I’M NOT really in the mood to write my column this month.
But I know how some avid readers have come to expect my articles with regularity.
And for the record, I have not disappointed my fans and followers ever.
At least, not in recent history.
So here I am.
Still.
Again.
As usual.
The indomitable, the unsinkable Peter Solis Nery, writer extraordinaire.
*
The reason for my being “not in the mood”, of course, is the late call for entries to the Palanca Awards 2019.
Traditionally, the deadline has always been April 30.
Except when it was postponed to May 31 last year.
*
I’m not sure yet if I really want to enter the competition this year.
Let’s just say that I want to keep my options open until deadline.
As a Hall of Famer, I think I always have the option to sit as a judge in the contest instead.
I mean, I have been invited several times in the past few years.
But I always feel I still have a few writing years in me.
And I mean literary writing in the tradition of the Palanca Awards.
*
To those who are interested, the 2019 Palanca Awards for Literature is open now until May 31.
So, you got a whole month to consider.
We… got a whole month.
I mean, I have already written a few things.
But I’m still opening myself to the adrenaline rush of getting close to the deadline.
Like most newbie writers, and that’s how I always think of myself, I often see me doing my best job on the eleventh hour.
So, I really want to keep myself free this merry month of May.
I hope you understand.
*
I mean, not all Palanca winners have a twice weekly column in the newspaper.
Much more Palanca Hall of Famers like myself.
And when you come to think of it, which other Palanca winner writes for Ilonggo newspapers?
Which other Palanca winner writes for Panay News?
And in a twice weekly schedule at that?
Sure, I write crazy, maybe nonsensical, stuff here just to entertain and pass your time.
But it still needs an effort on my part.
It needs my own precious time to actually write my pieces, however light.
And more time to read them at least three times before sending them out to the newspaper.
*
I like the writing exercise I get trying to write my columns twice a week (and three times a week before I slowed down in April).
I think I improve my English when I write as often as I do.
But it also drains me of ideas and energy; that sometimes, when real literary thoughts inspire me, I no longer have the stamina to carry them out.
Plus, there’s always the nagging schedule of newspaper deadlines hanging over my head.
And knowing how I do not ever disappoint my readers’ expectations, I would (to my disadvantage and loss as a literary writer) attend to my newspaper deadline first before my own creative writing.
Which is why I need to clear my May schedule this year if I am to write for the Palanca.
*
As I have said, I have already written a few things for the contest.
But it doesn’t mean that I would just easily settle for what I have already written.
If I have thirty days to the deadline, why would you think I will not spend those days editing, revising, polishing my work?
If I read my “nonsensical, less than literary” column pieces at least three times before sending them out, you must be out of your mind to think that I don’t read my Palanca entries at least ten times before submitting them!
*
This year, like last year, the Palanca contest will not accept online submissions.
That presents some problem for me because I am not in the Philippines at the moment.
I cannot personally submit my entries.
So I have to pay attention as to when I mail my entries.
I’m paranoid about rules and deadlines.
And the reliability of mails and couriers.
I want things done right.
And promptly ahead of posted schedule.
I don’t want to be disqualified by technicalities.
*
You think this would come easy for me now after my two decades of Palanca engagement.
But it’s not.
To me, it’s really like writing and facing the blank page every time.
Feeling like a virgin again.
I read the contest rules, three times.
I highlight with a colored marker the important and pertinent parts.
I make a checklist for the requirements, and other required documents.
*
Entries from abroad do not need to be notarized, so the rules say.
But if the entry wins, they will require the notarized form by a certain date.
Or else the prize cannot be awarded.
Hello?
Why bother with that later schedule?
Why not just get my work notarized before submission, and be done with it?
So yeah, I submit the complete requirements, and just forget about the whole contest.
*
After the deadline, I really do not think about the Palanca again until they announce the winners.
If I win, great.
I come home to the Philippines to receive my award.
And enjoy my season of being celebrated as a literary laureate.
If I don’t, and this happened to me only twice since 2006 (last year and in 2009), I eat ice cream by the gallon.
*
I like the Palanca Awards because it pushes me to write with a certain quality.
I mean, I cannot write like that for the newspapers.
That would kill me.
I write for the newspapers lightly.
As it should be.
The Palanca is heavy writing.
As it should be. (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
