Deantastic!

Gloomy skies and relentless rains in the Timber City today.

A typhoon has befallen Butuan. The mountains encircling the city and our relative distance from the typhoon belt make us safe from nature’s wrath on most days, but for tonight the gods have made an exception. Classes were suspended this afternoon, although it remains to be seen whether the suspension will hold through tomorrow.

***

I finished reading “Catcher in the Rye” today. Fantastic novel. It is written quite crassly, even for today’s literary standards (and remember that the book was published in the middle of the last century).

I can see a little of myself in Holden Caulfield (the story’s protagonist)—detached, unwilling to conform to societal standards, determined to follow my own path. Then again, there must be a little bit of Holden in everyone. Only, others choose to keep him hidden and neglected, perhaps afraid of the uncertainty that comes with breaking free from stereotypes and living life spontaneously.

***

National Novel Writing Month 2009 will end in less than a week. Unless I stop going to school and lock myself in my room for the next six days and write to reach the 50,000-word mark , I will probably not win in this year’s NaNo. I must say, however, that this year was a lot less of a failure than last year (although big failures and small failures are failures just the same). I think I’m nearing the 2,000-word mark (I can’t be certain—I wrote with paper and pen, old school style, this year), as opposed to last year’s pitiful 500.

I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that I hold little novel-writing potential. A novel must have a riveting plot, engaging characters, vivid action and a fitting setting, and I am entirely incapable of creating any of those. Also, I notice the classics always have little nuances, motifs, symbols and themes ingeniously woven into their stories. I can even hardly make out the ingeniously woven nuances and symbols!

***