Editing and Organizing

Today I really need to go through and edit and organize my writing that I have done thus far. This primarily applies to my creative writing pieces--poetry, short stories, memoir pieces, etc. I probably will not get all of the editing done today, but I want to get a good start on it. My hope is to have it complete before the semester starts, at least of all my writings up to this point. I think it will be helpful to me to have all my work in a portfolio type setup so that I can read them on actual paper and not just a computer screen.

This will also come in handy when I take my writing capstone in the Spring semester and I need to make my final protfolio in order to graduate. Wow! I didn't even think about how close I am really getting to graduating and how much work it is going to take in Spring semester to accomplish my goals.

I think this is all still a shock to me after this past semester because of dealing with my gastric-bypass recovery, PTSD, depression, my mom's diagnosis of lung cancer...I didn't really have a desire to write. In fact, I thought that I was a horrible writer and that I should just quit because I would never make a good writer anyway. I am sure that I am not the first writer to experience this, and I am positive that I will not be the last.

I really hate that I doubt myself as a writer. I want to be confident enough to know that I am worth my degree, however I don't want to be overly confident or conceited. We will see how this last year at MSU goes..and how my editing and organizing goes over the next week before the semester starts.

Hey! It gives m something to do while I sit at the Cancer Center with my mom while she gets her chemo therapy treatments.

Haute Dish and Fall 2011

So...I submitted my writing to the literary magazine of MSU--Haute Dish. I have been published in the magazine previously, but none of my writing has been published with them. I have only had photographs in there. This is an accomplishment in itself and I was very excited about it, but I really want my writing published--obviously, since I am a creative writing major. I submitted 4 pieces total--two poems, a creative nonfiction piece, and a fiction piece. The deadline for submissions for the summer issue is not until April 18th so I will not know if they are going to publish anything until probably May 1st.

In other news of my life...I enrolled in classes for the Fall 2011 semester.  I am taking four classes...which has been my usual since beginning at MSU. I will only need to take 3 courses in the Spring of 2012 and then I will graduate...granted that I pass all of my courses that I am currently in. I am still a little bit worried that I will NOT pass editing...but only time will tell. There is only four weeks left of school...so this will make life interesting for the next month or so.

FALL 2011—Class Schedule at MSU


MKTG 310 Consumer and Professional Buyer Behavior --Online

INFS 338 Craft and Commerce of Book Publishing --Online

WRIT 355 Writing Children's Literature --Thursdays (6pm-9:20pm)

MKTG 348 Advertising Design, Production, and Copywriting --Online

Life is Not A Fairytale

(November 6, 2010)

Life is not a fairytale. It isn’t filled with the perfect ending and a love that never dies. Life is filled with mistakes, heartache, loss, and tearful goodbyes. The bigger the risk, the bigger the mistake may be. The deeper you love, the more tearful the goodbye. The closer you hold people to your heart, the more drastic the heartache. The more you need someone, the more painful the loss.


The perfect, fairytale ending doesn’t exist because life is full of contradictions and trials. The truth is that this is a much better way to live than in a storybook or a Disney movie. The more you fall and dust yourself off again, the more it makes life worth it. People make mistakes, they give up and let go, they change their minds and do the one thing they swore they’d never do, but this is what makes them who they are.


Without all the unmapped roads taken, the speed bumps we didn’t see, the choices we never thought we would make, and even that step off a cliff made us strong. All the loves that left, all the lies we are told, all the people who betray our trust, and all the unfair life lessons that we learn bring us to appreciate the good lovers, all the truths we are told, all the loyal people in our lives, and all the good advice that we receive. Without all the hard times in life, we would take the good times for granted.


We must learn from our mistakes and remember the valuable lessons that we learn. Love like you have never been hurt, keep those you care for close, and fully experience the tears. We will all love and lose, achieve and fail, try and give up, and even though it isn’t always fair, it will always be worth it. At the end of the day it is true, life is not a fairytale…it is much better!