Yesterday, I saw a license plate I could identify with:
Of course, for the full effect, you needed to read the custom license plate frame. Above the plate it read: “I love creating,” and then below was a web address. I was driving at the time, so I unfortunately don’t remember the address.
In short: I love creating kids books.
Aha! I thought. A kindred spirit right in front of me. But then it made me wonder. Is she/he published? Not published? What kinds of kids stories do they write? And with all these questions, I wondered if I would have the moxy to make that MY license plate?
I remember reading a post by Hilary Wagner, author of Nightshade City, shortly after she got a book deal. She confessed that she didn’t tell anyone she wrote until after she had an agent. That post really made me think, because I, like her, didn’t want to tell anyone about it until I’d had some tangible success.
At that point, I kept a family blog, but not one to chronicle my writing. Only direct family (and critique partners) knew my secret. I felt comfortable with that. It’s better this way, I told myself. Less to explain. But what I found was that I was withholding a significant part of myself from people I really cared about. Standoffish is probably the best word to describe how I felt.
For me, that wasn’t okay, so I changed some things.
I remember the first time I told a friend that I was writing a book. I steeled myself for the reaction. You know, that credulous look that says, “you really think you can write a book good enough to be published?”
It never came. Instead, she said, “Actually, that doesn’t surprise me.” She asked all kinds of questions about what I was writing, my writing process, and what my plans were. And I realized that people who care will always be interested. Always believe you can succeed.
Because that’s what friends do.
I still don’t tell just anyone, but I don’t withhold it from my friends either. So back to the original question: would I choose a license plate like this?
The answer is probably not. At least not yet.
What about you? Who do you tell that you write?
Over the past week, I’ve seen this license plate twice:
I laughed when I first saw it. “Some’s not lacking for confidence,” I thought. But the more I think about it, the more I love it.
Because why shouldn’t we all think that of ourselves? Why shouldn’t we have the confidence to know that we are awesome? And that means you!
In short, you are awesomesauce on a platter!
And just to be clear, one person’s awesomness has nothing to do with another person’s awesomeness. We don’t have to compare ourselves to anybody. No two people are the same (not even identical twins!). No two people will travel the same path in this life. And that is GOOD! Who would want to do exactly what someone else has done? Where’s the adventure in that?
So remember, YOU ARE AWESOME!
When’s the last time you reminded yourself how awesome you are?
Third, you may have noticed I took my Blog Roll down. Something to do with a virus on one of the referenced blogs. Easiest thing was to chop the whole kit and kaboodle. I’ll start rebuilding soon. Just wanted to let you know.
Finally, I know I’ve kept you all in suspense for a horrible amount of time, so here are the license plate interpretations from >>this<< post (for the “hard” ones):
P.S. Here is another interesting one: NOT ED’S. It was on a convertible BMW. What’s the story this time?
Today I want to tell you a story:
Once upon a time I wrote a book. It was not my first book, but I loved it like it was. People critiqued it, and I made changes. More people critiqued it, and I made more changes. People started telling my good things about my book. This made me happy.
So I worked on my query letter. People critiqued it, and I made changes. More people critiqued it, and I made more changes. And people told me happy things about my query letter. This made me happy, too.
And I wanted to query.
But one thing bothered me. . . .
. . . the page count.
My book was long. This did not make me happy.
So I started cutting. Little things at first:
But it wasn’t enough.
So I cut more. Bigger things this time:
But it still wasn’t enough. (Yeah, it was LONG.)
So I cut more. Even bigger things this time:
And while this story isn’t finished yet, I will tell you this: My beta re-readers between each cut session couldn’t tell what I’d cut. None of it was missed. None. And while they did notice the plot changes I’d made . . . they thought it was better.
So if you, too, are struggling with the the dreaded thing called word count, are you sure you’ve cut all you can?
Today, I am just admiring some license plates.
Did you get them all? So which of these plates is on your car today?
Thank you to everyone who chimed in with their own backstory to the now infamous license plate “IH8SK8S.” I enjoyed reading them. But here’s the skinny:
Driver X is haunted by a past filled with tragedy related to skates. And I know most of you thought ice skates, but you’re all wrong. They were roller skates.
Incident #1: Christmas, Driver X is 6.
