Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Forget The Shoes. Let's Talk Hands.

Before I reveal which of my statements from yesterday is true, I'm going to give you today's statements. Do you know which one is true? Guess correctly and your name will be entered into a drawing which will take place this weekend. The winner will be announced on Monday. Okay, so here they are: #1. I payed my way through college with money I earned as a hand model for Hallmark Cards. I had no idea that one of the cards my hands appeared on was still in circulation until this past Valentine's Day. I kid you not--my husband bought it for me without having a clue it was my hand. #2. My parents payed my way through college which took over six years and five different schools. I finally graduated but with a degree I no longer use. My parents are about to kill me. Who could blame them? Now it's time to tell you which statement from yesterday is true. Apparently, I'm a much better liar than I thought. Only a handful of you guessed correctly. Yes, friends, I really did win an award for skydiving when I was twelve. I never said I actually jumped out of an airplane. (Although, I would have given the chance.) Here's what happened: In my sleep, I walked off the top bunk at summer camp and landed right on my head. As a joke, my fellow campers bestowed upon me The Skydiving Award. I still have the certificate to this day. There is some truth to the other statement. I am terrified of heights, but I haven't been my whole life, and I've flown several times. I'm not sure when the fear developed, but it does keep me from doing a lot of great things. I don't want this to happen in my writing. I don't want my fears to hold me back. If I do, I might miss out on something really fantastic. I've recently decided that I have a fear of completing my revisions. I think this is why they are taking me so long. Once they're finished, my novel will be put to the test. What if it's still not good enough? I guess what I'm afraid of is finding out that all of my hard work and countless hours of revisions were a waste of time. Well, today, I'm letting go of this fear. I'm making a commitment to finish this darn thing. And who knows? Maybe someday I'll let go of my fear of heights and really jump from an airplane. Do you have any fears in regards to writing? Leave your guess as to which of today's statements is true in the comments. Good luck figuring it out!

30 comments:

Heather Sunseri said...

Good morning! Yes, I have many fears. I have a fear of finally being told that I'll never be a writer. I think that goes right along with being afraid to put that manuscript out there. Once you're told that it would be very difficult to pick yourself back up and realize that that was just one opinion.

I'm going to go with option #2. Hand model makes me think of Joey on Friends finding his hand twin and how they're going to make millions with it. i don't know why i thought of that.

Wendy Paine Miller said...

I sometimes fear that the ideas that seem so wonderful in my head won't translate that way on the page.

I missed yesterday...shoot.

I'll guess the hand model one (#1) even though I think it is two. Great rational answer, huh? ;)
~ Wendy

Anonymous said...

I'm going with hand model.

I do let fear and listening to others influence me. :O)

Stina said...

I'm going with hand model.

I'm terrified of heights too--but I have no trouble flying. And you can add rats, spiders, and snakes to that list too.

Janna Leadbetter said...

Awesome! I think that was a great way to win an award. ;)

I love your scenarios today, and I'm particularly taken with #1. Random serendipity like that is a writer's dream, right? I vote for it as truth.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

#1! Yes I am always afraid my next idea wont be good.

Tamika: said...

I'm shooting for #1 again! I'm on a roll! You just don't seem like an ordinary woman, and a writer with pretty hands just sounds right.

lotusgirl said...

I'm going with #2. That sounds like me.

Dara said...

I'm going with the hand model one. :)

Carolyn V. said...

I think #2 is true. Why? Because I'm almost through college and have no idea what I'm going to do with that degree (but glad I'll have it).

My fear. Not accomplishing my goals in writing.

Heckety said...

Perhaps you should practise jumping out of bunk beds some more first!!!
#1-true, #2-false.
I agree with the not finishing things because of fearing the end response- I have that for quilt entries into competions, I enter and then don't finish the quilt as I'm afraid it will get a bad juried response. And even though I've been to exhibitions and seen worsely made quilts hung and with medals I've still only finished one quilt in time for a competition. All the rest I've finished after the closing date...how stupid is that?

