How to Describe Character Traits of Hero and Heroine

     How should I describe the hero and heroine of my story? This question crosses our mind when we write romance novels. I remember one of my returned manuscripts. One of the comments of the editor was, "kulang sa description ang mga bida." From a readers point of view, it adds up interest if they could somehow draw a picture of the persons they are reading in their mind.

    

      Sinubukan kong mag-isip ng paraan kung paano mas mapapadali ang pagde-descibe sa itsura ng mga tauhan sa istorya. Malaking tulong ang article na ito (I-click lang ang link): How to Describe Believable Character Traits for Hero, Heroine Villains, http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/writing/how-to-describe-believable-novel-character-traits-for-hero-heroine-villains.html

      Kapag iprine-present natin ang mga katangian ng mga tauhan sa istorya, lalo na ng sa bidang lalaki at babae, hindi naman ibig sabihin ay sa Chapter 1 palang naroon na lahat ng character traits nila. Sa Chapter 1 or sa 'cute meet part' na kung saan magkikita na ang mga bida doon palang ay maari na natin sila ilarawan upang sa gayon sa unang bahagi pa lamang ng kuwento ay may mukha na ang mga bida sa imagination ng mga readers.

     Habang gumagalaw na ang story; habang lumalakbay na tayo sa mga susunod na chapters, pwedeng unti-unting i-reveal ang iba pang describing words para sa mga tauhan ng istorya. Tulad ng edad, kung saan nag-aaral o nagtra-trabaho, family backgroud, mga likes at dislikes nila at iba pang paglalarawan na kinakailangan ilahad sa nobela.

     Makakatulong ring mag-search ng larawan na maaring gawing inspirasyon sa pagde-describe sa mga story characters. Tuald nito:

     Ito ang "inspiration" ko sa ginagawa kong nobela ngayon. Ang love story nina Migs at Liz. Sana ay matapos ko na ito. (yiheee...)

     Happy writing!

Coffee and Milk Tea

Kasama na sa buhay ko ang kape. Lahat na lang yata idinadahilan ko makainom lang niyan. Tulad nalang nito...Kailangan kong uminom ng kape kasi:

1. Inaantok ako
2. Balak kong magpuyat mamayang gabi hanggang madaling araw
3. Wala akong ganang kumain
4. Nalulungkot ako
5. Kailangan ko i-treat ang sarili ko

Walang pattern, no? Lahat na lang ginawang dahilan? Maybe all I wanted to say is I can't live without coffee...And milk tea na rin. Dati ayoko ng tea amoy at lasang "dahon" kasi. Ha-ha. Pero dahil maraming masasarap na Milk Tea na naging uso ngayon...Aba isali na yan sa list of favorite drinks

Ice Mocha with extra shot of espresso and raspberry syrup

Iced Mocha

Choco Java Chip Frap with Banofee pie

Asian Dolce Latte

Hot Caramel Macchiato

           

Toffee nut and Brewed coffee

                       

 Milk Tea...

Wintermelon

Okinawa

Mango Milk Green Tea

 'Hope you enjoyed my beverage picture gallery. Hanggang sa muli!

Sending a Manuscript

Sending a Manuscript

     One day you came to a realization that… “I want to be a writer”. Then, you get to read a love story or a romance novel and say to yourself, “Hey, I can write one of these.” I know, I know how you feel because it happened to me. I realized way back then that I want to write a romance novel. 

     To those who have been reading PHR novels, on the first few pages of the book you can see there that Precious Pages Corp. is inviting all aspiring Tagalog Romance Writers to prepare a manuscript with 23,000 to 24,000 words divided in 10 chapters. Once you’re done writing your manuscript, the first thing that comes to your mind is to send it right away. I’ve been there, the moment I finished writing, I composed an email, attached my work and hit “send.”

