2. Insights and Behind The Scenes.

Hello everyone! Welcome back!

Today I wanted to share a little bit about the format and structure of my book — from the way the story moves between narrative and dialogue, to the reasoning behind some of the chapter titles. Writing it wasn’t just about telling a story; it was also about how that story feels on the page.

You’ll notice that a few things in the book are treated almost like characters themselves — words like Karma, Life, The Call, The Fog, The Event. I chose to capitalize them intentionally, turning moments, people, and even emotions into nouns. They’re not just ideas; they carry weight and presence in the story, just like any other character would.

In this post, I’ll talk about how those choices shaped the rhythm, tone, and intimacy of the book — and how they reflect the way memory and emotion often blur together when we tell our own stories. 

1. Let’s start with the writing format between Part I and Part II—quick and easy. I chose to narrate the first part (and some of the second) with minimal dialogue, using italics only when something needed to be said from a character’s voice. This was to highlight that the timeline takes place before the main character spoke English. 

From the middle to the end of Part II, I wanted to show the character’s growth with the language, so I kept his sentences basic to show he’s still learning.

•  Why did I leave some Spanish words untranslated? Well, for starters, there are things in Spanish that don’t translate cleanly into English, or they simply sound better in Spanish; also, I wanted The Reader whose first language is Spanish to see themselves throughout the story. And The Twist was to flip the experience—have The Reader not understand what’s being said, just as the main character sometimes didn’t. Of course, there are moments when the next line offers context and gives you a sense of what the Spanish word means.

2. I chose to capitalize words like The Fog, Life, Karma, The Call, etc. because, to me, they weren’t just ideas or passing moments—they were living forces that shaped who I became. They were characters that stepped into my story and took control. At different points in my life, I let these “things” consume me and dictate my choices, as if they were entities pulling the strings rather than feelings I could manage — and the act of writing them this way became my way of reclaiming power over them. 

• Then, why did I capitalize "Mother" instead using her name or simply My Mom? Well, I wanted to highlight the fact that the main character does not have a close relationship with his mother, so it felt disrespectful to call her by her first name and weird to call her “Mom,” because, as mentioned, he considered his grandmother his mom.  
• What about That Man and The Event? Why stay ambiguous about what happened? Because some experiences, even when they shape who we become, carry pain we no longer wish to feed. Some memories are better left unnamed, and some people simply don’t deserve to be given more than an adjective—or any more space in the story than they already took in real life.

3. Do you notice anything about the name of each chapter? They’re titles of songs! Part I features songs in Spanish to emphasize that the timeline is still set in Mexico. Part II marks the beginning of the character’s journey into the so-called American Dream. Here’s the twist: if you Google the release dates or the period when each song was popular, you’ll discover the exact time the chapter takes place. - with the exception of:

•  "Los Caminos de La Vida" - This song brings back memories of my Grandma. The first chapter is dedicated to her, so it felt right.
• "Time Flies" - It gives you, essentially, a montage of different things happening—which, to me, felt very direct and served as a possible setup for what’s to come.
• "Summer School" -Literally the time the chapter takes place.
• "Rebelde" - It’s an exception to the exception. Even though the song shows the time period when the chapter takes place—and it’s in Spanish—I had said that Spanish songs were meant to highlight the time before the main character spoke English. But I really love that song, and it marks a moment in the story that might resurface in a possible second book.

So that’s it! Want to see the original book cover I had in mind? It’s kind of cringe—but follow my social media to check it out!

Let me know if there’s anything else from the book you’d like me to reveal. I’m all for exposing the behind-the-scenes stuff! 

And remember....

[ ...Relax. Take It Easy. ]