Excerpt from Alex & Georg, my latest Nanowrimo novel

Photo taken at Fundacion Pacita, Batanes

Georg: I think there’s enough love to go around for everyone. It’s just that people...they’re stupid. They don’t know any better. They close their hearts and choose not to receive love.

Alex: You think?

Yeah. We say, I want love. I’m looking for love. But that's crazy, you don’t search for love. You have love right there in your heart. So, you just love.

And?

You just love. Be loving and lovable. Before you know it, it’s right there in front of you. 

He was still puzzled.

Georg: But we can’t tell what’s good for us. We can’t tell if it was staring us right in the eye and ready to strike at us.

He looks at her with amazement.

Georg: Words of wisdom. Think about it.

Alex: You just love. Those are your words of wisdom? 

Yes!

I say, you’re drunk.

No!

They look at each other and both laugh.

Georg: Think about it. When was the last time you found love? Or love found you?

Alex: You’re really pushing this?

Yes, I am. Come on, tell me. Tell me the whole story, the details, the circumstances. Were you exactly looking? 

No, I don’t think so.

Right! Because you don’t actually plan these things to happen. It just happens. Bam! And you’re hooked.

Help NaNoWriMo Win $250,000

I received an email today from NaNoWrimo's Executive Director Grant Faulkner. And as a concerned WriMo, I feel obliged to beg your help (vote) for the Office of Letters and Light aka NaNoWriMo  to bag the $250,000 donation from the good guys of Chase Community Giving. The one who gets the most number of votes in the ongoing Facebook contest brings home the prize.

So, be a nice guy and vote for us before September 19. Just click on this link:
https://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving/app_162065369655?cv=2&app_data=ein%7C65-1282653%7Cref%7C3763b1c1dc

Won't take you a minute to help make dreams come true for the writers joining the NaNoWriMo programs, which essentially means giving life to the literary world. Imagine helping so many writers around the world without reaching into your own pocket. But by just clicking that Vote button for NaNoWriMo. While you're at it, why not click on the Like button too?

And after voting, why not spread the word to your friends, enemies and every breathing creature with a Facebook account? I'm sure you'll do. So, thank you!

It's Almost November, It's Almost NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo stands for National November Writing Month. It's an online event every writer shouldn't miss. From Nov 1 to 30, aspiring novelists churn out 50,000 words to win the distinction of stringing together 50,000 words! Hopefully, intelligible! Yes, it's that simple! Or is it? 

Two years into it and I have yet to finish a novel (50,000 words). But I'm glad to say that I've finished 2 novelettes, 1 got published/serialized in women's magazine. The other is waiting for the publisher's nod. Pls. nod, pls. nod.;p

That said, I can't wait for the nod, I mean for November! Well, both actually. 

To learn more about NaNoWriMo, check out our website http://www.nanowrimo.org/ 

Or our Facebook fanpage https://www.facebook.com/nanowrimo

Or our local chapter, Pinoywrimo page https://www.facebook.com/pinoywrimos

Writers, Write Now!

To all the aspiring writers, I encourage you to start writing, keep on writing and write every day for at least one hour. I've put together here some useful links, my favorites, where you can join writing seminars and contests to further enhance your talent.

1. Nanowrimo or National November Writing Month
http://www.nanowrimo.org

The idea is to write a novel with 50,000 words from Nov. 1 to 30. That's practically 1,667 words per day. It's not about coming up with a quality story. It's more of a matter of quantity which is the said no. of words. The fun part is you get to write along with millions of online members worldwide. You receive emails to encourage you and give you tips to keep going. At the end of the month, you will have gained the discipline to write every day.

I first joined Nanowrimo in 2010 but unfortunately, I did not finish my novel. But the good thing about it, on the same month when I was commissioned to write a novella of less than 10,000 words in less than 10 days, I met the deadline. Thanks to Nanowrimo, I finally finished and published my first-ever novel.

2. Panitikan - Your Portal to Philippine Lit
http://www.panitikan.com.ph/

This is a site owned by Likhaan UP, UP Creative Dept. where a lot of announcements on the Philippine Literary world like writing seminars, contests, and related events incl. sale of books are posted.

I found out about  Freelance Writers' Guild of the Philippines's monthly meet-up on this page. I was so happy my friend Kim and I got to join them this May where we heard Ms. Clarrisa Militante, author of Different Countries, long listed 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize, give her talk on her transition from journalism to novel writing.

3. Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University
http://creativewriting.stanford.edu/about-the-fellowship

If you want to enhance your writing skills, try out for this one. For someone without a formal background on writing, this may seem like reaching for the stars. (If you were me, yes!) For one, the Stegner Fellowship only takes in 10 fellows (5 for fiction, 5 for poetry) out of 1,900 applicants around the world. And although, they do not check your background whatsoever except for your entry, I noticed most of the fellows hold master degree in writing or studied writing related courses.

But I am getting ahead of me. Let me give a brief intro, SF is a 2-year program where a fellow is considered like an in-house artist. Isn't that cool? You will be given a stipend to write and write and write for 2 years. You meet once a week for 3 hours with the rest of the fellows once a week along with some faculty members to exchange ideas on your respective works.

Like I said, they do not require any degrees or tests for admission. All you have to do is send an entry, a short story/novel for fiction and a poem or collection of it for poetry. Then sign up the application form online, pay fee of $75 and wait in March for the result. The deadline for application for the next batch, AY 2013-2015 is December 1, 2012.

4. Writer's Block Philippines
http://writersblockphilippines.com/

I salute the 3 ladies - Ana Santos, Nikka Sarthou, Nina Zialcita, behind this site. It gives out workshops for freelance writers and tips and articles on writing. Its members get discount for such seminars. There is also a page for announcements on opportunities for writing jobs, scholarships, competitions, blogging contests and the like.

I never got to join any of their workshops because I always find out about it last minute.
From this site, I got to learn about Writer's Digest.

5. Writer's Digest
http://www.writersdigest.com/competitions/writing-competitions

Would you like to go to New York City for free? Your ticket could be your writing composition.With 10 categories to choose from, like Romance, Horror, Young Adult, you will surely find one for your chosen field.

Other than a free trip to the Writer's Digest Conference in NY for the grand prize winner, s/he will also receive USD3,000, and a one on one attention with agents and editors.


6. New York Times's Modern Love
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/features/style/fashionandstyle/columns/modernlove/index.html?scp=1&sq=sara%20eckel&st=cse

Why not write about your past or current love life and get published on New York Times no less? Check out the link for a list of previous personal essays on love for idea. Then click on the how to submit link for the rules.

My personal love stories are so boring, I have to be a really good writer to make it interesting enough. So I'm counting on you and do let me know if you get published! Deal?

7. The Guide to Writers Conferences and Workshops
http://writing.shawguides.com/

This site has a list and links of writers conferences and workshops mostly in the US. Some workshops are interesting and got me thinking. If only I had a US visa, I'd be signing up by now.


8. Freelance Writing Jobs and Your Freelance Writing Career
http://freelancewrite.about.com/

A very valuable site heavy with articles that will definitely help you on topics including how to write a query or pitch letter.

9. Jennifer On Writing
http://jenniferonwriting.blogspot.com/

Successful Romance, Mystery, Mainstream author Jennifer Ashley says her blog is a teaching tool for aspiring and newly-published writers. A must read I should say for us writers, as it is loaded with tips based on her own experiences in writing and being published.


10.Bronze Age Media Inc.
http://www.bronzeage.ph/

If you would like to get into DIY publishing, this group will help you do so. They also hold workshops for indie publishers. I got to join their first workshop on self-publishing this May entitled, Authors At Once. Published author Mina V. Esguerra was its main speaker. She has 5 books to her name, all sold on Amazon.com I believe. You can check out her site, Publishing in Pajamas http://minavesguerra.com/ for her experiences in writing and publishing.

There's a page where you can submit your manuscript and they will help you in editing, designing book cover and other steps.


11. Designed by Words Writers' Workshop
http://designedbywords.com/

Another local site like Writer's Block, it holds writing workshops in the Philippines. Like Writer's Block, I haven't joined any for the same reason.

Me NaNoWriMo

I officially joined NaNoWriMo last Oct. 26. For those who don't know, it stands for National November Writing Month. For aspiring writers like me, the challenge is to write a novel with 50,000 words from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30. (That's about 1,667 words per day. But my personal daily target is 2000 words per day.) The idea is to write everyday, more of quantity than quality. If interested, check out their website, www.nanowrimo.org.

Daniel, my friends Ricky & Mitzi's 7-year old kid said, "that's a looooottt of words. It's like a million words," with eyes rolling and a funny face. He can't believe why I would do such thing. He even asked, "can you put pictures?" I said yes but it won't count. So he decided not to join ;p Again he asked, am I putting pictures in my story. I said no. He said, "what's a story without pictures?" ;p

I kept telling myself to write down the plot, outline characters etc. but I didn't find time and I started Nov. 1 with just a title, "Noelle" and a plot in my head. After we got back from the cemetery, I surprised myself by finishing 1 chapter with 1,700++ words by 11pm. To date, I have written close to 5K words. 45K to go ;p