Author – Edd Gent

I just discovered a new writer named Edd Gent. His articles are online at this location. https://singularityhub.com/author/egent/ He is very intelligent and an excellent writer.

I’ve learned in writing classes that to be a good writer, you need to read good writing.

What are those three reasons for writing that are abbreviated P.I.E.? To persuade, inform, or entertain. I saw all of those reasons for his writing as I read his articles. He persuades me to see his point of view, he informs me on topics I’m interested in, but have never seen written about as well as he’s written about them, and much of the information, I find entertaining.

I thought I’d share the link with my readers because this guy, Edd Gent, is good.

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

Aesop put that idea in my head with his Tortoise/Hare Race Story. I’ve always enjoyed Aesop’s stories and remember many of the morals or lessons they taught.

Yesterday I spent time writing two more Schoolteacher stories for the book I’m trying to publish by June . . . or did I say July? Had to be July, because there’s no way this will be polished before June is over. Isn’t June 1 next Monday?

But I digress, and that’s one of my problems as I write. My mind is full of grasshoppers, and they flit from idea to idea, and I must discipline myself to stay on task.

I have various books in various levels of completion. The two I hope to publish before this year is over are the schoolteacher stories and the Black History Teacher Guide.

Now that I’ve proofread and edited those two new stories again, I will move on to the Black History book. I did notice this computer didn’t save the stories in the Createspace (kdp format?) format, and I had to first resave them and then work on improving how they read. I never save anything important in just one place, so I was fortunate that the stories from yesterday were also in the book file folder. Copy and paste are my friends. (Didn’t I read that the man who invented copy/cut/paste techniques died recently? There’s another thought grasshopper trying to divert my attention.)

I know I wrote up twenty things I want to be sure are in the new edition of the book on Black History that I wrote last year. As I read through it, I saw it as not as complete as it needed to be. I sent one former colleaque a copy of the book and she sent a sweet note about it. I sent a former principal a copy of the book and haven’t heard what she thought yet. She has been promoted to the central office and I’m sure is very busy. I sent one kindergarten teacher I like one of the worksheets from the book.

The premise of that book is to help children remember what various African Americans did that contributed to the greatness of this country. I wrote little rhymes to fascilitate that.I will copy/paste the worksheet for Garrett Morgan. It is designed for Kindergarten, but could be adapted for use in Pre-K or First Grade as well.

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  Read the Rhyme and Color the Traffic Lights

Busy Writing Day

I have two books I hope to publish before this year is over. One is the public schoolteacher stories book, and the other is a new edition of the Black History Teacher’s Guide that I published last December and have revised and added new material to.

Today I wrote two more stories for the schoolteacher stories book. I just finished the second one. I wrote the first one early this morning. I had gone to bed when the second story began to write itself in my head, and I got up to type it up. I was surprised at how many words it was.

I usually do my best work in the mornings, so it will be interesting to see what I think of tonight’s written story. I have no idea how much more editing it will need, although I did proofread and edit it as soon as it was typed up.

I also wrote out twenty more things I want to include in the Black History guide. February is Black History Month in America.

My goals are to publish the schoolteacher stories book by July and the Black History book by October. I have moved up my deadlines because time marches on, and this Pandemic has shown me nothing is to be taken for granted.

I’ve saved articles and news reports about the Pandemic. I don’t have any plans to use them, but if I ever do, I have a chronological history of what has happened. I also have information about China and how the virus was handled . . . the disease was handled, I should say, over there. How they coped. They seemed more able to stay at home and self-isolate than Americans.

We just had Memorial Day weekend, and with the knowledge I have about the virus, which is probably more than most people, I shudder at what the next couple weeks might bring to the folks who just could not bear to stay home.

How is it that home is not a place people want to be?

I don’t know. That may be a thought to explore another time.

I think I’ve done more than enough writing for one day. I hope when I reread my words tomorrow that I don’t have to change many of them.

Stop Right Then And Write It Down

Much of a writer’s work is done when s/he’s not even at the keyboard or wherever the writing takes place. Thoughts and ideas tend to drift into our heads when we’re doing the most mundane tasks. They can also come from a statement someone makes, somethng we see, something we try to explain to another . . .

The trick to keeping these sudden writing ideas is to write them down when they do pop into our heads. I’ve learned over the years that if I don’t write an idea down, I often lose it.

That’s where a “Writer’s Notebook” comes into use. Take a notebook of empty (for now) blank pages with you everywhere you go. When you get a writing idea or are truly inspired, write enough down to remind yourself what it was you were motivated by and what you wanted to say about it. Short, quick, random words that mean something to you, whether anyone else could decipher them or not, is what needs to be written.

Put another notebook on your nightstand with a pen beside it. Those brilliant ideas you wake up with? That dream that scared the hell out of you? Before you even get out of bed, jot down enough to jog your memory later when you want to elaborate on the idea.

You can also keep a writer’s notebook at work in your desk drawer. I would not show or share it with anyone because it’s not ready yet to share. These are writing ideas and stories you want to explore and possibly write about at a future time.

I have many notebooks that I’ve collected over the years. I am amazed by some of the things that triggered a possible story or article. Sometimes I have jotted down lines for a poem.

The main thing is, when, at the exact moment when, you have that idea or thought about a future possible story, poem, or article, that’s when it’s the time to make a note of what it is and maybe what you think it should lead to. Right that minute, write it down.

If you don’t want to share what you’re doing and someone is around, just say it’s something you didn’t want to forget later. That’s the truth and you don’t owe anyone an explanation for your writer’s notebook. It’s ok to share what you’re doing, if you want to. I share some things about my writing, but there’s a lot more that I don’t share. I’ve always worried someone would “steal my ideas” and the few times I have shared, I haven’t always liked the response I got from whomever I was telling.

So get yourself two or three writer’s notebooks and begin to use them. They don’t have to be big books. A small notepad in your purse, if you carry a purse can suffice.

If you prefer, you can record ideas on your cell phone or whatever gadget (showing my age) you’d rather use. Just use something and don’t let all those good ideas slip away.