     NO. That’s wrong. After completing the required word count, what we’re supposed to do is to give our MS a “vacation.” It is advised not to read our work for a few weeks or months. The objective is to make it “new” in our own eyes as if we are to read somebody else’s book. This activity will help us be more critical of our work as a writer and will make us less “attached” to our book. In this case, editing will be easier. Editing your own work will mean removing unnecessary scenes and dialogues. Even, removing chapters and worse starting all over again.

     You see, before we send our work and expect an editor to read it, we must be happy reading our own work first. We must believe in the beauty of the story we made. To all of aspiring writers, who are sending me queries on how to send their manuscript…Give your MS a break. Later on, revisit your work and edit it.

     When you think you’re ready to send it, compose an email with the subject: Manuscript for Evaluation. Here’s the email address of PHR: ed2rialstaff@yahoo.com. You’ll receive an email reply that an editor has received your MS. You may also text your name, title of manuscript and subject of your email to: 09109854715.

     Thank you for visiting. Happy writing!

Precious Pages Warehouse Sale

Precious Grand Warehouse Sale

Dahil sa isa akong pocketbook / Tagalog romance novel addict ay naligayahan ako nang makita ko ito sa Facebook fan page ng Precious Pages. Alam ko na hindi ako nag-iisa. Sigurado ako, maraming "pb addict" na gaya ko. Kaya ano pa ang hinihintay niyo? Tara na!

PPC Warehouse, Biak na Bato, SFDM, QC

PRECIOUS PAGES CORPORATION
83 Sgt. E. Rivera St., San Francisco del Monte
Brgy. Manresa 1115, Quezon City, Philippines

Tel. No.: 414-6188
fax No.: 367-6222
Email Address: admin@phr.com.ph

 

Keep Inspired

Everyone needs an inspiration. Writers do! I agree that writers need more inspiration than anyone else...to keep them writing. Writers need inspiration and encouragement; without those it'll be difficult to accomplish a book, a poem, a novel or just anything.

When I ran out of reasons to believe that I am a writer I visit websites that will give me a little push. Here try this: Inspiring Quotes for writers.

Whenever I could get away from work or stay up very late at night until early dawn, I would try to combine words, form a poem or weave a story.It is not always easy of course. Most of the time I find myself just staring at my laptop. When this happens I have to divert my attention to other hobbies that will inspire me and lead me back to my writer self.

I have a bead collection in one of my storage boxes. This was given to me by my hubby a couple of Christmases ago. I gave it a serious look and here's what I've done: 

I made mini rosaries for my brother and sister-in-law both working in Singapore (that's why I placed them in small pouches). I made some for me and my hubby, for my boys Ian and Allen, for my Nanay and Tatay and for my cousin Monica. I also created simple bead bracelets for my office mates. I feel pleased looking at my work and just like those creations I feel optimistic that those beads will be like words ending up in a romance novel.

When tapping my fingers on the keyboard is a little bit boring...what's fun about being a girl is:

Well, a  simple source of inspiration! ☺

But that's not all...

Long hours of writing for me, will mean cup after cup of bitter-sweet coffee...

There is no shortcut to the road to success...and so I learned to take one step at a time and savor each bitter-sweet moment.

Q&A Portion

Magandang umaga sa lahat ng walang sawang bumibisita sa My Romance Novels. Pasensiya na sa madalas na pagiging late ng mga sagot ko sa inyong mga katanungan. Madalas ay busy po ang inyong lingkod sa kanyang tunay na propesyon. Mahirap maging aspiring writer at working mom. Parang magkaibang planeta ang ginagalawan (hahaha...)
Anyway, ito na po isa-isahin ko po ang pagsagot sa inyong mga questions:
 

Anonymous said... tanong ko lang po , kung pwede na po bang magpasa ng manuscript ang isang 16 years old ?
 

Yes maaring magpasa ang 16 years old. Walang age requirement mula bata hanggang matanda pwedeng pwede basta't prosang romansa po ang ipapasa ninyo.

