Writer Mama Contest - Second Draft
Okay, so I'm down from about 821 words to 621... only about 121 left to edit out and my entry will be almost perfect... it'll get one last once-over by myself and a few of my friends that I'll ask to really proof it for me before I e-mail it off next week... without further ado - second draft:
Imagine coming home happy and excited with your newborn baby. You want to do everything to care for the child you are so proud of. He is all you can think about.
Now, imagine a few days later you place your baby in a drawer and close it. You hardly tend to him at all. Once in awhile you take him out and look at him, perhaps change him, feed him a little and then back in the drawer he goes. His cries for attention are persistent, but you’re just too busy with life to tend to him so in that drawer he stays.
You don’t forget about him, but you don’t have time for him. You find every and any reason not to take him out of that drawer. As time passes, his cries become quieter, not as nagging and constant. Longer stretches of time pass before you have a thought about him. What you haven’t counted on is just how strong he is, how much of a fighter he is.
Eventually he becomes relentless in your thoughts again. You realize you have to take him out of that drawer. You do so, cleaning him off and looking at him as if for the first time. He looks better than you’d expect, though he will need some work. You feel guilty for having ignored him as long as you have.
Before you worry any further, no - I’m not talking about a human child. I’m referring to a brain child, a story idea. If you’re wondering how I could think of something that cruel and sickening I’ll tell you how - I work as an Emergency Medical Technician. I’ve seen and heard about too many cases of neglect of human children. As a parent myself, I never fully understood how people could do what they do to innocent kids. It saddens me a great deal when I have to face a call dealing with it. It haunts me for quite some time after too.
What does that have to do with the opening scene you ask? Well, as a parent and an aspiring writer I’ve learned that when a really good idea is swirling in my mind, putting it down on paper and sticking it in a drawer to tend to later doesn’t make it go away. That idea is a part of me - I’ve created it, given birth to it. By ignoring that part of me that craves to write I am neglecting myself by not being true to who I am and who I aspire to be. In countless parenting magazines I’ve read that the best way to care for your child(ren) is to first care for yourself so at least once a day, for as long as I can while my two boys nap, I tend to my brain children as well.
Occasionally I feel guilty that I’m a little slow in answering my 2 ½ year old or that I have to finish the thought I’m on before jumping to get the bottle for my 2 month old. Yet because I am taking the time to care for myself by honoring what I like to do I feel like a better and more balanced mom for my boys. My husband likes it when I pay attention to my inner naughty diva and write a steamy short-story for us to read together. In that aspect, I’m a better wife and lover for him. When my husband and I are stronger as a couple it makes us stronger parents too. See how much my writing or not writing can affect in my life?
I’ve given birth to a number of ideas over the years. It’s only recently I’ve begun to tend to them. It’s not an easy task to balance all I try to do (some days I fail miserably), but as I’ve told a friend of mine - anything well worth doing in life isn’t always easy to do.
Please feel free to post any suggestions you may have... they'll be much appreciated!!!
Imagine coming home happy and excited with your newborn baby. You want to do everything to care for the child you are so proud of. He is all you can think about.
Now, imagine a few days later you place your baby in a drawer and close it. You hardly tend to him at all. Once in awhile you take him out and look at him, perhaps change him, feed him a little and then back in the drawer he goes. His cries for attention are persistent, but you’re just too busy with life to tend to him so in that drawer he stays.
You don’t forget about him, but you don’t have time for him. You find every and any reason not to take him out of that drawer. As time passes, his cries become quieter, not as nagging and constant. Longer stretches of time pass before you have a thought about him. What you haven’t counted on is just how strong he is, how much of a fighter he is.
Eventually he becomes relentless in your thoughts again. You realize you have to take him out of that drawer. You do so, cleaning him off and looking at him as if for the first time. He looks better than you’d expect, though he will need some work. You feel guilty for having ignored him as long as you have.
Before you worry any further, no - I’m not talking about a human child. I’m referring to a brain child, a story idea. If you’re wondering how I could think of something that cruel and sickening I’ll tell you how - I work as an Emergency Medical Technician. I’ve seen and heard about too many cases of neglect of human children. As a parent myself, I never fully understood how people could do what they do to innocent kids. It saddens me a great deal when I have to face a call dealing with it. It haunts me for quite some time after too.
What does that have to do with the opening scene you ask? Well, as a parent and an aspiring writer I’ve learned that when a really good idea is swirling in my mind, putting it down on paper and sticking it in a drawer to tend to later doesn’t make it go away. That idea is a part of me - I’ve created it, given birth to it. By ignoring that part of me that craves to write I am neglecting myself by not being true to who I am and who I aspire to be. In countless parenting magazines I’ve read that the best way to care for your child(ren) is to first care for yourself so at least once a day, for as long as I can while my two boys nap, I tend to my brain children as well.
Occasionally I feel guilty that I’m a little slow in answering my 2 ½ year old or that I have to finish the thought I’m on before jumping to get the bottle for my 2 month old. Yet because I am taking the time to care for myself by honoring what I like to do I feel like a better and more balanced mom for my boys. My husband likes it when I pay attention to my inner naughty diva and write a steamy short-story for us to read together. In that aspect, I’m a better wife and lover for him. When my husband and I are stronger as a couple it makes us stronger parents too. See how much my writing or not writing can affect in my life?
I’ve given birth to a number of ideas over the years. It’s only recently I’ve begun to tend to them. It’s not an easy task to balance all I try to do (some days I fail miserably), but as I’ve told a friend of mine - anything well worth doing in life isn’t always easy to do.
Please feel free to post any suggestions you may have... they'll be much appreciated!!!