what makes a good novel?

"what makes a good novel?" 'Yan ang tanong ng kasama ko sa mailing list na kinabibilangan ko at `eto naman ang naging tugon ko...

Susme! Aking katotoo, di yata't kay hirap namang sagutin ng iyong katanungan. What makes a good novel? Makulay na characters ba? Mabilis na pacing? Buhay na buhay na paglalarawan? Nakakaiyak o nakakatawang plot? Beats me. *kibit-balikat* Hindi ko din alam at duda akong malalaman ko ang sagot dyan ngayon o sa hinaharap. I guess depende yan sa nagbabasa. Marami ang nagsabi sa akin na maganda daw ang "the alchemist" kaya bumili ako ng kopya, binasa ko ang simula--isang taon na sya sa akin hanggang ngayon hindi ko pa din natatapos. Iba lang marahil ang panlasa ko kaya hindi ako nagandahan sa kanya. I think it was April who posted something similar to the point I'm driving at. Sabi nga ng cliche, beauty is
in the eye of the beholder.

What makes a good novel...Alam mo, parehas lang tayo, iyan din ang madalas kong itanong sa sarili ko dati. May mga theories naman akong narating (emphasis on the word theories kasi haka-haka ko laang at plural kasi dalawa sila). Una na ang pagiging alpha male ng bidang lalaki ala Lorenzo Empire slash Lothario slash MC novels. Ikalawa, ang pagiging "out of the mold" ng mga kuwento tulad ng mga gawa ni Rose Tan at Arielle. Whether or not tama ang haka-haka kong `to, hindi ba't pangit naman kung sasadyain nating tularan ang panulat nila para lang magarantiya na papatok ang mga libro natin? Lalabas kasing hindi na ang "totoong" tayo ang author ng libro natin. Kumbaga ay nawalan na tayo ng identity, nawalan na tayo ng self... and where's the fulfillment in that?

My advice is don't pressure yourself too much. Huwag mong hayaang pangunahan ka ng takot. Magsulat ka lang ng magsulat. Hindi man magustuhan ng lahat, mayroon at mayroong matutuwa sa libro mo. Hindi puwedeng wala. And from the few, over time they'll increase in number. Yan ay kung pananatiliin mo ang kalidad ng panulat mo.

Kailan lang tinanong ako ng kaibigan ko kung nakakasulat na ulit ako. You see, dumanas kasi ako ng dry spell recently. Ang sagot ko oo pero hirap pa din ako kasi napi-pressure ako. Aminado akong kasalan ko din naman kaya ako nagkaganoon. Pini-pressure ko kasi ang sarili ko. Gusto ko kasing maging magandang-maganda-maganda ang kuwento ko. Katwiran ko, how can I jump higher if I don't raise the bar? Isa pa, ayokong biguin ang expectations ng iba sa akin, imagined or otherwise.

Ang payo sa akin ng kaibigan ko, huwag ko daw intindihin ang iisipin ng ibang tao. Bumalik daw ako sa pinagmulan ng lahat. Bakit ba daw ako nag-shift ng career? Bakit ko ba daw napiling magsulat? Ang sagot: kasi gusto kong magsulat. Iyon na `yon. Tapos ang usapan. Gusto kong magsulat kaya magsusulat ako.

Ikaw din, huwag mong isipin ang ibang tao. I-pursue mo lang ang interes mo. Ang kailangan mo lang naman ay panahon, right attitude, tiyaga at disiplina sa sarili. Ang talent naman ay nahahasa. Besides, you'll never know if you do have the talent unless you try.

And finally, kung ang kagandahan ng novel ay makikita batay sa dami ng bumibili, dehado ang mga nagsisimula pa lang dahil wala pa silang masugid na mambabasa. Mas marami ang mga nobelista ngayon. Mas mahigpit ang competition. Pero kung hindi tayo magsusulat at maglalabas ng libro, kailan pa tayo magkakaroon ng masugid na mambabasa? We have to write now. We have to write frequently. We have to write well. It's a tall order but it's the only way to earn our fan base.

faye-bricated story

There's this forwarded e-mail I received early this month that really touched me. It's about this girl, Faye, who allegedly gave the country honor by winning an award in Australia for her prowess in Science. Honor that was overshadowed by all the Jasmine hoopla. Long story short, I just learned that the whole science award thing was just a hoax.

tsk.tsk.tsk.

shot to the heart

Fear of Writing
by Milli Thornton

do the incredible!

Last Saturday pa ako kating-kati na panoorin ang pelikulang 'to kaya lang baby shower ni Ella so like it or not, kailangan kong i-postpone until the following day ang panonood.

