elena buncaras
There are days when you don't feel like writing. You feel the need to write but there are just no words coming out of your brain straight to your fingertips. Sounds familiar? Yes, a writer's block is what it is. But a young, talented, and a kababayan of ours shared the secret to a writer's block – read and be inspired.
Today's artist whose soul is to be featured is Lena Buncaras, a freelance writer, manuscript editor, and a full-time senior editor of an online-operated publishing house. More known as lena0209 in the online reading platform Wattpad, Lena has published many of her online books and gained awards ever since joining a writing competition in 2015. Her works are commonly action stories paired with different slices of life. She grew up watching action movies which naturally she learned to love. Her works tell the stories coming from diverse facets of life.
Some of her works which are part of their respective series are and When It All Starts Again, Hunting Project Arjo, The Newly Weird, The Superiors, etc., The rest of her works are multi-genre as part of her experimenting ideas for skill growth. Some of these were full-length novels and short stories which take about a month and a day to finish, respectively.
Now, let us dive deeper in the world of Lena Buncaras.
The roots of creativity from our writer is the home of artisans. Her family makes woven products, her father a blacksmith and a tailor, and her mother a cook. Although she was a Business Administration graduate, a far career path from being a writer she is now, it became one of her advantages to creating stories. As per her, "I'm just using these non-writing related matter to create a fictional world where the characters doesn't have to be perfect or rich since everyone can be a source of a story, whether they're just a cook or a tailor." Despite having these roots, Lena told us that it was not all sunshine and rainbows to getting where she is now. Becoming a writer was not something that happened to her when she was a kid – it was when she was in college. Writing for Lena just came out of nowhere; ideas would pop in the middle of the night and it was like she did not have the "choice but to write them or else they'll hunt me."
Lena enjoys the artistic world of writing. It was her way to communicate with the people, especially to her readers who appreciate her existence. She became a person they can rely on to relieving the stress of the world we live in through the world of her works. It was something that she liked about being a writer. These readers also became her inspiration "to think of something they want to read" besides the movies, books, and the green and lush environment.
But as much inspiration as Lena can get, there are still two sides of a coin. Starting, Lena had the passion, she had the idea, and she has the story but no readers. Zero, zilch. She had to expose herself to the public as much as she can so her stories can be read and touch people's lives. According to her, "You promote yourself; you create contents that will catch people's attention, you make friends with the community. It's a series of networks and it won't stop in one person unless you stop exposing yourself." To overcome this, she needed to learn something new and apply it to her craft. You read it, going back to the basics – you see, you learn, you do. She made use of learning online algorithms to know the trends so she can improve her writing skills. Then, there's the writer's block. Our featured writer had a two-year writer's block! She decided reading was the solution to this. As she says, fighting writer's block, "it's just a matter of discipline." Finally, there are the critiques even non-writers cannot avoid. What does our resident writer say to that? "I'll accept it. Feedbacks are always welcome. If you are too mature to filter of what to take and what to throw, the hates are their issues not yours. If the critique is rational and applicable, I will consider. If not, thanks for the effort of spending their time showing off their unprofessionalism." Huh, how 'bout that judger?
If we are asked "are you a protagonist or a villain?" most of us would answer "I will be a protagonist." Of course, we are the bidas! Lena also told us that she believes "every character is the protagonist of their own story, whether they are evil or not." However, she told us that she sides with the bad characters more because they are not born bad – good first but became corrupted. She believes that their stories are some of the most colorful ones.
We would like to leave this quote to all you readers and writers from Lena, “If there’s a will, there’s a way. We cannot avoid difficulties along the way, but there is a reason why we encounter those reasons. It is a life’s question asking if how long you can fight for this. You need to prove that all your efforts are worth the fight so better not stop fighting for it. Opportunities reside in every door of difficulties. You just need how to knock properly.” So, writer’s block or not, read and be inspired!
P.S. Tips for ye beautiful aspiring writers from Lena:
“Always write when you feel like writing. Do not force yourself to write if you can’t, you’ll just throw those words away afterwards. Do outlines if needed. Goals of the stories are important, always keep the character’s goal. If you are tired, rest. If you have no ideas for now, read. And if you really want to write, start from telling how your day started. That will warm-up your mind.”
Awards
• Grand Champion @ Wattpad Writing Battle Year 2016
• Wattys2019 Winner under Young Adult Category
• Sponsor's Choice @ CBC's One shot Kontest MTH category
• First Place & Tangi ng Admin @ Likhang Tula,
• First Placer @ YSSF2's Final Wave (Your Story Sounds Familiar),
• One of Most Loved Story @ PNYBattle 2,
• First Placer @ What I Thought (Urban fiction)
• Top Placer @ PNY Novelette (with EJ, Ivan, Kyrra, Jhonine)
• Rank 3 @ Literary Outbreak 2's Finals Phase
• Rank 1 @ Liriko 3 Battle Ranks
• Third Placer @ Writing War I (novel)
