A Dog's Life

        This is Foley. He is like some women like their men: blonde, fast and not-too-bright.

         Twice a day--every day, he eats the same thing, and gobbles it with relish (and mustard and ketchup, too). When he comes in from outside, he's always hopeful that he'll get a treat. When he's "relaxing" on the couch, he's lovin' it. When he's hurtling after the ball like a bullet, he's focused on only that...

          As a writer, I need to be optimistic that I'll get an acceptance, each time I submit a piece. I need to relish the time I read, or chat with friends but when I'm writing, I need to zero in on that and put my blinders on, to keep everything else at bay.

         What lessons have you learned from your dog or cat (or iguana, or guinea pig)?

2/3 of a Hat Trick

          Several months ago I submitted a story for the "Here Comes the Bride" Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology. Despite receiving an email that it had made it through the first chute, I didn't feel good about it making it through the final round. Having been told stories that it could be rejected up to a month before publication, I fretted. So I conjured up pessimistic thoughts, and kept them simmering.

This will be on sale on May 15, 2012.

          On Friday, I received an email that my story is going to be included in the anthology. That makes my second one so far, as far as CS stories. (The collection with my first accepted story is coming out on March 13.)

          I'm trying to catch up with Linda O'Connell, a Chicken Soup for the Soul Queen. That means 2 down, 143 more to go...

WWWP Highlights

         Last night was our twice-monthly writing critique night. One of our group was missing in action, so it was a bit more sedate than usual, but extremely productive, as always.

         Here are some of the highlights:

• ClickClickClickClickClickClick. The sound of pills shaking against the inside of a plastic pill bottle. Three of us sat up on our back haunches and begged, unblinking, expectant and transfixed. (A member of our group just got off painkillers, and we were sure she was shaking one out for each of us.)

        Oh, those were toothpicks being shaken out, for the appetizers? Awww. Oh,
        well.

• "Change the focus of the piece to your children, take out the 'essay' parts, and this would make a wonderful story." Too often we look at a piece and box it in, thinking it would not be suitable for a particular publication/contest. Repurpose it. Retool it. Tweak it, then send it off.

• The power of self-fulfilling prophecy. Two years ago, my students each hung up their dream in our classroom. There were clouds hanging all over the place, swinging on fishing line. My dream was up there, too: "I dream of being a published writer." That was in September. In December of that same year, High Hill Press accepted my picture book manuscript. Coincidence? I think not.

       This year, all five of the WWWP's are going to be in the Chicken Soup for the
       Soul Parenthood anthology. We're going to do book signings (they will be the
       most raucous book signings ever!) and we're going to be fierce. Have any of
       us been accepted yet? No. But it will happen...

       Have any of you had first-hand experience with a self-fullfilling prophecy? I'd love to hear about them...

TMI

       Oh, have no fear. This post is not about what people normally think of when TMI is mentioned. I'm not going to paint a picture of what I looked like when I got my head stuck in the sink, too cheap to pay $5 for a shampoo at the stylist...I'm not going to describe what my evening "attire" is, after a long day of herding third graders...I am going to spare you the psychological scarring you'd suffer if I made you visualize what happens when a fifty-something woman's body meets gravity head-on...

      No, this TMI lesson has to do with writing. And I learned it in my twice-monthly critique night. The teachers? Linda O'Connell, Lynn Obermoeller, T'Mara Goodsell and Beth M. Wood. They're better than nuns at rapping my knuckles when I do wrong...

      At our last class meeting of the WWWP (Wild Women Wielding Pens), I shared a hockey story. Chicken Soup had a call-out for hockey stories (the deadline is tomorrow) and even sent out a reminder, which--to my way of thinking--meant they didn't have very many submissions. Since I had no real hockey stories, I thought even I might have a chance. Because I had two "near" stories.

     I brought both, thinking I could beg them to read the other story sometime in the next week and send it back to me, all marked-up. (I even had stamped envelopes at the ready, in case anyone agreed.) The problem was, the deadline would come before we had the chance to meet again. Two piles of crap had a better chance than only one, I thought. 

       And the lesson I learned is this: sometimes part of the story is TMI. It may be part of the story that you get down, in the initial draft, and in your mind, it's really a part of it. However, if it doesn't move the story along, if the story can stand without it, cut it loose.

       In one of the stories, I was in the locker room with a bunch of teachers and one hunky hockey player (true). There was quite a scandal because the hunk flirted shamelessly with me a crime scheme was being hatched (true). And although most of the giggling, fawning teachers were women, there were a few men.

       Since that was true, I thought it important to include. Of course, the WWWP's went after me with a meter stick. The fact that some men were in the group was unimportant. Delete. Immediately.

