Sometimes, somebody else has already said it better...

I love this quote from Viktor E. Frankl's, Man's Search for Meaning: 


"The pessimist resembles a man who observes with fear and sadness that his wall calendar, from which he daily tears a sheet, grows thinner with each passing day. On the other hand, the person who attacks the problems of life actively is like a man who removes each successive leaf from his calendar and files it neatly and carefully away with its predecessors, after first having jotted down a few diary notes on the back. He can reflect with pride and joy on all the richness set down in these notes, on all the life he has already lived to the fullest. What will it matter to him if he notices that he is growing old?"


Too often over the past few years, I've allowed myself to get caught up in the tasks that need to get done rather than celebrate the accomplishments.  You lose track of all of your successes when you see the deadline (literally or figuratively) racing towards you.  


I've been so busy that there were times when I almost gave up on writing.  Forget drive and passion; who has the time?


After reading Frankl's book, I worry less about the time I have left and prefer to focus on how I will spend the time I have now.


When I look at things Frankl's way, it seems silly that I would think that I would not find time to write.  And if I find the time each day then I'm sure the notes jotted down on the back of my torn calendar sheets will add up to a pretty good story.

A mentor, editor and writer all wrapped up into one

I met Melanie Fogel over 5 years ago, through a creative writing course she offered (and still offers) through the Ottawa School Board's Continuing Education program. Her course caught my eye because she was the editor of Storyteller magazine through the fifteen years it was in existence.  I scoured enough local writing courses to know that it’s rare to find a course taught by anyone who is more than a hobbyist.  I jumped on the opportunity.

She told us that it’s difficult to teach people how to write, but she was able to draw on her experience in reading through endless slush piles to provide  examples of how not to write.  We learned how you can lose a reader by the end of the first paragraph.  How not to leave the reader with a sense of “So what?” by the end of the story and how if you can’t summarize your story in a single sentence, you’re probably in trouble.  It was an excellent course and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in developing their writing skills.  

I was especially fortunate in that she saw something in me and chose to continue to offer mentorship with my writing ever since.

Her latest short story, Pied-à-Terre, can be found in Cutting Block Press' Tattered Souls II Anthology.  A preview can be found here.  

Congrats on another publication, Melanie!