Chapter Blogging: Instilling Discipline & Patience to a Novel Writer

Before I started writing chapters of my first novel, THE PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER'S WIFE, I already have the complete story in my mind. Matter of fact, I completed laying its foundation by writing titles and story lines of chapter 1 through chapter 32.

Like a house builder, I know what bricks to use every time I'm in front of my computer. However, I am realizing now that completing the novel is not simple as eating an apple pie.

Writing a novel is not the same as writing my masters thesis and doctoral dissertation. Non-fiction like thesis or dissertation, only needs collecting data, analysis, writing, and presenting findings and recommendations. Fiction like novel, creativeness is needed. That means that one has to let the imagination go wild on how to present details, and twists and turns of the story.

In non-fiction writing, every chapter is complete. A chapter in the presentation of data is complete once all pertinent data is included. A chapter in the analysis of data is simply an analysis using statistical tools with paragraphs that simply explain the analysis. No more; no less. Every chapter has no twist and turns, just pure details. The goal is to prove an assumption of a particular phenomenon.

Fiction, specifically novel writing, has several things to consider. Certainly, each chapter has to abide with the novel's plot. However, a novelist also has to consider some factors: How could I make my characters believable? How could I dispose my characters' personality? How could I embellish the chapter so that readers could see, feel, touch, smell, taste, and hear the chapter's events; and yet keeping some of the details secret so that readers would continue looking for them in the next chapter or chapters? Etcetera! Quite frankly, I haven't experienced such challenges when I was writing my first book, KOILAWAN:Letters and Poems of a Jungle Dad-Mom (Xulon Press, 2007), and my upcoming book, BEDTIME-PASTIME (Kalanganan dun hu Ikam): Collection of Short Stories, Folktales, and Essays (New Day Publishers). I definitely did not have similar challenge when I wrote my second book, PRAISING ALL SEASONS LONG: Haiku Verses (Comfort Publishing,2009) and my other collections of haiku and senryu verses, THE HEALING GARDEN OF VERSES,which I am currently pitching to a poetry publisher.

There was a moment when I was about to hit the wall. After writing several paragraphs or dialogue, I sometimes have to pause and ask, "Am I true to the plot? Is this the proper way to string this new chapter to the previous ones? Am I divulging everything in this chapter that the readers would put the book down without even getting halfway through it? Etc.

I know teachers in creative writing would tell me, "Keep your thoughts flowing. Don't stop writing."

To keep me going, I need to discipline myself, including my thoughts. I need to be patient and enjoy the sight, the feelings, the touch, the smell, the taste, and the voices at the setting and of the characters. One way of instilling discipline and patience is to blog some glimpses of the chapters that I am working on. Blogging some glimpses tells me that I have to keep on writing, because those who read my blog already know it. Blog pushes me inside the characters' minds; henceforth, allowing me to put the details to complete a chapter without hitting the wall.

Here's the story line of Chapter 6.


MICHAEL'S SECRET

Being all alone in the village and having problem with communication, (All of the villagers, but Laga, only speak the tribe's language), that Michael clings onto Laga like his crutch. As a result, he secretly falls for Laga. However, he is conflicted with so many thing: Laga’s love with another man, the cultural taboo, his professional goals, his family in the US, etc.