I wasn't able to report on iblog2 or the 2nd Philippine Blogging Summit held last April 18, 2006 at the University of the Philippines College of Law, but noteworthy was Manuel L. Quezon III's comprehensive and engrossing talk about political blogging and Dean Alfar's funny and informative lecture about how to employ blogging to help your writing.

In Alfar's case, he was able to write his novel Salamanca by creating a blog for his novel-in-progress, and joined the now internationally famous National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where you have to finish a novel in 30 days. And he did become one of NaNoWriMo's graduates when he finished a first draft after a month. Next thing Alfar knew, Salamanca had won the first prize in the Palanca Awards.

So there's another trick for you writers out there whose goal is to create a longish work. There's something about doing your writing in public -- like writing in a café, as J.K. Rowling did, for example -- which helps overcome the stifling solitude that sometimes accompanies writing.