Anonymous said... hello! I'm a newbie and I am planning to submit a manuscript sa PHR. I just wanna ask kung paano po makaka-acquire ng pen name? gusto ko kasing gumamit ng pen name. :) hope you'll respond. thank you! :)    

 

Kapag na-appove na ang MS ay puwedeng mag-request ng pen name...sasabihan ka na magpasa ng list of pen names na gusto mo (not sure if 3 or 5) at doon ay pipili sila ng isa na maari mong gamitin exclusive with PHR once in-assign sa iyo ang pen name na iyon hindi mo iyon maaring gamitin sa ibang publications...siyempre parang courtesy kasi sa kanila iyon at identification na rin
  

Anonymous said... kelangan po ba talaga makaattend ng seminars o workshop pag natanggap ung sinulat mo? :) 

Hindi po... Kaya sulat lang ng sulat at ipasa mo na kapag confident ka na :)

Anonymous said... hi po, ms. cristine. Tanong ko lang po kung ano ung subject of your em-ail na ise-send mo sa kanila through text? iyon pa kasi ang hindi ko maintindihan. Salamat po.
 

Subject: Manuscript for Evaluation

Anonymous said... Hi, i want to submit also. mabilis ba silang mag-reply? thanks.

Yes, mabilis sila mag-reply  

 Anonymous said... hello.. hannah kaith po ito.. I'm aspiring writer.. malapit na akong matapos sa MS ko.. I'm from Gensan.. paano ko po malaman na napublished na ang MS ko..? please advice me.. since napakalayo ko from Mindanao.. Ms. Christine bigyan mo ako ng inspirational message kahit nasa malayo ako ay mabigayan ninyo ako ng encouragement for being aspiring writer.. I love PHR! I hope PHR could love me too.. GOD BLESS to all staff of PHR.. sana mabigyan pansin ang Novel ko..

lahat tayo ay love ang PHR at ang magagaling na writers na sina Ms. Angel, Ms. Sofia, Rose Tan, Martha Cecilia, Sonia Francesca, Vanessa, Belle Feliz, Princess Faye, Yna Paulina, Heart Yngrid and naku napakarami pang iba. Tulad mo ay wish ko rin maging gaya nila kaya patuloy akong nagsusulat...sana ay palarin balang araw. kahit nasa malayo ka ay okay lang yan email mo lang yan. Pagna-approve na yang MS mo ay inform mo sa kanila na malayo ka...baka pwede kayong magkaroon ng agreement about terms of payment example baka puwede through your personal bank account ipadala. Alam ko may writer na naka-base sa Japan kaya sigurado puwede yang case mo mo na yan. happy writing Hannah Kaith

 Kc Marie said...If na approved na ba yung manuscript mo.? May matatanggap ka bang income? 

Yes Kc Marie meron 
 
Aivan Reigh Vivero said...
Hi guys! Hindi ko na kayo iisa-isahin. :) Pero gusto kong magbigay ng 'tip' kunu sa inyo. I'm Aivan Reigh and I submitted my manuscript last November 2012 and got the editor's feedback on December, of the same year. It was approved - fortunately. But before I got my first approved MS, nagkaroon muna ako ng lumalagapak na REJECT. It wasn't easy... but I took it by heart. I learned from the rejection. Sinunod ko ang mga pointers na ibinigay ng editor, that's why I got my second MS approved.

Sa mga nagbabalak magpasa, mas maigi kung less ang English. Okay naman kasi ang pure Tagalog. Lalung-lalo na sa kagaya ko na di naman magaling mag-Ingles. Minsan kasi, doon pa nagkakaproblema "too-much English" daw.

At yung tungkol sa edad, kesehodang 10 years old ka lang, as long as may kakayahan kang magsulat ng naaayon sa format ng PHR, aba'y pasok ka sa banga kaibigan.

At ang pinakamabisang tip na maibibgay ko sa inyo guys, magbasa kayo ng magbasa para mas matuto kayo ng tamang formula. Naaaral naman lahat ng bagay.