Karen M. Peterson said...

As cool as #1 would be, I'm going with #2. As someone who went to 3 colleges to earn 2 degrees she'll probably never use, it just seems more likely.

Fears in writing...I don't have any right now. I just need to conquer my laziness.

Abby Annis said...

Bummer. I was wrong yesterday. Still, this is so much fun! :)

I'm going with #2 as the truth for today, because I remember you saying something along the lines of: you went to college to be an accountant (is that right?) because your dad wanted you to and now you're not really happy with that degree. Could be wrong again, though. Can't wait to find out. :)

Patti said...

I'm going with number 2 as the truth today. And yesterday's truth was pretty sneaky.

Can totally relate to the putting your words to the test, I'm not doing well with it right now. In fact, I'm finding it pretty stressful. It's like you almost need to push the send button then forget you've just spent years writing this book and try to move on to something else.

Elana Johnson said...

My greatest fear in writing is success. Sounds lame, I know, but it's true. You can't disappear when you're successful.

And I think #1 is true.

Anna C. Morrison said...

Skydiving! Too funny! Good to read your stuff again after a while. :) And I can believe the hand thing. I think that is the true one.

Anonymous said...

I'd say #2, but it could be either.

If #1 is true, we need proof! I wanna see the Hallmark card!

Paul

L. T. Host said...

Just because I think it's a really romantic and great story, I'm going with the hand model one.

Whether you're a good liar or not, you're a great storyteller!

Anjali said...

I have a fear of never getting a book published!
But I also fear, on a daily basis, whether I will have enough time to spend writing.

Jennifer Shirk said...

Ooh, tough. I'll go with #2 as true.

I always have a fear of not being able to come up with an idea for my next project. Silly, because it happens, but I always wonder if it won't one day. :)

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

These are great!

I'm scared of heights too. Skydiving doesn't appeal to me. But if I ever make it there, I will bungee jump in Victoria Falls. :0)

Dawn Simon said...

I think you were a hand model!

My writing fear: failure. I don't believe I'll fail, but there are no guarantees. Still, if I don't try, it's an "instant fail," so IMHO, none of us are failures.

J.B. Chicoine said...

I'm going with the hand model one: True, just because it's too good.

My novel, as you know is 'done,' and I still carry that fear...when does it go away?

Melissa Hurst said...

I'm going to guess #2:)

My fear is that my WIP will never be good enough.

Deb said...

Nice job on the skydiving fib! Hmm.. tough choice. I know you've mentioned accounting but... I'm going to go with #1 the hand model. I feel like I'm trying to guess which line will be quickest at the grocery checkout, and I just know how that generally goes :)

Anonymous said...

I think that you were a hand model. You don't seem like the type to bounce around to five schools. Anyhow, I too am afraid of putting my heart and soul into a novel, so I can understand how you feel. But I am glad that you are letting go of the fear. I am too. Yay! :o)

Sarah Simas said...

Oh, mericful heavens! I have a ga-zillion fears about my writing. My fear de jour is never writing well enough to snag publication. *whew* That was kind of theraputic. LOL

I'm going to go with the #2 college option. Why? Because I'm in the same boat- well, almost, I milked cows to pay for school- since I opted to stay home with the kids, my lovely dairy science degree and $$ education isn't quite being utilized in the way I invisioned back nine years ago at graduation! :)

The hand model thing would be way cool, too, but my $ is on #2- LOL It'd be nice to know I'm not alone in the degree defalting! ((hugs!))

Kathy said...

I think the first one is true, the second one a lie.

Angie Muresan said...

Number one, of course. And how funny about the skydiving award.

Kelly H-Y said...

Skydiving Award ... brilliant! I've missed these contests over the past few days and am catching up ... you're brilliant at coming up with scenarios ... I can't tell which is true!