I am beloved by thousands!
Okay, not in my current writing and editing world, but in my previous career as a teacher. I enjoyed working with the students so much. I loved them and many of them loved me back. It was great then and still is when I see former students and we get hang out together for a few minutes. It happens pretty much everywhere I go. I explained to my husband who did not know of this type of exposure when we were dating, that going somewhere with me was like traveling with a rock star...young people scream out my name and run up to me to visit.
This is not me, being delusional or conceited. In spite of any mistakes I made in my career, and there were more than I wanted, most of the students I worked with on a daily basis came away with good feelings about the experience. To the ones who did not...sometimes you weren't in a position in your life to be ready to have a good relationship with anyone and sometimes I simply failed to be what you needed. I do apologize for that.
I was a teacher! I worked hard to be a successful one. And in our small town I taught nearly everyone who came through our district. I had over 3000 students during my teaching career and I taught whole families of children and even the second generations too. It was a lot of people to influence and a lot of people to influence me.
Since I retired from teaching earlier in the year, I have reflected on my career and decided what worked and what didn't and how I am going to apply what I experienced to my writing and editing career. I think the most important part of what I learned is a strength in how I treated my students.
My mother calls it the Pollyanna Principle. For those of you who didn't have a mother who made you watch the movie repeatedly, the quote is "If you look for the bad in people you're sure to find it, so look for the good in them instead."
I found this to be true in class. If a student with a bad reputation came into my class, I tried not to acknowledge what I knew. I would be just as nice and as mean as I was to everyone else. Now, I wasn't too nice to them if they chose to demonstrate how they earned the bad reputation, but I had much more success by acting as if it were inconceivable that anyone would want to act up in my class. Frankly, that confused some of them. But even when they behaved poorly, I would just act like we hadn't had a problem before and move on. Soon there wasn't a problem and I got to see their best side instead.
I am not a pushover when it comes to dealing with people. (Stop laughing, those of you who would say this is an understatement!) There are co-workers and people from my life that I did not always give the wonderful benefit of this kind of benevolent acceptance. I apologize for this too.
I know not everyone responds in a positive manner when treated well as I hope, but I, like Anne Frank, really do believe, "In spite of everything, that people are really good at heart."
What a fantastic gift it is to believe the best about someone!
In my writing the one thing that has kept me going during the drudgery of editing and the difficulty of thinking I may one day be published is the belief my family, friends, and my former students have that I can. So I am going to try and live up to their faith that I am good enough to do it.
Time to edit.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Monday, September 10, 2012
Getting the business!
I have come to the realization that being a writer is not all a comfortable sweater, a warm drink, a computer, and you alone with your thoughts gleefully creating the best work ever written.
Being a writer means you are a business. The CEO, the boss, the manager, the middle manager, the managees, the workers, the scut workers, the publicity firm,and most assuredly the custodial staff. And there is so much more that you have ever imagined that will take your time a way from the actual writing.
A writing career is the perfect example of the old cartooned balancing act. Picture the balancing act photo of a person standing on a long board atop a rolling cylinder. I would have thought that keeping your balance among your writer's duties was the main goal of a career. I now know it is simply getting both ends of the board into the air, because there is so much more weight on the business and publication end (ISBN's, Blogs, Betas, Copyrights, Facebook, Twitter, Blog tours, conferences, contests, writing groups, appearances, agents, retreats, formatting...) that your writing literally is left up in the air sometimes. This past weekend at a writers retreat, the published authors explained that seventy-five percent of their professional time is spent on activities that don't include writing.
Daunting to someone who is still trying to get craft down and their writing in good enough shape to send out. I can see why some writers just give up or refuse to acknowledge business concerns. The temptation would be strong to go all Thoreau and spend your time in the cabin by the pond.
Still, even with all of the requirements of the a successful writing career many writers do find a way to balance their demands and enjoy what they do.
As a beginner, I have been spending a great deal of time analyzing what is my best use of time. Right now, I am going to the garage to look for a long board and a sturdy cylinder. That way I can get some exercise and improve my balance while I do all of this learning.
Or I can use the board to as a club to help me get motivated.
Being a writer means you are a business. The CEO, the boss, the manager, the middle manager, the managees, the workers, the scut workers, the publicity firm,and most assuredly the custodial staff. And there is so much more that you have ever imagined that will take your time a way from the actual writing.