The following day. Maaga pa lang kinuntrata ko na ang aking watch-a-movie partner na si andre na panonoorin nga namin ang The Incredibles. Si Andre ang nag-set ng oras, ala una daw kami aalis that way makakapag-movie marathon kami.

Ala-una. Bihis na ako. All set and ready to go. Hinihintay ko na lang ang aking peyborit nephew. Aba! ang magaling nakatulog yata. Bilang butihing tita, hinayaan ko na lang muna siya dahil baliktad ang body clock niya. So i waited...and waited...Alas tres, Alas kuwatro....hindi pa din siya nagigising!! Di ko na ma-take, kinatok ko na siya sa kuwarto niya...Susme! tulog mantika ang binata...

Kaya ayun ako, di mapakali. Hot na hot na `ko manood pero wala akong magawa. Ayoko naman manood mag-isa...so naghintay pa ako... Nanood na lang muna ako ng TV. Kaya lang ang nakakainis, parang nananadya ang tadhana dahil maya't-maya ang pakita nila ng trailer ng The Incredibles! Kung di ba naman...

Bandang alas siyete. Nagising din SA WAKAS ang magaling kong pamangkin. Game na. Okay na. off to the cinema na sana kaya lang...nag-request ang hijo, manonood pa daw muna sya ng Survivor! waah! kaloka!!

Sa kinatapusan, umabot naman kami sa LFS.

ang galing! sobrang galing! hagalpak talaga ako sa tawa.
highly recommended!

two thumbs up!

Buod:
Dating pamosong super hero si Bob Paar o Mr. Incredible kaya lang dahil napulitika sila ng mga kauri niya, napilitan siyang mabuhay bilang ordinaryong mamamayan. Maraming taon ang lumipas, hindi pa din nakakapag-adjust si Bob sa bago niyang buhay. Hinahanap-hanap pa din niya ang glory days niya bilang super hero. Ang nais niya ay maulit muli ang panahong iyon. Hanggang sa isang araw, nakatanggap siya ng isang misteryosong mensahe na naging daan para makamit niya ang kanyang minimithi...

the incredibles official web site

wise words

Whatever you fear most has no power - it is your fear that has the power. - Oprah Winfrey

more on faye

Faye's story not jafayke! -xp

misplaced priorities can mislead a nation

somebody sent me this trhu e-mail just this afternoon. i read it and really liked it. whoever the author of the piece is, let us be enlightened by his message. sana lahat tayo ay maging katulad ni Faye....

_________________________________

Misplaced Priorities can Misled a Nation

"He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great." John Ruskin

Jasmine Trias visited the Philippinesvery recently. Everyone was agog waiting to welcome her. The excitement was remarkable as the media and many of our "kababayans" flocked to the airport to see her. This scenario is typical of Filipinos. Sadly, it reflects our country's misplaced priorities.

Contest of the Mind. Another young girl came back to the country just a couple of weeks ago. Her name is Faye (not her real name for very sensitive reasons). Unknown to her countrymen, this eleven year old girl brought honor to the Philippines. She represented the country in the Intercontinental Science Quiz Net in Australia. Out of 57 countries represented, Faye garnered First Place for the Philippines. Germany came in second while the United States came in third.

In start contrast to the hooplah extended to Jasmine Trias, Faye's arrival did not make any noise. Not a peep. In an earlier competition, "Mathematics for the Young Asians" in Indonesia, Faye also came out in the Top Five. But just like the Australian event, this feat did not receive any recognition in our country at all. Our interests seem to be set on other "priorities." We are more interested in promoting celebrity guests instead of educational and
Intellectual pursuits. Indirectly and quite obviously we are teaching our children that development of the external image takes priority over educational achievement.

Faye's story is inspiring. She comes from a broken family. Her father falsely claimed that he was unmarried when he married her mom. When her mom found out, she decided to raise up her daughter alone. Despite the difficulty, Faye in no way used it as an excuse for complacency in her studies. In grade school, she was a consistent honor student. She took every academic requirement as a challenge. And she delivered. At one time, she submitted a project thesis in Australia that won "The Best Physics and Science Award". The award qualified the Philippines to be one of the top 10 countries that would compete in Australia, among the 57 countries that joined.

Considering her family's financial constraints, she and her mom asked help from our government for their trip to Australia to claim the "Best Physics" award and to join the Science competition. They saw this challenge as a rare opportunity offered to Faye and her country, considering that only two Asian countries qualified – Japan and the Philippines.
Unfortunately, our government had other priorities.

