The unstoppable Ricky Lee

The Freelance Writers’ Guild of the Philippines (FWGP) started the year with a bang as they invited screenwriter and novelist Ricky Lee to be their featured writer at the first Open Book forum of the year last Jan. 20.

 

The forum took place at Chef’s Bistro along Tomas Morato Avenue, which, as it turns out, is also the setting for that night’s featured novel, “Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata,” Lee’s sophomore novel.

 

What was supposed to be a discussion of the book turned out to be a lively conversation between author and readers as Lee regaled the crowd with colorful anecdotes accompanied by bits of his writing philosophy.

 

The tiny venue overflowed with guests, some friends, some fans, of the award-winning writer, but this is nothing new for Ricky Lee. When “Amapola” was launched, the event was said to have had an audience of almost two thousand.  

Not a learned writer

 

When Lee started talking about writing “Amapola,” murmurs from the large crowd still filled the room so that the soft-spoken writer’s voice could barely be heard.

 

But all the audience’s restlessness effectively evaporated the moment Lee said “May pagka-bobo ako.”

 

At that point, everyone stopped and turned to the man who, despite the very large shadow his reputation cast, still had it in him to call himself “bobo.”

 

This “kabobohan,” he explained, is instrumental to his craft.

 

“Hindi ako learned writer. Hindi ako writer na nag-iisip…in a way, I think naprotektahan ako ng aking kabobohan,” he said.

 

“I don’t think a writer primarily thinks,” he continued. “I think, sa akin ha, it’s the senses, the emotions, the feelings, the instincts, the nightmares, the chaos, and the madness bago ‘yung thinking, bago ‘yung critical.”

 

As far as chaos and madness is concerned, Lee has certainly had his fair share. He made no secret of his hard-knock life—his Bicol childhood, fleeing to Manila, working a string of odd jobs, collapsing from hunger in Avenida, going underground in the Marcos era, losing friends and being called “Ricky Lie” over a fabrication that wasn’t even his idea to begin with.

 

Someone in the crowd chimed in with the theory that Lee’s remarkable life is what makes him a good writer, and he confirms this: “Ang dami kong karanasan na nadaanan. To a great extent, malaking tulong sa isang writer na maraming pinagdaanan.”

 

He was quick to add though that a hard life isn’t necessary to become a great writer: “Hindi totoo na kailangan maraming naranasan sa buhay. I think it’s what you notice.”

 

He explained, “If many things happened to you but you didn’t notice anything, walang mangyayari sa ’yo. [For example,] eto, dalawa lang ‘yung nangyari sa kanya pero he noticed, talagang pumasok siya at na-absorb niya. Mas may puhunan siya maging writer because he noticed.”

 

But more than just noticing things, it’s about wandering beyond what one already knows, Lee said.

 

“Magala akong writer,” he said. “Kung mahirap kumaliwa, kakaliwa ako. I think it’s the kabobohan again. Gusto ko mga elements na mahirap i-combine, tsaka ko gagawin silang iisa. I’m a mess. I want the messy muna bago ko gawing cohesive.”

 

Advice to writers

 

He then addressed the room as fellow writers as he challenged, “Go to your opposite bago ka bumalik sa kung ano ka man. ‘Wag ka mag-stay na stuck, na naka-kahon kung ano ka. Dun ka mababangga, dun ka madadapa, dun ka hindi mahusay eh…It’s the semplang, the bagsak, and then pagbangon mo that will make you really good.”

 

It seems that learning to get up after a fall is something every writer needs to know in an industry that Lee described as one that “asks for a pound of flesh.”

 

“Kung nagsusulat ka pala, lalo na para sa pelikula, ’yun ang bayaran: a pound of flesh. So kailangan magdesisyon. Willing ba ako na hingian pa nila ako ng laman all the way o tatalikod na ako? Well, I decided to stay, to make it worth it ‘yung pound of flesh na ‘yun. Magbabayad ako kung magbabayad, kung ‘yun ang kailangan,” he shared.

 

But it seems that for Ricky Lee, the pounds of flesh he’s given up over time has paid off in the long run, and not even because of all the awards he’s received and the fact that some of the scenes he wrote have gone down as pop culture and cinematic icons.

 

To Lee, the satisfaction lies in the relationship he has with his fans, particularly with his readers.  

“I can say with all authority, kasi I’ve done 150+ films and 2 novels, naranasan ko pa rin, mas madugo [magsulat], pero mas masarap,” he said.

 

Lee explained, “[Sa libro] collaborator ko ang reader ko. Siya rin ‘yung nagbuo ng mundo, nung characters…sinarili rin niya ‘yung buong ‘yun at hawak-hawak niya ‘yun. 'Pag lumapit siya sa akin para sabihing nagustuhan niya ‘yung nobela ko, kita mo ‘yung relationship ninyo bilang writer and reader more than sa pelikula dahil pareho niyong binuhat, binuklat ‘yung book na ‘yun at kayong dalawa lang.”

 

“So ‘yung feeling na ‘yun na lumapit sa iyo ‘yung isang nakabasa compared to sampung nakapanood, mas matimbang ‘yung nakabasa. That’s why mahirap man at walang pera sa libro kaysa sa pelikula, hindi pa rin tayo tumitigil kasi nandun ‘yun, the collaboration,” he added.

 

As for turning his novels into films, which he can easily do considering his status in both the film and literary industry, he said, not now, not yet.

 

“Ang dami kong offers…pero gusto ko muna siya magkaroon ng literary identity for a while bago siya higupin ng pelikula o TV. Sa generation kasi ngayon, this is sad and sana hindi totoo, nava-validate lang sa kanila ang isang bagay ‘pag nasa screen…Parang ‘di sa kanila totoo ang wala sa loob ng screen…para bang ang kaganapan ng isang magandang nobela ay maging pelikula. Gusto ko muna baguhin ‘yun by asserting na nobela ito, may identity siya…Ang tagal ko nang kilala as scriptwriter, sana tawagin akong nobelista.”

 

Yet while he expressed his wish to be known as a novelist instead of a scriptwriter, ultimately, none of it seems to matter to Ricky Lee. As the forum ended, his closing words echoed: “Mag-retire, tumigil magsulat, parang hindi pwede… May deadline o wala, may pera, may inspirasyon, may dahilan man para magsulat, nagsusulat ako kasi writer ako. ‘Pag tumigil ako sumulat, para akong tumigil huminga. Writer ako, kaya kailangan every day magsulat.” –KG, GMA News