Continuing To Edit

Editing is a long process for me. Today I continued editing the Schoolteacher Stories Book. One example is a word, that as I wrote, I typed, but felt it might be misspelled. I had (ck. sp.) after the word which is my “shorthand” for check spelling during editing. If I stop to check spellings of words when I’m writing, it breaks the writing flow and my concentration. The word I had the ck sp after was “undoubtably”. Does that look right to you? If I’m not sure of a word’s spelling, I’ll check it by googling the word. When I typed that word into the google search bar it took me to “undoubtedly “. Yeah. That’s how you spell it.

I also spent time cutting and pasting parts of paragraphs. My mind jumps around like a grasshopper sometimes and I put some phrases after writing that should have been preceded by those phrases.

I took out a few other words and phrases and finally did a final (for now) reread. I have worked on this story a lot as it’s one of my favorites. Still, as I edit the whole book, it will continue to receive the same attention as the other stories. I edit until I can see no room for more improvement. I’m sure my readers find things that could have been expressed in a better way, but for me, I failed to see that.

I’ve asked my daughter if she’d read this whole book once it’s completed and look for problems. She reluctantly said yes. She’s a perfectionist, so her eyes will be good ones to read through the book before I self-publish it on Amazon.

I’m trying to have at least 1000 words in each chapter. Today’s chapter is 904 words         7 /8th  . . .   I put all my writing into the word count tool https://wordcounttools.com/ to get a word count as well as the reading level. I then type that info just after my completed writing. 904 words is close enough to 1000 that I’m going to accept it. 7th/8th grade reading level is what I usually write on.

I should edit the next chapter, but this last one took more editing than expected and I’m tired. I’ll do better when I’m not so tired. I want this book published as soon as possible, but I want it as good as possible also.

(I have been trying to keep my blogs around 500 words. Some days I come closer than others. Today’s blog is 403 Words 9th 10th grade level.)

Giving My Brain A Break

I’ve been working on chapters six and seven in my Schoolteacher Stories Book. I’m editing, and it is tedious work. Any word that I’ve written (sp?) after or which appears misspelled must now be checked. Punctuation is checked. Sentence structure is revised. I can only take so much of the editing process before I have to do something else for a few minutes.

Sometimes I get up and do a little housework. Sometimes I turn to Candy Crush. That’s a game I play on facebook. Not only do these kinds of activities give me a break from the task at hand, but it also often affords new writing ideas which I quickly jot down when I return to my editing work.

Editing is work. Proofreading is work. I worked my way through college as a Student Helper in ECU’s News Bureau. That was a wonderful job, and I worked with wonderful people. One of the requirements was to proofread every article we sent out. I feel that was truly helpful as I later began writing and selling nonfiction articles. I was not alone in my proofreading. One student helper read an article aloud to another student as both pairs of eyes checked for punctuation and spelling errors as well as any other kinds of errors we might find.

The cadence of the articles and their succinctness did not escape me. I feel certain the reading of thousands of articles that were well written contributed to my ability to write articles today. It was a great training ground, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

Even so, the work was not always proofreading. I also used a machine that stamped addresses on envelopes. We sent stories about my university to every newspaper in the state. To do that, we had to have envelopes for those newspapers addressed and ready to send.

We also had a postage meter machine and would use it to put postage on the same envelopes once the stories were inserted. The machine sealed the envelopes at the same time that the postage was stamped on.

I remember those four years with great fondness. I was offered a permanent job at the end of my Senior Year and foolishly turned it down. I knew I would not stay there once I found a teaching position, and I was very actively seeking one. I was not offered a job as a writer, but one as the person in charge of student helpers, who would continue to train other student helpers. Most of the other students were not as dependent on the job as I was and did not take it as seriously. Some did. But the ones who did not . . . I had dealt with that kind of student for four years and just did not want to continue in that position. I have always regretted my choice. I wondered “what if?” many times over the years as I worked as a public schoolteacher while my love was also for writing. I enjoyed teaching, but as the years passed and more and more restrictions were added to what teachers could and could not do or teach, I fell out of love with the vocation. My last 3 1/2 years teaching were the very best. I was a Reading Specialist and taught the most needy, the most struggling students to read better.

But I am happy to be a writer now since I retired from teaching. I have written over the years and am working on all the writing I’ve already done as well as adding to that. I’m delighted to blog. I’m delighted to write. I do, however, require frequent breaks from editing. The more I edit, the more editing I see that needs doing. It’s a mountain that seems to grow as I work on dismantling it. The breaks I take help my eyes to refresh and work better when I return for another bout of editing.

