National Doodle Day–Who Knew?

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Well, I, for one, did not know that today is National Doodle Day. (That’s Neil Gaiman’s Doodle. Looks remarkably like something a Junior Hall drew in the 4th grade. )

But I kinda like this doodle idea.

I know most of us think of doodling as drawing little squiggles or curves, making silly little pictures on a piece of paper. We doodle in a class when the teacher gets boring. We doodle at a conference when the speaker gets repetitive. We doodle at church when the sermon drags.
Or maybe that’s just me. The point is, most of the time, we doodle when our mind’s not completely occupied. But have you ever let your mind doodle? When you’re occupied with some boring chore, like pulling weeds, or painting outside furniture, or scrubbing a tub, haven’t you let your mind wander? Sort of like a mental doodle?
I doodle out a plot problem while I’m planting a row of pansies. I doodle out an idea for a column while I’m washing my hair. I doodle a character’s traits while I’m unloading the dishwasher. When I mentally doodle, thoughts ramble about here and there. I may not have a substantive solution, but I will have a starting point, or perhaps a couple of points to develop.
The problem with mentally doodling is that, if you’re not careful, your wonderful doodle will go poof! Unlike your squiggles from your 10th grade notebook (Cathy + Tommy 4ever), thoughts and ideas may not stick around unless you take a moment to write them out.
Although, honestly, I have a couple doodled notes that make absolutely no sense to me now. Sort of like Tommy 4ever. I have NO idea who Tommy was.

Finding Underneath the Juniper Tree

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Writing for no compensation is an individual choice. Sometimes, it may be worth the exposure; sometimes, it may be a way of giving back. And sometimes, it may have everything to do with where you are on your writing journey.

When I saw this paragraph from the Underneath The Juniper Tree submission guidelines, I decided to share the market here:

*All of those at Underneath The Juniper Tree are volunteers and therefore we are unable to compensate writers and artists with money or abundance of gifts for their work. We will, however, put many hours into helping with editing and suggestions with pieces so that you’re best work can be displayed in Underneath The Juniper Tree if it is accepted. We love new work and want to see emerging creative people succeed.

Hours of editing could be a very useful tool for an emerging children’s writer, especially if you’re looking to try your hand at something a little outside your regular genre. Think of it as an opportunity, like an internship. It’s true that you won’t be compensated in dollars and cents, but you will learn something about children’s writing that perhaps only experience can give you.

So, you might want to take a closer look at this online magazine. If you’ve been working on something a smidge scary, a tad terrifying, or just drop-dead dark, this might be the perfect market for your creepy story. Here’s the details for submitting, and here’s the link to the contest they’re running.

Now all you have to do is decide whether to keep this market…or not.