        The other story (in  the end, they looked at both, after moaning and groaning about this one) got some major slash-and-burn work done. Half the story was spent explaining how I got some tickets to a semi-pro hockey game. Was it important that teachers sometimes got the chance to get free tickets to a comedy club or a semi-pro baseball or hockey game? No. So, a 1,200 word story ended up 37 words long (just a slight exaggeration).

        Barry Lane talks about three drafts. The Down Draft is when you get the story down. Just let the words flow, and banish your inner critic during this phase. Then, there is the Up Draft. This is where you fix it up. Revise. I should have cut those dead limbs then. Finally, there is the Dental Draft. That's where you look at every nook and cranny, checking for anything loose, anything that's out of place...the editing part, and the final touches of revision.

       Do you have any stories about having a part of a story or poem that you thought was integral but later saw the light?


       

The Life of a Teacher

         As a third grade teacher, I am hugged daily. I am given homemade cookies(that look suspiciously like a bite has been taken out of them--probably just quality control at work, I imagine) that have been carried in their hands, without any plastic bag or food wrapper. I have had students lovingly share their stickers by patting one onto my shirt (which I only remembered--too late--when I went to a neighborhood copy center and pranced around, getting strange looks when the other customers and the employees looked at my chestal region (which is way above the "nether regions," one of Val's favorite phrases).

      My kids want to learn how to become more proficient readers. They want to become more capable with their math skills. That's the big picture. But every day, what they fight and fret over daily are things like this:

• Special pencils. In our class we have a communal pencil container. At the beginning of the year, everyone   most of the students some of the students bring in several boxes of pencils. Every morning, I sharpen 8 dozen pencils. At lunch, I resharpen them, because apparently my classroom was invaded by a gang of marauding beavers.  My students form relationships with pencils they deem special. There is "Crimper," a pencil that has had the eraser part modified. The eraser is gone, but the top of the metal part has been crimped tightly shut. This makes the pencil suitable for many purposes. There is also "Two Points." A pencil much in demand, this pencil--although only two inches long--has two points. Each end is sharp and ready...There is also "Chewbaca." From all appearances, the colored coating has been chewed/peeled off, revealing a smooth, beige wood surface.

• Getting to use the tall water fountain instead of the short one. When we come back from PE, we stop and get a drink. There are two water fountains--one for taller kids/adults and one for the shorter students. Jockeying in line, to guarantee drinking from the taller one is crucial to their existence...

• Getting at the front of the line to go to lunch. At recess, many of the students get in line 5-10 minutes early, and just stand there, waiting for the whistle to blow, just so they can be "first." Of course, they are worrying needlessly. The cafeteria ladies never run out of corn dogs...

       There are other life-or-death battles fought every day, but I will stop here. However, if you want to get a glimpse into what high school teachers deal with, go to this post. This hillbilly teacher is a hoot!

Good Intentions

         Last Friday I had a sleep study done. A number of years ago (8? 10?) I had had one done initially. My snoring is notorious, and has been the case since I was a teenager and rail-thin, so fat is not the only issue (although it is exacerbated by the layer of lard I've become so fond of). Over the years, I've gotten used to the CPAP machine--with the long hose that accompanies it--but my doctors felt I needed to be "recalibrated."

         If you've never had the pleasure, they hook you up, using a gross of electrodes. You're in a room with a comfortable bed, a television, a tiny restroom. Oh, you have to void?  Don't forget to take along your huge "box" of electrical something-or-others, that keeps all the electrodes straight. That is, until they hook you up for real...After that, you'll have to get permission to pee.

         And then, they give people (who have paid for their admission tickets) access to the "observation room," where the techs are sitting, monitoring the studies and the cameras. You think you're safe, because it's dark? Don't get too secure--they have special cameras that can see everything despite the darkness, kind of like those night-vision goggles worn in "Silence of the Lambs." Popcorn is nibbled on, slushies are slugged, and everyone in the audience gets to laugh at the varied and hilarious snoring that goes on...

         They ask you what time you want to go to sleep. I said "between 10 and 11, and probably more like 11." That's the case every Friday evening. I have great intentions of staying up, because sometimes, I can sleep past 5 on Saturday morning. The idea of kicking up my heels and being up late is thrilling. However, my body is rarely able to fulfill those intentions. Usually, around 9:30 or so I'm drooling and snoring on the couch, missing out on all the wild antics I had planned. I've gone all week without enough sleep; my body finally crashes...

         And this was a normal Friday night. Somewhere before the clock had struck ten, I had already snorted myself awake. The technician came rushing in, and gave me the officiall hook-up. Within minutes, I was asleep.

        So it is with my writing. I have good intentions to live a more writerly life. I have the intention to write every day at the same time, to develop a real habit. However, what drives me most are deadlines. And I can't find a set time every day, so I eek out bits of time here and there.

         How about you? What are your intentions when it comes to writing or your creative life? How do you balance your intentions and the everyday muck of life?

         (Inquiring  minds want to know.)