Editing

Editing is my least favorite part of writing, but it is so necessary.

Yesterday I worked on my Stories of a Public Schoolteacher book. I am now in Chapter five of the editing process. This is not the final edit. I probably edit my writing ten times before I’m satisfied that it’s my absolute best and there’s no change I can see to make to it, so off it goes.

The story I was editing yesterday had been written three different ways and uploaded. I forgot I was waiting for it to “get cold” before I decided which version read the best. Of course, it was the third one. Meanwhile I had read and labored over the first two. Still, I was delighted to see the third version because it was clearly the best one and I don’t think I changed any part of it. I may have adjusted punctuation.

Today when I go back to edit Chapter Six, I need to be absolutely sure that I delete the first two versions of Chapter Five’s story. Each chapter is a different story. I do not want to struggle through those first two versions again because I forget the third version is the good one.

It’s hard for me to delete huge chunks of writing. At some point, I had sat down and written what I thought was a good way to tell a story. I probably wrote that story three times before I got the version that read smoothly. But I will delete them first thing today because I do not want to waste more time on correcting the worst two versions of the same story, especially when there are three versions.

You have to be ruthless to edit. No matter how much you like a phrase or a sentence, if it doesn’t belong in the piece, you have to take it out. Let me go delete those two versions before I waste time struggling with them again. I’m already behind on when I’d planned to publish this book. My hoped for publishing time frame was sometime in August with September being my “for sure” deadline. But I was busy moving and getting ready to move in August and September. I do love the new place where I’m staying. It’s quiet and I can work better here. But moving caused me to delay working on this book.

I had planned to work on the next book, but with Black History Month coming up in February, I want to edit the book I published last year for that. I am a teacher and had written rhymes for twenty-two? Was it twenty-two Black History figures? I let myself get talked into using the word “Rap” instead of “Rhymes” in the title, and I want to change that. When I look up other “Rap” books, they are mostly “gangsta” kind of writing, and mine is to help children as they study African American History. So the next book will get pushed back because Black History month is timely and needs doing first.

I guess I edit my time as I edit my writing.

Ideas

I get my writing ideas from many places. Sometimes I dream a dream that could be a good story. Sometimes I wake up finding that I’ve composed a poem in my head as I slept. Sometimes I see a situation and it’s not the situation that I make a story about, but my interpretation of that situation which can have nothing at all to do with what is really happening.

I am also a worrier. I can imagine all the ways something can go wrong. Sometimes that morphes into an interesting story. That happened this morning. I went out for the third time driving in this new/not so new town. I realized the other day that I first moved to this town as a young bride with so many hopes and dreams. I left it in a very different way. Now as a senior citizen I’m back. Roads have been widened. Stores have been moved, but the essence of the town remains.

I cannot tell you the story my worries generated this morning, for it is my story and I hope to write it. I wrote the plot and added it to my folder of story ideas. I can tell you that it involves traffic.

Do you ever watch those impatient cars behind you that zoom around you at the first opportunity? Do you dare to glance over at them when you meet again at the next red light? This story involves something akin to that situation.

I once wrote a story about another situation involving a vehicle. It was inspired by that awful used car I bought whose transmission “slipped” until I finally went to court and the judge told the owner of the car sales place to give me back my money and take the car back. I let my son read that story and he asked did I have to make the protagonist so mean? Well, did he hate him as he read the story? Mission accomplished. I read somewhere that if you can stir an emotion in the reader when you write, be it a good one or a bad one, you have written well.

We’ll see. If I ever write today’s imagined story, I’ll let you know. I do take the time to type up the main ideas/plot and also the ending, if I’ve figured that out, for any story idea I think might work into a good short story or even a book. Do you have a folder of ideas? If not, you should. That way you’ll  never face writer’s block. Just go to your folder, pick something you thought of before, and write.

 

 

Plans

I noticed I had a few “likes” on yesterday’s post about Teachers of Vision Magazine. I may list a market for articles, poems, or short stories once a week.

I also want to set up a website on WordPress. My son is setting one up on another site. Someone suggested that I have him set mine up, but I think I can do it myself. WordPress has always been easy to follow as they walk me through things. I’m looking forward to doing that.

This blog continues to evolve. I’ve written all my life. I haven’t tried to market my writing as much in the past as I am doing now.

