Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday so I’m zipping through business and packing up cupcakes and clothes and cold cream (That’s what Mom asked for–I didn’t know you could still buy cold cream) for a little visit. But I don’t think I’m going to get my submission for Not Your Mother’s Book on Being a Mom finished before I go.
You remember the Not Your Mother’s Book series, right? There are so many of these titles–on moms, cats, golf, RV’s–well, it’s just a smorgasbord of subjects is what it is. If you can’t find a subject to write about then you’re not looking.
And if you’re not writing to submit, then you’re not going anywhere. So how about you pick a title and write a story? Whip out a first draft while you’re sitting in the van, waiting for baseball practice to end. Pen a story instead of watching TV. Make an outline in your head while you’re washing your hair.
Then edit and polish and submit. Make the time to work on it, little by little, till you have a story that’s good to go. It’s important that you write to submit because you’ll write better, knowing that someone else will be reading your work. Not the someone elses in your critique group (though a critique group can be tougher than an editor!). Not your loving mate. Not your friends. Not even your mother.
Send out your story to an editor. Because it’s the little steps along the way that train you up as a writer. Sort of like a mom training up a kid in the way she hopes that kid will go.
My mom did a pretty good job, training me up. Maybe I’ll finish that story before I go, after all.
Cathy C. Hall Writes 
Happy birthday to your mom.
Thanks for the link to all those books we can write for.
Oh my goodness! I did not know about these books & I see they have a Not Your Mother’s Book on Dating deadline June1. Ha! That is screaming for me to submit my wish-it-weren’t-true story about Speed Dating in the Silicon Valley. Hope I still have it somewhere in my files.
This is great advice, Miss Cathy! Do you take a notebook with you wherever you go, too? 🙂
If push comes to shove, the frosting on some store-bought cupcakes can be used as cold cream. Oh, I’m sorry. I was just trying to get myself out of an embarrassing situation by making up an excuse, after I dived into a plate of cupcakes, face-first.
Yes, NYMB has about 142 titles in the works. Write, edit and submit is ALWAYS good advice.
I hope you have a great celebration with your mother, Cathy. Enjoy!
But, but, but…it’s so much fun to write for my mom. She’s the only person who loves everything. Oh wait. I guess that’s your point. 🙂 Good luck finishing up your story (you can do it!) and Happy Birthday to your mom –she did good!
You caught me. I haven’t submitted in a while (though I did get a CS contract this week which was a nice surprise since I’d forgotten all about it). I’ve been working on my manuscript though, hoping to be ready for critiques at the July RWA conference. Does that count? Sort of, maybe. But I still need to do the other stuff so . . . thanks for the boot in the butt. Again. *Pfft*
What a sweet post, hope you have a wonderful visit with your mom. Happy birthday to her. I love your family photo.
Thanks for all the lovely birthday wishes for Mom. She had a grand birthday, and lots and lots of cake! And P.S. Katie, I’m always writing notes about things I want to write about later. I don’t always remember what the notes were about because I’ll use a kind of shorthand…oy. There’s a perfect What Not To Do When Taking Notes. 🙂
Happy birthday to your mom. Funny, I ask for Pond’s Cold Cream for my birthday. I love the way you write.
I bet you did finish it, you writer, you! Hope it was fun celebrating with your mom. Perfect advice, Cath!