designated parking space–to pursue her passion for reporting on women and gender issues and sexual health rights. ...

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