I want to re-subscribe to Poets and Writers Magazine. Writer’s Digest Magazine is another I’ve subscribed to in the past.

Sometimes I stumble upon things that work well for me and want to share them. Other times I just want to talk about what I’m writing.

My current book . . . Stories by a Public Schoolteacher continues to be uploaded to Amazon’s self-publishing site. That site took some time to learn to navigate, but now it’s easy when I go there. I’ve self-published two books there so far. Both were poems/rhymes and neither sold very well, but the book I currently am working on is more like a short story book. Then when that’s done, one of the books I’ve worked on for years will be next.

Some publishing company has one of my books . . . parts of it . . . and told me awhile ago that they would let me know something within a year. I seriously don’t think I’m going to live long enough to find publishers for all my books, so I am self-publishing them. I have several books I’ve written over the last twenty years. I mention them here when they are published. The two already published are available on Amazon.com. My author name is Constance Barr Corbett. That’s how I started out writing and that’s the name I continue to use.

I’m beginning to bore myself now, so I’m sure you feel bored as well. TTYL.

Constance

Disappointment

I worked a long time on an article about “Time”. I really expected it to be accepted. The magazine had published two other articles I submitted and had asked for another article. This was a couple years ago. At that time I was working fulltime, but becoming disabled, and it was all I could do to get to my day job. I was not writing articles for submission at then.

I did notice through my LinkedIn account that the editor who had requested more articles from me had moved on and was no longer with the magazine. Still, I thought if they liked my writing before, they’d probably like it again. So once I got settled into not working at a regular job every day, I began considering freelance writing again.

I went to their website and looked at the “themes” for the next year. I thought of ways to approach their publishing needs and began to write the first article about time and how it relates to education. It is a magazine for educators. I wrote, re-wrote, re-wrote again, edited it one more time and finally just before the deadline, I submitted the article. A couple weeks later I got their email thanking me for the submission but saying they were not going to publish my article. By that time I had started a second article for their next theme, which was “excellence”. I had the article written, but hadn’t worked as long on it. Still when I read it, it looked “done” to me, so I sent it as an attachment (as they request) and today, guess what I got. Disappointment. I got the email saying they had received the article but were not going to publish it. I don’t go with three strikes and I’m out. I usually stop with the second rejection. Either they don’t like my writing style, or I am not writing the content they desire. Either way, I’m done.

Now that I won’t be competing with any of you writers reading this blog, I am going to list the info here in case any of you do know enough about education to want to write for them.

Here’s their info: (their themes are at the very bottom)

Teachers of Vision Writer’s Guidelines
A Publication of Christian Educators Association International (CEAI)
Editorial Director–Doreen Madere
Managing Editor–Dawn Molnar
Assistant Editorial Manager–Lara Busold
Our Publication
TEACHERS OF VISION provides biblically principled resources that encourage, equip, and empower Christian educators serving in public and private education.
Our Audience
TEACHERS OF VISION is a membership and limited subscription publication. Readers look for
educational articles that inspire and provide practical ideas they can use in their profession. Our audience is primarily public school educators.
Our Writers
● Integrate spiritual insights into their articles
● Use premises faithful to the teachings of Scripture in their writing
● Remain up-to-date on trends in education
● Present original ideas
● Provide material for practical classroom application
● Submit clear, concise, and creative articles
Our Editorial Needs
● Theme-based features – 800-1200 words
● Theme-based mini-features – 400-800 words
● Personal interest (personal experience, educational success stories) – 400-1000 words
● Methodology (teaching techniques, educational philosophy, educational trends) –
400-800 words
● Inspirational – 400-800 words
● Poetry (theme-based, student-focused, education-focused)
Format
● Times New Roman 12 font
● Single Space
● Double Space Between Paragraphs
● No Indentation
● MLA Citation
Compensation
If your submitted work is chosen for publication, you will receive a pay range written in the
contract before editing begins.
Copyright
We purchase first rights, which include digital copies and social network sharing. We maintain
the right to reprint your article in any CEAI publications. Additionally, because we are an
educational publication, we give members permission to copy for educational purposes. We respect copyright law and contact authors if someone outside the educational community wants to reprint an article. We only give permission if the author approves and the reprint includes when and where the article was published.
For example:
“This article first appeared in Teachers of Vision magazine in the Winter 2018 issue. Teachers of Vision magazine is a publication of CEAI, Westlake, OH. (CEAI.org)”
Submission Process
● Email your Microsoft Word or Pages article submission as an attachment to
tov@ceai.org .
● Include your name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, and word count at the top of your manuscript.
● We cannot guarantee your article will be accepted.
● We reserve the right to edit material for length and content.
● We maintain the right to reprint your article in other CEAI publications including CEAI’s website, social media, and emails.
● We accept previously published articles, provided

