Well, it is the last day of this month-long blog-fest over at "We Work for Cheese" and I've managed to plunk out all but two days' worth of them...so go on
over there and see what we've each accomplished.
Just a little (more like a lot) about myself regarding this month-long thing. We were all
given the same "prompts" - a word or words which we would incorporate somehow or
another into our daily blogs. I know it might seem incomprehensible, but I
managed not to peek at the "word-of-the-day" until just before writing each day's blog...which,
I would write at about 4:00-7:00 in the morning, mostly whilst watching the Olympics (hence the strong Olympic overtone in many of them).
I, like those Olympians, loved the challenge -- I liked to see what I could come up with in roughly 30
minutes to an hour. Most times I would look at the word(s) and then an idea would spring to mind and I'd start typing...usually it went in a completely different direction than my original thought. I like that things like that can happen inside my very own head.
Coming up with that first word is supposedly the
hardest, and I've known people to get some serious writer's block doing so. I used to be that way when I was younger, altho from an early age I knew I wanted
to be a writer. I loved short stories and, in my opinion, Ray Bradbury was the
best at doing them.
I had an English teacher once, oh, geez...maybe in 5th or 6th grade, whose
name escapes me now -- but he gave me the highest compliment you can bestow
upon a would-be writer of 12 or 13-years old.
He asked me: "Where did you copy
this from?"
Now, that might seem like a silly thing to ask -- considering in this day and
age, you'd just pop online and copy/paste some portion of the text and find out if someone copied it. Back then, it wasn't so
easy. Teachers couldn't know everything...and I certainly could have gotten something out of some obscure book and written it down and turned it in with my name on it.
So, when I was asked that question...I replied that I didn't copy it. The
teacher looked at me in utter amazement and asked, "Really?" I'm sure he had his fair share of liars over the
years saying they didn't, but, I didn't...and I stood my ground. He then said to
me, and I'll never forget his words (even if I did manage to forget his name):
"Wow, you should be a writer...this is really good."
I was happy as a little clam and, in the following years, I would forgo
taking study halls and lunches and gleefully filled up my classes with more
English classes. Not those English classes where you have to know what the "past present pluragative of a subjugated non-plussed noun" was, but actual "writing"
courses.
I was all set to whisk off one of my stories to Omni
Magazine...because back then they'd actually solicit submissions --
when the worst possible thing that could happen, happened.
They published a Ray Bradbury story...and then one from another well-known sci-fi writer -- and then yet another. My dreams
were dashed, they'd never use some silly 15-year-old girl from New Jersey's stuff now...not when they had the likes of this stuff to choose from. I pushed my
pen aside after high school and that was it.
Then, one day, many years later, I was sitting around making small talk to a little kid while
his brother and my daughter were at a Science Olympiad (there's that word again) competition. I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, you know, the quintessential
question every grown-up asks a kid...and he shrugged his shoulders and said he
didn't know. He seemed a bit embarrassed by the fact that a child of his "advanced"
age, which was probably about twelve, had absolutely no clue yet. I remarked
about how silly it was to ask children what they wanted to be when they grew up
anyway...because pretty much no one really knows what they want to be when they're that
young. I told him that I did, however, know one kid who was always saying he
wanted to be a "political speech writer" when he grew up...and we'd kinda look
at him and go "Uh, okay, Eddie." I then continued and said, "You know, when I was little, I wanted to be a
writer, too."
Then I went silent.
It dawned on me, that my tiny young self...knew what I wanted to do --
but, my grown-up self never did. And, when everything was all said and done...I
still wanted to be a writer. Why I hadn't realized until then was
anyone's guess.
It wasn't the greatest revelation; I mean it wasn't like I could tell you,
"And then my brain exploded!" -- altho, being that I was at a science
competition, it would have been the right place for it...and it probably would
have been awesome, you know...for the other people to witness...kinda like one of
those volcanoes everyone makes with the lava spurting out on top...but it wasn't
even that type of science competition anyway, so it's probably for the best that
it never happened.
But, it still amuses me sometimes when I sit here and think, because I do
think about it a lot...and I will never know what would have happened had I just
slipped one of my stories inside an envelope, slapped some stamps on it, and
sent it off to Omni. I'll never know if they would have bit. It only
would have taken one bite, too - and my whole world would have turned out
differently.
Yep, I'll never know what would have happened, but you could be damned sure if
they HAD published one of my stories...you wouldn't be reading this
crap right now!
As for Eddie...you know...that silly kid I told you about who wanted to be a political speech writer when he was like in 6th grade...and 7th...and 8th...and so on? Well, I think this about sums it up:
As for "writer's block" -- I actually have no problem whatsoever coming up with the first word to start it all...it's the ones after that which are the hardest for me. I really need to stop talking about being a writer one day -- and be one.
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Thanks again to Nicky at her lovely blog, "We Work for Cheese", for giving me the opportunity all this month to enjoy a little bit of self-publicity, which, if you know me -- you know that I love nothing better. Well, okay, maybe I would love a chance to write a movie script...or a book...or...okay, I'm doing it again, aren't I? Sorry.
I managed to sneak in today's prompt, which was "And then my brain exploded" and the two I missed earlier on this month, which were "One bite" and "Liars". I feel so utterly complete now.
Lastly, I would like to take the opportunity to say to Ed Gillespie (who probably doesn't remember me at all): "Good luck with your Senate bid. I hope I didn't embarrass you too much by mentioning your name here. I know everyone (myself included) from your home town of Browns Mills, New Jersey, are so incredibly proud of you. Here's wishing you only the best to you and your family...and, if you ever need a political joke writer...well, I'm here."
