There are actually a number of Ilokano writing contests in the next few months. I tried to list them down, according to their deadlines.

Salip iti Ababa a Novela nga Iloko iti 1st Fele Javier Mann Literary Awards – deadline November 15, 2009
RFAAFIL Sarita a Fantasia – Enero 30, 2010
Cabie PINILI Sarita a Para Ubbing – Pebrero 28, 2010

Salip iti Sarita 2010 ti SABALI Awards Pebrero 28, 2010

Numan pay saan pay a pormal a naluktan, adda pay dagiti sumaganad a pasalip:
AMMAFLA (Para kadagiti Agdadamo a Mannurat) – Pebrero 28, 2010
PALANCA Awards – April 30, 2010
Sta. Rafaella Awards – Pebrero 28, 2010

I’ve been thinking about the short novel contest, which is due on November 15. It’s not very long really. It should be composed of 5-7 chapters. Each chapter is about 10-15 pages, typewritten on 8.5 X 11 inch bond paper, double space, Times New Roman point 12.

Writing a novel is definitely unlike writing a term paper or a nonfiction piece. You gotta have a big pot of ideas, a wild imagination that you could unleash, lots of time and most of all guts–guts to pursue topics that might be deemed crazy by other people!

So yeah, writing a novel is definitely hard work.

Then, just yesterday, I discovered that November is the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! It’s a challenge for writers–newbies and professionals alike–to get their behinds down on a seat, pound on the computer and churn out 50,000 words in a matter of one month!

Whew!

This is very timely for the Ilokano contest for a short novel. I think that in a given month, if we could just produce at least 750 – 1,500 words daily, we could complete a short novel in a month’s time. Manong Jovy Amorin, one of the more productive contemporary Ilokano novel writers in the Philippines, related to me once that some of his novels (42 chapters in all) were completed in less than 6 months! I’d say that is a good time-frame for a novel.

Perhaps, the organizers of the Salip iti Ababa a Novela nga Iloko iti 1st Fele Javier Mann Literary Awards could integrate the NaNoWriMo into the contest, we could promote the writing of novels among Ilokano writers and more writers could join this Contest. This might mean, though, that the deadline of the contest, which is November 15, 2009, might have to be pushed back to Nov 30, or December 1 to accommodate those who want to join the NaNoWriMo.

What if we had our very own Ilokano National Novel Writing Month, would you join?

Apart from the chance to enjoy the Christmas breeze in my beloved province, I was glad to be an evaluator for this year’s DSPC. I missed being a high school student who participated with all sorts of contests. I am sharing with you some of the insights I have gathered as a result of this experience.

The Schools Press Conference remains as one of the biggest gatherings for elementary and high school students in the provinces all over the Philippines. The regional level is also a big gathering. There are already three DepEd divisions in the province of Isabela: Isabela, Cauayan City and Santiago City. The combined number of attendees of all the division-level press conference would be about 1,500 to 2,000 students and coaches.

This gathering is a big help in honing the writing skills of high school students. As they compete in various contests such as Editorial, News, Feature, and Sports Writing, Editorial Cartooning, Photojournalism and more recently, Radio Broadcasting, the students learn what it takes to be a successful journalist in the Philippines.

One thing lacking in Schools Press Conference though is the lectures or inputs that could help the students hone their skills. Most schools train their student journalists through their school papers and their campus paper advisers. While some schools are more effective are others, I say this is not enough.

There should be a writing workshop for these students so that they could really bring out the best writing they could muster. Of course, we can always point to the lack of funds and lack of time during the Press Conference why this does not happen.

But if there is a means to gather potential high school (and college) writers and bring them together for a writing workshop, it would be a great offering to the development of journalism and even literary writing in the provinces.

Another thing that is sorely lacking in the province is the promotion of Internet literacy and how to use Cyberspace for educational and social reasons. While students in Metro Manila and other urban places are getting more “high tech” in using Internet applications such as Wikipedia, email, blogs, Youtube, and other applications, those in the provinces tend to lag behind.

What could we do?

What should we do?

We need to empower those in the provinces to use Information and Communication Technology more effectively. There are a number of bloggers in Metro Manila and all over the country who boast of earning hundreds and thousands of dollars.

Even writers in Ilocano, Filipino and English can do their part.  Communication is crucial to national development. When we empower the students in using ICT, we help them become better citizens who are more aware of their responsibility in upholding the truth.

Please visit www.cagayanvalleyconnect.com and www.penstalker.com