The Devil Who Danced At Midnight

the lady in letters

My favorite line from his book I liked best (which he signed personally after we did a little chitchat, with me asking why his name's as weird as Chuckberry) is Hindi. Hindi ka nawaglit sa aking puso.

So much feels for those words.

Hindi ba masyadong OOC ang naging pagbabago? From smart and proud to lame and stupid? (Out-of-Character)

OOC is an excuse of stupid readers refusing to comprehend big changes. I can change myself overnight. I can behave differently overnight, and I can act the way I wanted to. Changing is a choice. Letting go is a choice. Everything that happened in the story is a choice. 

Why would you deprive them of the change they are bound to have?

Ps. This is my AU! My alternate universe - my universe! I have total control (lol)

Why did you use too much symbolism? Like the sun, moon, stars - even the world...

Answer in number one. Tactic. You have to think of something that will leave something the readers will grasp, or else your work will perish, wither, and be forgotten after a certain period of time. For example, in my In Between Takes, I often mentioned Lomi, Lugaw, Uhog, and the whole story circulated in the choices fictional Maine and Alden made.

In this story, I often mentioned ang buwan, ang mundo, ang araw, at ang mga tala. In the first few parts, I often used the alien emoji. 👽 That's another tactic. Make your readers remember, or else - what's the point of writing this all down?

And also, literary devices (although this is under symbolism)? Figurative speech is strong on this one.

From the very start of this story, I didn't like feeding my readers information directly. I don't want to scoop up rice and just shove it down their throats. From the title, The Devil Who Danced at Midnight, to the prologue, monologue, to the titles of the chapter, I wanted them to slowly chew it and swallow it good. Some stories had readers anticipating for the whole plot; I wanted you comprehending on every line I write.

Why did you change your username all of a sudden? You were Anna Crest.

I am still Anna. If I were to choose another name for me beside my real name, I'd choose Anna, but still... I've read this story in 1988 entitled Our Lady of the Letters and was about a woman who only dates artists (writers, painters, etc..) and the story was so cute I immediately fell in love with it. I  hope I could live up to my username, though. 

The Lady in Letters.

Bakit walang R-S-T-U chapters? Bakit after quintus, valeria na 'yung kasunod sa first part?

Because... he-he. Those will be released (Chapter R muna) three days after the epilogue. Chapters R-S-T-U are the missing links somewhere between the timeline of The Devil Who Danced at Midnight. Past, present, future. You'll understand once you've read. In no particular order. The future can come in first, or nahh. Uhm and yes, that's also settled since the beginning of the story.

About epilogue, I know I said it would be in the Earth's point of view. True, but not really. Sanay na naman siguro kayong not everything I write had to be taken literally. You'll understand, again, kapag nabasa nyo na. You know I like to have you thinking.

Any tips?

Soar high. Writers  are built, not born. I didn't breathe words the moment I cried and inhaled oxygen. It takes years of practice and endless trial and errors. Don't be afraid to use your own writing style. I wanted to promote Philippine Literature written in Filipino (we had enough of fluent young authors writing in English, eh?) through my ALDUB fanfictions. Like what we have argued against the world, we are not just a fandom. We are a nation. We have to set the line when we're patronizing English works; yes, you may sound smart if you wrote in English, but it takes a lot more than intelligence to write in our own language. 

In Filipino, it takes romance, and a whole lot of emotions, as it is a language of love itself.

Also, choose your priorities. Saan ba magfofocus? Sa writing style or sa plot? I focused on the writing style; I choose that to be my trademark. As you can observe, nothing's new in my story line except! Except! Except! The way I delivered it to you. In that way, the gasgas nagbabalik-ex-ikakasal-na-pala-yung-isa story arc came out refreshing. If you wanted to focus on the opposite, then... mahaba-habang brainstorming 'to with yourself then choose a very unique plot like unicorn si Maine tapos paniki si Alden and how would you weave a story out of a bat and a unicorn when they're complete opposites.

Would you answer any questions regarding the story itself? For example, this line is unclear... this paragraph might have meant something else...

Yes, but of course it will always be my choice kung sasagutin ko o hindi. Not all questions will be answered, but you can try and add the tag #TDWDAM to your tweets. 

But there's this theory I love: Reader-Response Theory by Rosenblatt. It doesn't focus on the context of the work or the author her/himself; it focuses on how the reader interpreted the text based on the circumstances s/he's currently in.

So for example, I wrote:

Madumi ang mga kuko nya. 

What could I mean: Hindi sya mahilig mag-hugas ng mga kamay.

What could you interpret: Gumawa sya ng mga bagay na hindi kanais-nais kung kaya't nadumihan ang mga kuko nya.

I know you're not all literature majors, but where's the harm in critical thinking, right?

Words of gratitude?

Thank you for reading this again, for the nth time, and for staying with the Moon and the Earth. I received tons of compliments on how versatile I was in writing during this story; well, my thesis proved that argument wrong. Kidding! 

Sometimes I go all righteous like I've experienced all the pain and love in this world, forgetting the fact that I am just nineteen. My experiences are limited, my knowledge will never suffice, and most of my readers are professionals now in their own fields. Please always remember that I am thankful for your presence, for your time, for your understanding as an individual and comprehension as a reader, and your patience for my updates since they were not so frequent. I've told you this repeatedly if you're in my In Between Takes; no words of gratitude will be enough. I was deeply touched when I posted about my internship and some of you even asked me and lent me a hand. Not everyone can do that. I don't have any published books or millions of votes and reads. All I have is you - and that is already enough accomplishment for a simple girl, who tries to get through scraps life has been giving her for nineteen years. You continuously tweet in your profiles that this story should get more votes and reads but believe me, your sweet and unending love shown in your direct messages here and in Twitter are more than enough to touch my heart; you might not know how much I treasure and store them in for a long, long time. I love this story; this was the only story I was able to write the way I wanted it to be written. There might be times I failed you; but thank you for still sticking with my story. Thank you. Thank you.

I'd like to take responsibility for all the things I wrote, the scenes I narrated (clearly, I hope) and the feelings you invested in this story, but I am not fully aware of its impact on the readers. Sometimes I just wanted to ask you on Twitter if what I really wrote is heartbreaking or it feels that... heavy, but I'm afraid you'll just bombard me with answers like, Ano sa tingin mo!? Fluff 'yung story?! but believe me, I'm trying, and I'm getting more and more aware of this empty feeling I always give you. Did you really cry? Was that an exaggeration? Or you just told me honestly what you feel? I do not know, I might not know.  And for enduring that, thank you. I am apologizing because I'll never get tired of writing these long messages for you - I'm sorry if you're tired of reading them - because you are my own blessings; God's way of telling me I'm appreciated, in some ways or another.

I love you. My fictional Maine and Alden love you. They would be forever be with us, even after this story. Please support The Lady in Letters, posted in my profile!

Hindi. Hinding-hindi sila mawawaglit sa inyong puso.

I am the lady in letters, and I am hoping I could
see you in my next piece. Showering you with
alien love along with the moon and earth,

me. 👽