At ngayon pa lang, matuto na kayong bumaybay ng mga salita ng BUO. Iwasang gumaya sa mga JEJEMON. Jejejeje. Dapat ngayon pa lang, mahalin mo na ang bawat letra. Kasi ang mga letrang ito ang bubuo ng mga salitang magagamit mo sa isang pangungusap na siya namaang bubuo ng kwentong magpapayaman sayo. :)

So ayun, magsama-sama na tayo sa pagpapayaman. Hehehe. Hanggang dito na lang muna. Mag se-seven AM na pala ng umaga, matutulog pa lang ako. Hehe.

Kung may tanong kayo, email niyo lang ako, try kong saguting lahat ng mga tanong niyo. Ito email ko: iamaivanreigh@gmail.com

At pwede niyo ring dalawin ang site ko kung trip niyong maumay sa mga kabaliwan ko. Hahaha.

Good morning guys! Keep on writing! ^_^

Anonymous said... pdf file ba ang dapat i-send o talagang MS word lang ang gagamitin??? Pano ang copy rights issue??? Plagiarism and stuff??? Secured ba yung story namin if ever na ireject Sya???

Yes MS word ang gagamitin. maari mong i-email ang concern na iyan sa PHR mismo sila ang makakasagot niyan

Gidget said... I'm planning on submitting a manuscript sa PHR. Ano ang requirement nila sa font na gagamitin, line spacing and margin? Thank you. 

 

1 inch ang margin, 12 ang font size, Times New Roman, double space...

Anonymous said... kung malayo yung location mo,pano ka po ba mababayaran incase accepted yong MS mo?

Same answer I've given to Hannah Kaith you could talk to PHR about that siguro puwede through bank account nila ideposit ang payment kapag na-approve ang MS mo.

Ayan ay natapos na ang ating tanungan portion. Good luck to all of us. Sana bago manlang matapos itong taong 2013 ay marami na sa atin ang may approved manuscripts na. God bless you all and thank you again for dropping by. 

My First 2013 Blog Post

     Hi to all of you guys out there who are reading my blog. Thank you so much for your time, though I become an inactive participant in the blogosphere every now and then. Thank you for joining me in 2012. That year was memorable to me. Year 2012 is a time when I really wanted to have an approved manuscript. It's the time when I am in a hurry to write. I had my taste of returned manuscripts at that time but I remained strong and hopeful up to this very day. I still write but I keep it slow this time. I read more now too. I am more outgoing now and I meet up with friends and get to meet real writers when given a chance. Life is sweeter when you savor each moment.

     I would like to say sorry to those who kept on sending their queries through my blog but failed to answer on time. Now, let me start as I answer some Frequently Asked Questions.

1. Clarify ko lang po I am not yet part of PHR. I am also an aspiring writer like most of you out there. 

2. Required age for submitting manuscripts - Wala pong age requirement. As long as kaya ninyong magsulat ng nobela na romance ang tema at may 23,000 to 24,000 words at nakapaloob sa minimum of 10 chapters ay maari po kayong mag-submit ng manuscript.

3. Email address. Makakatulong po kung magbabasa kayo ng PHR pocketbooks. Sa ganoong paraan ay malalaman ninyo kung saan (address)  ipapadala ang inyong nobela. At matutuhan ninyo rin ang style ng pagkakasulat ng mga nobela ng PHR.

4. Subject na ilalagay sa email na ise-send: Manuscript for Evaluation.

5. Hindi pre-requisite ang workshop para makapagpasa. Kahit hindi nakapag-workshop ay puwedeng magpasa ng ms.

6. Para sa mga nasa malayo. You can submit your work through email.

7. Payment. Siyempre po ay may kaukulang halaga kayong matatanggap kapag approved ang manuscript. 

Sana makatulong ang ilang mga kasagutan na nilagay ko dito. Keep on reading and writing!