Ahhh the writing life. Every day dawns bright with opportunity.
So many of us put our butts in the chairs every day and put words on pages. Sometimes the words get along, sometimes they sing. Sometimes they fight like bullies on a playground. Other times they just simply refuse to cooperate. Sullen and unresponsive they sit like lumps of spitballs stuck on a blackboard and dare me to find a way to make them turn into something significant.
Usually I click delete and close the document. I know when I'm beat. Words, my toughest opponents, roughest coworkers ever my pleasure to work with.
Non-writers think writers are solitary figures, working alone with our thoughts. Instead we have all of the words in the world whirling around us, daring us to catch them out of the air and confine them to a page, to a paragraph, to a sentence. "Put me into something original. I dare you," they smirk. They pound their little alpha-chests and scoff, "Who do you think you are to try and wrangle me?"
But when they cooperate, ahhh. When they embrace their fellow words, sing a little Kum-ba-ya, and gather around the campfire of an essay, imparting their wisdom, their inspiration, their treasure.... Oh what beautiful music to their creator.
Today was a day of rejection. An essay I poured my heart into didn't work for an editor. It happens. It happens alot. After all of these years, rejection is a shrug of the shoulders, an "oh well," and acceptance that I won't be buying that exquisite $5,000 sewing machine I fantasize about. I probably won't be ordering much pizza or take-out and I'll probably be refreshing my taste buds with peanut butter sandwiches instead of steak. But I will be writing. And I will be thinking about that essay. I'll either be figuring out what didn't work or think of a market that will appreciate it, or maybe some of both.
The week hasn't been all rejection. Christian Science Monitor accepted another essay, another of my favorite word songs.
My first acceptance -- 1981 -- Bluegrass Unlimited -- a terrible, horrible article about the Blanchard Valley Bluegrass Boys. I put everything in that article including the kitchen sink. When the check arrived I screamed, I cried, I danced on the bed of my sleeping husband. He worked nights and wasn't quite as thrilled at a check for $126 as I was.
But of course all writers know that it wasn't about $126. It was about validation. About succeeding at something so elusive, something as fragile as butterfly wings. Something I wanted so badly I still get tears thinking about that break-through moment.
I don't get quite as worked up with each acceptance these days. Yet, seeing my work in print, makes me smile. It is a smile that goes right to my soul.
So tomorrow I'll be back fitting words together and hoping to come up with a lovely picture -- like those thousand piece jigsaw puzzles my husband loves to slave over and our cat enjoys sleeping on. Will my picture be of cute kittens? A lovely landscape? A lighthouse? My mother's hands?
Ahhhh, the opportunities are endless.
Showing posts with label writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writers. Show all posts
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Calling on Harry Potter Fans!
It is countdown time! Now that I live in this Dr. Seuss land called Central Florida where most people work for a mouse or a group devoted to outer space exploration, I can't wait for Harry Potter to join this happy chaos. Universal Studios Theme Park is adding not only rides, but basically a Harry Potter land. A transcript of the announcement is on the Leaky Cauldron website or the Orlando Sentinel's news story. The planned completion is targeted for 2010.
We never outgrow the wonder found in great children's literature and I am one of the millions who fell under Harry Potter's spell from the first moment. I've ordered my copy of the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows from Amazon and I'm waiting rather impatiently for the release of the next movie on July 11. I found the official Warner Bros. website and enjoy watching the trailers and teasers.
It is a two-fer month, July is. A new Harry Potter movie and another book! Sadly the last in the series, unless we can twist the author's arm to continue the saga. Special events are planned with the author, J.K. Rowling including a midnight signing and book reading the day the book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, is released. At midnight, July 21, 2007, the author will meet with more than 1,000 lucky readers to sign books at the Natural History Museum in London. Approximately 500 of those lucky few will be invited to listen to the author read.
Not having spent much time online looking for Harry Potter links, I'm amazed at the J.K. Rowling official website and all of the fun bells and whistles! It refers to the Leaky Cauldron site hosted by Melissa Anelli, a freelance writer who is working on a book tentatively titled: Harry, a History of the Fiction, Fans and Phenomenon of Harry Potter to be published November, 2008 by Simon and Schuster Pocket Books. The Leaky Cauldron site is maintained by a whole staff of Harry heads and it is the place to go for all things Harry including discussions of symbolism, trivia, the latest JK Rowling news and interviews, and even a newsletter The Owl Post.
If that isn't enough Harry Potter for you, check out the Fan Links and immerse yourself in the world of Harry Potter. In the meantime, I plan to reread the Order of the Phoenix and be ready for the movie's debut.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