Mother and daughter then tried to ask help from individual senators and congressmen. All turned them down except for one who was willing to help, on condition that Faye should give public credit to the senator for supporting her even in the earlier competitions she joined. Out of integrity, the mother could not accede to this arrangement. Thus no outside help was found.

Faced with this situation, Faye and her mom took out all their savings and went out of their way to secure by themselves the additional finances needed. The only driving force behind them was their desire to give honor to God and to the Philippines. With the little resources they had, they went to Australia on September 17, 2004for the competition. They claimed the trophy and cash award for the "Best Physics" thesis Faye submitted in Sidney and then flew to Brisbane for the quiz competition. No kababayan welcomed them in Australia except for a kind Filipina they met in the plane who assisted them. As they were checking in at a hotel, the
"kind" Filipina who volunteered to help them disappeared taking with her Faye's and her mother's bags, passports, and plane tickets. At that point, they literally had nothing left except for the few pieces of clothes and their faith in God. They had to sell the extra clothes left to be able to buy food.

In need once again, they sought help from some of the Filipino officials in Australia but to no avail. Oddly, the Filipino officials there were too busy with other priorities, not minding to help a young girl and a mother who had no other desire but to bring honor to our country. Given a budget for only a one night stay at the hotel, mother and daughter
had to check out the following day. Leaving their luggage on deposit and without money for transportation fare, they decided to walk two kilometers to the competition venue on their native Filipino costumes.

If walking a two kilometer distance was bad enough, how much more would be walking the distance on their native costume along the highways of Australia!

Upon arrival at the competition site, Faye and her mom were very surprised when they discovered that the delegates from each of the other countries>were well supported by a band, a cheering squad, and a flag, while Faye only had her mother and the anxiety of lost passports and plane tickets. Worse, representatives of each country were required to decorate their booths. With only the three-piece costume they had on, Faye and her mom were even more surprised when the organizing committee awarded their booth as "The Most Creative" booth.

In the early part of the competition, Japan, Brazil and Spain were eliminated. As the only Asian country left to compete against six Western nations, the Philippines was cheered on by Japan. Faye was encouraged by her Japanese cheering squad, but in her heart, how she wished that she had her own countrymen to cheer her on.

When Faye finally won first place and Philippines national anthem was being played, she prayed silently thanking God for making her a Filipina.

Despite all the painful experiences she had with her country, her priorities did not waver. A Japanese diplomat was the one who helped Faye and her mom to>secure temporary pass so they could return to the Philippines. The money they won was just enough for their fare back home
and their temporary passport. When Faye was relating this story before a crowd, she said, "Let us love our nation, for nobody else will."

Faye did not allow her painful experiences to tear down her loyalty to her country. She is not a celebrity but a servant out to serve her fellow Filipino.

A Small Way to Greatness. Our concept of leadership in this country is pitifully skewed. We mistakenly think that leadership is about "lording" it over other people. Christ corrected this distorted thinking when he said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you, instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all - Mark10:42-44

Sadly, we are far from the precept of this truth. It is no surprise then that we have a dearth of real leaders in this country - leaders who would set the nation's interests above their own. In the same way, our concept of citizenship is damaged. Those seeking for social good for themselves are never willing to grant the same good to others. Hence it is common for us hear stories of Filipinos who take advantage of their fellow citizens. We want to be served, but we are unwilling to serve. We dream of becoming like Jasmine Trias. We want our children to be like her. We would rather spend on things that would make us look good instead of things that would make us grow in character. We prefer stardom glitter over service-oriented endeavors.

Quite the contrary, Faye spend sleepless nights studying to win the competition because she knows her priorities. Unlike Jasmine Trias, Faye did not receive a hero's welcome when she cam back, but, young as she is, she keeps calling on Filipinos to love the Philippines because every Filipino is a valuable gift of God. Life, really is not a matter of intelligence but a matter of setting our priorities right. The question is, what's our focuses on "grand" things that make us superficial or on simple things that lead us to greatness?

Faye's story reminds us all to look within ourselves. This eleven year old girl could have complained to the media, but she did not. She went out of her own small way to bring greatness to this land. Right priorities grant us wisdom. When properly set, priorities point
Us to the right people we need to invest in, the right use of our energy, the right resources to draw from, and the right endeavors support. From the words of Faye's mother, "We all wanted to win, but success is not measured through by merely winning. It is measured through our hearts, if it is truly attuned with God all the time. It is all that really matters for we have only an Audience of One. Whatever we have achieved, big or small, remember one thing: it is for God and God alone. The King of the Kingdom of a higher world.