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.

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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.

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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!

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Well, we’ve got 6 more days to go before November ends, which means that my first attempt at writing a 50,000-word novel during the National Novel Writing Month has been a complete failure. I’m at a paltry 572 words, which means that I’ll have to come up with at least 8,238 words a day from hereon in if I’m going to make it.

November just hasn’t been a particularly writing-conducive month for me. I’ve been pretty busy with stuff—I emceed at a school pageant, went unwired for a whole week in Tandag, and had something quite drastic happen to me in life. My writing mojo’s really ditched me. My winning the RSPC was a Higher Power’s fault, not mine.

The pep talks, albeit well-written and witty, haven’t brought back my mojo.

The historic election of Barack Obama hasn’t massively inspired my novel-writing, either.

Although I’m usually not the type to give up easily (or am I?), I think it’s safe to declare my first attempt at writing a 150-page novel in 30 days a complete failure.

Better luck next year.

(Please don’t follow my example. Go on with your NaNoWriMo article. Just because acheiving the 50,000-word mark by November 30 has become an impossibility in your case doesn’t mean you should stop writing forever. May the Writing Force be with you.)

Book cover of my NaNoWriMo project.

The National Novel Writing Month begins in just 24 hours, and I’m participating for the first time! I’m going to use a long-forgotten plot from a story in one of my abandoned Mibba accounts, and my novel is tentatively titled “Calhoun Beach”. I even have a book cover already!

NaNoWriMo, as the project is often called, is a monthlong event that encourages you to write that novel you got around to doing. The goal is 50,000 words by the end of November, and you win if you get to—or better yet surpass—that threshold.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, although I only began dabbling in novel/story writing in my freshman high school year after seeing some friends doing it (“it” being writing, of course, you naughty boy/girl you). I can’t tell you how many novels I’d begun to write and scrapped because I was discouraged by my own work.

But the NaNoWriMo’s all about hussle. It doesn’t matter how bad your writing will become, how senseless your plots will turn out to be, or how gooey your brain will be at the end of the month. What will matter is that you write.

If you’re an aspiring novelist who’s never gotten around to writing your masterpiece, NaNoWriMo might just be the spark to ignite your career. Head on over to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up. When you’re done, add me to your buddy list—my user handle over there’s dlozarie.

Oh, and semestral break hasn’t been as productive as I hoped it would be. It’s back to school this Monday, but I plan to write, write, and write (blog posts) over the weekend to catch up. (For now, I’m plurking and looking to upgrade my Ubuntu install—8.10, Intrepid Ibex, is out!) I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t taken care of my blog as much as I ought to, but what the hey.

I’ve also implemented a new theme on the blog, and it’s something I created myself. Yay me! If you’re reading this in a feed reader, you might want to check it out. Feedback is welcome. If you spot a bug, please, please, please report it through my contact page. Thankies!