Ah, Thursday morning. My weekly edition of what's going on in Jewel's brain. You're welcome, by the way. I know you are dying to know what is on my mind each week. So, here we go...
I have the same things on my to-do list Monday through Friday: quiet time, workout, read (non fiction), read (fiction), vocab, and write. These are on the calendar each and every day. Sometimes they are shuffled around appointments for training and tutoring. Sometimes they are pushed aside for readings at schools only to be picked up when given the chance. Saturdays keep the same to-do list without the vocab work. Sundays are simply quiet time and workout. Regardless, I have given these things a priority on my work schedule. Many people wonder why it's so important for me to read and find that I am using precious time I could use for literally anything else. However, my desire is to write and not just stay mediocre. I want improvement. Reading improves my writing. It helps me grow my sentence structuring and my placement. It helps me to improve my story lines and details. What approach did that author take that I should be taking? I like the use of color in those details, but I didn't like it in the other book. My mind grows through reading - as just about everyone's does. In my non-fiction reading I have been enjoying the diaries of C.S. Lewis. He has always been one of my top authors to read. I love what he does. This book begins in 1917 and continues through the 20's. During his life at this time he is trying to establish himself as an intellectual and writer that's worth something. He writes about the classes he attends and the papers he writes. He talks about the jobs he takes on as a tutor to help with income as he lives with a woman and her daughter almost taking the place of her son, whom Lewis became close to in service. There is talk of political issues and strikes. Eventually, he gets a spot as a fellow. He is now the one giving lectures and correcting papers. And then we see his first big poem accepted for publication and the raving reviews. He's quite detailed in his walks, whether taking the family dog or alone. You can picture the land he walks on and the weather that accompanies him. It was about 300 pages in of this 645 page book that I realized even more why I enjoyed this book. Yes, I have learned so much about his life from this journal of his, but it's more than that. I can see the times that he has failed turning in his poems to local publishers. He writes of his discouragement. Sometimes he doesn't write at all. The journal will end abruptly for one day and not pick up until the next month, or even longer. Each time there is a brief description of why Lewis did not continue writing in his journal before it continues on. That seems to be where I am these days. Always working and taking care of matters of the home that keep me from writing. Sending out what few things I have completed to whatever publishers will take a look. Wanting to walk through the country side, yet I don't get the time to walk around the block it seems. Correcting work of students. Taking on tutoring to help make ends meet. Holding a job for little pay. Always trying to sneak away to write and edit and get somewhere further along. At this point in time I have under 100 pages left to read in this monster of a book. This book will never reach the point of C.S. Lewis' success with The Chronicles of Narnia. I hold a book of 600 + pages that truly gives the life experiences that he had and it brings him out of the lofty air and turns him into a real human being. So often we look to the people we admire and figure them to be too far off from us. We forget the humanity of all of these people, whether their authors, athletes, or actors. Everyone is given opportunities. Not everyone takes them. Many people have to work daily for years unseen only to be recognized fully when they're gone from our midst. This is encouraging for me. I will probably always be a nobody for the outside world. Maybe something good will come out of my writing once I'm dead and gone. But for now, I can continue on my path knowing that I'm setting an example for my kids, showing them that there must be work to be done- even if it doesn't look like work to those around us. I might get judged and my kids will hear, but they will understand. I'm working for a purpose. So if you, too, feel a little deflated, don't worry. Even the greatest writers dealt with failure. Even Michael Jordan was cut from the JV team. Even actors get booted from roles, or not selected at all. Just keep working. Just keep submitting. Just keep your focus and step forward.
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