Of Mice and Men Archives - Janet Sumner Johnson

Of Mice and Men

The Best Laid Plans . . .

Apr

27, 2011 |

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Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to go to France for two weeks as a tour guide. No, I am not French scholar. And Yes, it was a LOT of work to get ready.

But as a favor to my sister (for whom I would do a lot because she is just that awesome), I went and posed as a confident tour guide. I not only learned all kinds of French history, but all kinds of random tidbits about life. For example, cobblestone may look cool, but it’s really not fun to walk or drive on.

Still, I digress . . . now that I’m back, I get to subject you with all kinds of travel log writing analogies. Bwah ha ha ha! (Your ears should be ringing with my evil laugh.)

So, here we go . . . the first thing we visited after dropping off our luggage was the Eiffel Tower.

This iconic building fascinates me. It was built for the Paris Universal Exposition of 1889. It was meant to stand for 2 years before it would be dismantled. Then they upped its life to 20 years, and finally, with the coming of the radio and its usefulness assured, they decided to keep it.

It’s hard to imagine, from our current frame of reference, that the French would ever have considered taking the Eiffel Tower apart. But back then it was something of an atrocity to many. Modern art at it’s worst, so some people thought.

Now we can look back and breathe a sigh of relief that they revised their plans. Somehow, Paris just wouldn’t be Paris without it.

Writing can be a bit like this. We lay out our plans. We set our goals. We write our books and think that’s the end.

And then the first critiques come back.

We revise our work and sigh with relief that that’s done.

And then the next batch of critiques come back. I’m sure you get the idea.

What’s important to remember though, are the breathtaking results from your efforts.