Saturday, November 06, 2004
Essay-Cooking Spaghetti for my writing class
Cooking spaghetti for my writing class
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>By Henry Burt Stevens
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>Young children usually like spaghetti and my kids ate lots of it. When they were 4, 7 and 10 years old I was working at home and often involved in cooking supper. The way we tested to see if the spaghetti was done was to fish a piece out of the pot and fling it up against the ceiling. If it stuck it was done. If it came back down, we cooked it some more and tested again, with plenty of laughs. After a while my wife Pat taught us all how to test spaghetti in a couth manner.
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>Testing one's writing can be handled the same way. Submit, and if it is rejected, send it out again. Be pragmatic, not sensitive.
>
>Where aspiring writers mingle, the first question among strangers often is, "Have you published?" When I'm asked, my answer is yes, and if they say they have not published my question is always, "Where have you been submitting?" I'm amazed when the answer is they've never sent anything out.
>
>I encourage every writer to send material out on submission. Obtain the requirements of the venue and send it. One time I heard a writer boast they had just received their 1,000th rejection in the mail. But, they had also received 257 letters of acceptance.
>
>If your submission is rejected it does not necessarily mean your writing is unworthy. It might merely mean the venue you sent it to can not use it on the day they looked at it. Send it somewhere else, quickly.
>
>Recently I won first prize in a poetry contest. I do not want to embarrass the judges, but the poems had previously been rejected by Crazyhorse, Atlanta Review, Amelia Magazine and the Florida Review. While none of these venues could use my poems, The Brown Pelican Press, across the Peace River waters in Port Charlotte, did find the material useful.
>
>Did the poems improve by riding around the United States Postal System? No. They improved by being offered in a venue that could use them. Dreaming about being published will not get you published. But a program of regular submissions will. Somewhere, someone will appreciate and use your work. Keep on flinging it out there - eventually, something will stick!
>
>###
Reprinted from Oct 2003 edition of Writing Currents, with their kind permission. henry
>
>By Henry Burt Stevens
>
>Young children usually like spaghetti and my kids ate lots of it. When they were 4, 7 and 10 years old I was working at home and often involved in cooking supper. The way we tested to see if the spaghetti was done was to fish a piece out of the pot and fling it up against the ceiling. If it stuck it was done. If it came back down, we cooked it some more and tested again, with plenty of laughs. After a while my wife Pat taught us all how to test spaghetti in a couth manner.
>
>Testing one's writing can be handled the same way. Submit, and if it is rejected, send it out again. Be pragmatic, not sensitive.
>
>Where aspiring writers mingle, the first question among strangers often is, "Have you published?" When I'm asked, my answer is yes, and if they say they have not published my question is always, "Where have you been submitting?" I'm amazed when the answer is they've never sent anything out.
>
>I encourage every writer to send material out on submission. Obtain the requirements of the venue and send it. One time I heard a writer boast they had just received their 1,000th rejection in the mail. But, they had also received 257 letters of acceptance.
>
>If your submission is rejected it does not necessarily mean your writing is unworthy. It might merely mean the venue you sent it to can not use it on the day they looked at it. Send it somewhere else, quickly.
>
>Recently I won first prize in a poetry contest. I do not want to embarrass the judges, but the poems had previously been rejected by Crazyhorse, Atlanta Review, Amelia Magazine and the Florida Review. While none of these venues could use my poems, The Brown Pelican Press, across the Peace River waters in Port Charlotte, did find the material useful.
>
>Did the poems improve by riding around the United States Postal System? No. They improved by being offered in a venue that could use them. Dreaming about being published will not get you published. But a program of regular submissions will. Somewhere, someone will appreciate and use your work. Keep on flinging it out there - eventually, something will stick!
>
>###
Reprinted from Oct 2003 edition of Writing Currents, with their kind permission. henry
