Put Up Or Shut Up Time

I just received final confirmation that my essay, "One of Those Teachers," will be a chapter in the upcoming book Beyond The Textbook.

I modeled this as part of the writing process for my College Comp classes the first week of class.  I showed my students the call for submissions flyer I received as part of the Red River Valley Writing Project.  Then I showed them the first draft. Then the second. Then the third.  Then the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth drafts.

Finally, I showed my students the email from the book editor confirming I was in.  However, I had not heard anything from the editor since last spring, so I thought that maybe the book deal fell through.

However, I emailed the editor last night, and she said my essay definitely was in and that she had begun editing chapters and I could send my any time.

The pressure is on!

This morning I scanned over what was my eighth rough draft, and I realized I needed to improve it.  Then it struck me: I'm in the same spot my students are in every time I assign an essay in College Comp.

Then I was struck by another thought, what a great chance to model for my classes what real writers do as they seek to publish their material.

So it's time to put up or shut up and get to doing what writers do best: revise, revise, revise.