A writing career is the perfect example of the old cartooned balancing act. Picture the balancing act photo of a person standing on a long board atop a rolling cylinder. I would have thought that keeping your balance among your writer's duties was the main goal of a career. I now know it is simply getting both ends of the board into the air, because there is so much more weight on the business and publication end (ISBN's, Blogs, Betas, Copyrights, Facebook, Twitter, Blog tours, conferences, contests, writing groups, appearances, agents, retreats, formatting...) that your writing literally is left up in the air sometimes. This past weekend at a writers retreat, the published authors explained that seventy-five percent of their professional time is spent on activities that don't include writing.
Daunting to someone who is still trying to get craft down and their writing in good enough shape to send out. I can see why some writers just give up or refuse to acknowledge business concerns. The temptation would be strong to go all Thoreau and spend your time in the cabin by the pond.
Still, even with all of the requirements of the a successful writing career many writers do find a way to balance their demands and enjoy what they do.
As a beginner, I have been spending a great deal of time analyzing what is my best use of time. Right now, I am going to the garage to look for a long board and a sturdy cylinder. That way I can get some exercise and improve my balance while I do all of this learning.
Or I can use the board to as a club to help me get motivated.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The NO NO Typing Practices!
Today I am talking about the proper things we are all taught NOT to do.
Not the normal things like don't pick your nose or chew with your mouth closed. Good hygiene and discreet bodily function issues should be approached in a tasteful manner if at all possible.
I am referring to the some grammatical and punctuation issues I just don't agree with. These guidelines have been presented as fact by some when it comes to texting, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, other social media. And they are not, nor is there a strong reason grammatically or socially why they should be.
I am not normally a person who says break the rules of the English language. I made a career of guiding people away from making mistakes. There are some guidelines I feel strongly that should be done correctly. There, their and they're-your and you're-its and it's-a lot is two words unless it is allot-are all worthy of a cringe when I see them done incorrectly.
BUT the idea that capital letters in a text is shouting irks me. If I want to shout at you, I will. And I will do it at a loud speaking volume, in person. Trust me, if I care enough to shout at you I want to be involved in a conversation that doesn't consist of me typing to get my message across. (Actually, if I am shouting, things are still good. If I drop in tone and volume and sound like Clint Eastwood, just do whatever I say. You may survive the interaction.)
A second thing I disagree with is that using exclamation points makes you look immature or uneducated when writing. I agree this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is too much, but this ! says, "Hey, I am excited about what I am talking about!" If I wanted to put this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, it means I probably want to talk about it in person anyway.
Who made these two things into "rules"? Who makes these rules that often don't follow their own guidelines was often asked by my students. The fact is we all do and word of mouth is how it is accomplished down through the generations. I say we rise up and stop these naysayers who are trying to do away with capitals and exclamation points. The world needs big letters and enthusiastic punctuation.
So, if I want to STRESS something I am going to put it in capital letters. If I want to share my exuberance, then an exclamation mark is for ME! It doesn't make me ignorant of the current psuedo English language trends. I am just a grammatical and punctuation free spirit.
A REBEL to the end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not the normal things like don't pick your nose or chew with your mouth closed. Good hygiene and discreet bodily function issues should be approached in a tasteful manner if at all possible.
I am referring to the some grammatical and punctuation issues I just don't agree with. These guidelines have been presented as fact by some when it comes to texting, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, other social media. And they are not, nor is there a strong reason grammatically or socially why they should be.
I am not normally a person who says break the rules of the English language. I made a career of guiding people away from making mistakes. There are some guidelines I feel strongly that should be done correctly. There, their and they're-your and you're-its and it's-a lot is two words unless it is allot-are all worthy of a cringe when I see them done incorrectly.
BUT the idea that capital letters in a text is shouting irks me. If I want to shout at you, I will. And I will do it at a loud speaking volume, in person. Trust me, if I care enough to shout at you I want to be involved in a conversation that doesn't consist of me typing to get my message across. (Actually, if I am shouting, things are still good. If I drop in tone and volume and sound like Clint Eastwood, just do whatever I say. You may survive the interaction.)
A second thing I disagree with is that using exclamation points makes you look immature or uneducated when writing. I agree this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is too much, but this ! says, "Hey, I am excited about what I am talking about!" If I wanted to put this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, it means I probably want to talk about it in person anyway.
Who made these two things into "rules"? Who makes these rules that often don't follow their own guidelines was often asked by my students. The fact is we all do and word of mouth is how it is accomplished down through the generations. I say we rise up and stop these naysayers who are trying to do away with capitals and exclamation points. The world needs big letters and enthusiastic punctuation.
So, if I want to STRESS something I am going to put it in capital letters. If I want to share my exuberance, then an exclamation mark is for ME! It doesn't make me ignorant of the current psuedo English language trends. I am just a grammatical and punctuation free spirit.
A REBEL to the end!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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