All she wanted for Christmas was a pair of roller skates. She sent several letters to Santa detailing her desires, and even endured sitting on Santa’s lap at the mall to be double sure he got the message. She left catalogs open on her parent’s bed with the exact make, model and size circled in bright pink marker. She just knew she was going to get those skates.
She didn’t. Worse, her older sister got a pair.
Incident #2: Two years later, what has come to be known as “The Incident.”
The Elementary School Driver X attended sponsored a skating night at the local skating rink. Unfortunately, because Driver X didn’t get that pair of skates for Christmas two years earlier, she was a lousy skater. Halfway around her first circle, she fell and broke her hand. Her right hand. The one she writes with.
Normally, this wouldn’t matter, but the next day happened to be when Jeopardy! for Kids was administering a test at her school to qualify participants. Driver X not only missed the test, but her chance for fame.
Incident #3: Eight years later.
A rash of vandalisms had been perpetrated against her High School by a self-proclaimed “Skating Bandit.” Desperate to find the culprit, the administrators performed a secret, systematic locker check.
Normally, this wouldn’t matter, but guess who brought a certain pair of roller skates owned by her older sister to school that day as part of an assignment to give an oral report on an unhappy childhood memory?
Eight weeks of community service AND an incident report added to her permanent record. We won’t mention the trips to the psychologist.
Final Incident: Ten years later.
Yesterday, I saw a license plate that caught my interest:
I know, you’re probably thinking, “Hmmm . . . she must be in pretty desperate need for some entertainment,” but bear with me.
Most license plates I see state something about the driver. Whether it’s a name, fan status for a sports team, a reference to something they love (sports, cars, hobbies, hats, whatever). In essence, these personalized 8 letters reveal something that the driver deems to be significant in his or her life. It characterizes him or her.
So why use the opportunity to tell people what you hate? It’s what you are not instead of what you are. Really, it’s an anti-characterization.
As a writer, my brain went into overdrive to create the backstory for this driver. But before I share MY made-up backstory, I want to hear yours.
WHY does this person hate skates so much???
P.S. And on a blogger business note, starting next week, I’ll be cutting down to only two posts a week for the summer. M/H
I totally missed the boat with the Lenny Fest, but my admiration for him overcomes silly things like time, so I am joining the Lenny Fest anyway.
If you haven’t met Lenny, you should go meet him. Like now. He is a ray of sunshine. A slushee in melting-hot weather. Rain boots on a puddly day. A letter from a long-lost friend. A gift-wrapped present on a regular, old day. Well, you get the idea.
Since I’m no good at poetry, I’m offering several personalized license plates for Mr. Lenny. Appropriate, don’t you agree? I get 8 letters:
What do you think? Which one should Lenny pick?
Hugs, Lenny! We’re all thinking of you. 😀
I’ve got cars on my mind this month. Everywhere I go, I see clever personalized plates, and I have to share a few. It’s fascinating to see what people want to share about themselves to strangers.
MEEOW4 (Think this person has a thing for cats?)
HUGGGS (Lenny, I thought of you)
AWSUM1 (Loads of self-confidence here)
2SLFSH (Proud of their flaws? But hey, at least they’re self-aware!)
PAIRDOX (I could read this two ways . . . They own two doxen’s, OR they are a clever English major and it means ‘paradox.’ What do you think?)
MS ROBO (Is this kind of like the Stepford Wives?)
STYXCHK (A girl who likes the band Styx)
SHAMROQ (I’m betting this person is originally from Ireland)
RED BUG (I thought about doing the guess the car with this, but yeah)
However, here’s a license plate where I’d love to hear your guesses. It totally made me giggle. 😀 So give me the make, model and color, and the person with the most correct information wins their favorite candy bar:
(I’ll give you a hint. Google a picture of Z06 if you don’t know what one is.) And if you haven’t voted on the latest This vs. That poll, I’d love it if you did! 😉
It’s been way too long since I did one of these. So for those who haven’t played before, guess the Make, Model, and Color of the car with the following license plate:
ROS3RED
First person to guess correctly can choose between their favorite candy bar or a mystery prize (which may or may not be as good as the candy bar *insert evil laugh here*).
P.S. If you haven’t weighed in on the last This vs. That post, please do! I hate to beg, but I’d love more opinions . . . it’s a TOUGH decision. 😉
P.P.S. Garrett, I still owe you . . . I’ve been searching for that Cadbury Egg, I may have to go with your back-up. Just didn’t want you to think I’d forgotten!