2020 Winter
Theme: Time

Submission deadline: September 3, 2019

2020 Spring
Theme: Excellence

Submissions deadline: November 11, 2019

2020 Back to School
Theme: Grace

Submissions deadline: February 17, 2020
https://ceai.org/teachers-of-vision-magazine/

The News Is Not Good

I submitted a magazine article that I mentioned here on September 3, or close to that date, as it was the deadline for submissions. This morning I got an email telling me the article would not be used. I was disappointed. I spent a lot of time writing that article and it was rejected. That’s a bad feeling, but I hear it happens to all writers.  Reasons for rejection of submissions vary. It could not have been what they were seeking. Maybe it wasn’t as well written as I thought? They may have already accepted or decided on another article that was similar to mine. I have no idea what their reasons were. It’s like trying to raise the dead. I cannot do anything now but grieve.

I don’t have time for a lot of grief. At some time in the future, I may reread the article and submit it elsewhere. Right now I’m ready to bury it and mourn. However, I did have another article written that I planned to submit to the same magazine by November 11. I opened up that word document and began to edit. I just sent it to the same editor who rejected my last article. I might as well. The work was done. She’s published two of my prior submitted articles. Maybe she’ll like this other one? Maybe I’ve lost my touch. No. I mustn’t think that way. Beating myself up for someone else’s decision is not productive. I must do some self-talk when I get rejected. There may be things wrong with me, but on this day, I need to encourage myself.

She didn’t like my article. Or perhaps she did, but couldn’t use it? My article wasn’t well-written? I think it was. I did my best. In the future, when it’s “cold” I’ll go back and reread it and see if it’s appropriate for another magazine. Today I don’t want to try to work with the rejected article.

I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine. When something you’ve written is rejected, you just pick yourself up, dust yourself off and try again.

 

Writing Is A Lonely Life

It’s also hard to find appreciation for all the labor you put into your work.

I’m not talking about the editors who have bought my articles and poems, or even the ones who rejected my work. I’m talking about family and friends.

I almost can hear each of them thinking only, “That’s nice” when I try to share something I’m working on, or am excited about.

I have a couple writer friends who do understand and converse about the trials and tribulations of this career, but for the most part, I feel my work is met with indifference among those whom I’d think would be the most interested.

My children. I have three children and they’ve grown up with my free-lance writing, and now that I have the time to really pursue this work fulltime, I am not getting the accolades I crave. I am hearing the “that’s nice” and a change of subject.

Well, I thought sharing that here might make me feel better, but I think I now actually feel worse. It’s hard for any man to be . . . what’s that quote? Let me check.  Mark 6:4 . . . who knew? With my Catholic and Presbyterian background and the fact that Bible was counted as a History course in my small hometown and taught in public school – yes, I’m that old . . . well, I guess the verses are in my head, even when I don’t know where they come from sometimes . . . Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is without honor only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household.”  https://biblehub.com/greek/4396.htm

So I’m in good company if Jesus also wasn’t appreciated by his hometown or his close friends and relatives. Except were the apostles his friends? Now I digress.

Even success as a writer can feel lonely at times.

But if we feel bad, we should read our Bibles! If we are out of writing ideas, we should read our Bibles. It’s full of some of the most interesting stories in the world. Every human emotion that can be felt is written about in the Bible. Every human situation is said to be in there as well.

This has been a rambling post, but I asked one of my adult children today to tell me how to take a screenshot so I could show him how many likes and comments I’d gotten on a recent blog. He sent other messages, but never answered that one. I had opened my email and saw the long list of emails from WordPress telling me various others had liked my blog and commented and I wanted to share it and he didn’t tell me how to take  a screenshot, although I know he knows. So I stewed all day over feeling unappreciated.

I’m in the middle of packing to move and tired and cranky and no one appreciates me. . . well, no one in my current hometown. However, like Jesus. I’ll be fine. For I cannot expect the appreciation in my own hometown.

(After finishing this blog and posting it, I saw that story is also in the book of Matthew)

Matthew 13:57
And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”