A Word on Wednesday

Here are two related facts: (1) my eighth grade teacher gave out copying dictionary pages as a punishment.  And (2) in eighth grade, I broke classroom rules during social studies.

Therefore, I copied plenty of dictionary pages.

Was that what made me want to be a writer? No! It made me want to pay more attention to the current event lessons and participate more in class and do my homework so I wouldn't have to copy dictionary pages.

Was this what led me to a career in journalism? Probably not.

However, as a teenager, I did declare I wanted to be a writer. And my sister gave me a hardcover Tenth Edition of Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary for my 20th birthday.

I treasured it and her inscription: "May you write many stories, poems, thoughts … "  

Ironically, I didn't use it for writing. I had spell checker by then, later discovered Dictionary.com, and then the Look Up feature on Word. The thick tome with gold letters on a red cover did come in handy for Scrabble games, but now it is outdated and excludes many currently-acceptable scrabble words. So the relic is really just one of those nice-to-have things for this word nerd.

I came across the a book rest at a thrift store about five years ago; I bought it for fifty cents thinking it would make a great display for my dictionary. Yes, some people would think it more appropriate for a bible, and others use similar ones for cookbooks in the kitchen.

But for me, I think the dictionary is the good book in the house.

I'm launching "A Word on Wednesday" weekly feature here to draw attention to words — not words, which are obscure or snobby or hard to pronounce or complicated to spell. Each word will be selected because I think we should examine it more closely or use it more frequently or use it less flippantly. I may even dare to suggest some words to obliterate.

Next week, I'll share my thoughts on "mining."

Scene in Nature

The setting of my work in progress is along the Ice Age Trail at the Point Beach State Forest in northeast Wisconsin. I asked fans of my Facebook page to share their favorite photographs of nature with me to inspire. I selected this landscape by Gaelle Loriot-de Swarte as the winner of Wisconsin Naturalist Aldo Leopld's book A Sand Country Almanac. Thank you for sharing your inspiring photos with me. 

 The picture on the left was shared by Paula Marie.

 The photos are the right were submitted by Wendy Butkovich.




























The two water scenes on the left were shared by Billie Braeger.

 The three country living scenes on the right were taken by
Crystal Otto.

 The photo on the left was taken by Heidi Huck.

 The photo on the right was taken by Jenn Morris Fodden.

The photo on the left was taken by Dharma Kelleher. 

I don't blog

Lack of confidence prevents me from blogging.

Without confidence, I cannot determine which one of the 120 works in progress should take priority. But, I know they should all take priority over blogging, or should they? (See lack of confidence above.)

These works are mostly short stories and essays, but one novel is about half done and four more have about 10,000. Oh and that reminds me of the approximate 80 poems of varying quality.

Of those projects, some only need editing, others need more words, and others are fully ready for publication, if only I could make time to get them into print for readers to stumble upon.

To that end, I would love an editorial assistant. Wouldn't that be nice?

I keep writing fresh pieces longhand. This is the first time in my career where ideas and inspiration have come steady. With legal pads and notebooks, I am able to get them down. There are tens of thousands of longhand words scribbled, any typists out there?

Fortunately, I have a critique group to help with the confidence. Also good is the start of the school year, which always comes with a promise of a more open schedule.

The muse is here, please send the work horse for the drudgery of finishing. The first step has never been the hardest; it has always been step three-quarters of the way.

Don't send wine, just an angel.