Giving Birth...AGAIN!

Got your attention, didn't I?

My dear friend (and co-author), Mellissa and I spent the last two days finishing our second book. (OK, truth be told, we spent the last four years getting this thing together.) Last night, after being sequestered together for about 27 hours, papers strewn around the floor, computers ablaze with new files, and the printer working as fast as it could, she observed, "It's like giving birth...except it takes longer!" She's right.

Writing is messy buisness. It takes time. Even professional non-fiction writing is not neat and organized. Ideas require time to grow. But, now they are out. They are on the page. They have been woven together into a tapestry of words. Ready for life in the educational world. Birthed. Ready to go to the publisher to be edited and neatened up for final publication. It's a vulnerable place to be when you are the author (parent), waiting for the approval of an outsider. It's very personal...as so much of who we are (as educators) are written in those pages. Remember the dreaded "red pen"? It can be scary, but oh so rewarding!

I wouldn't trade this process for anything. I really love it. I think the only part of it I don't like is working on someone else's schedule. It validates me and reminds me that we all have a voice. I wonder how many books there are that will never be written because someone didn't jump in and try? How many thoughts or ideas came and went in a moment and were never recorded?

I hope I don't miss the chance to give "birth" again.