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Not My Type I am a writer... ...because I can't type. (Ba-dump-bump!) Seriously folks, it's the truth. My clumsy fingers, which fail to obey my brain's commands, almost prevented my writing career. I took a typing class in high school-for 3 days. Then, I headed for the guidance counselor's office. My grade point average was at stake! I begged him to switch me from typing to drama. He took one look at my big boned knuckles and sent me to the stage. Those early years, I penned my prose. Journal entries, long letters to family and friends, poems written for loved ones; all of which required nothing more than my trusty Bic pen. Then hubby, a flea market connoisseur, decided I needed a typewriter. He said the old Emerson, bought for a paltry $10, would be my ticket to publication! With it, I could produce manuscripts worthy of submission, worthy of praise, worthy of a Newbery! -if I could learn to use the darn thing. I never did. It took hours to type one perfect page. By then, I had succumbed to the toxic fumes of Liquid Paper. I stuffed the blasted machine into a closet and forgot about being a writer. Until... Hubby had graduated from flea markets to electronic stores. He decided we needed a computer. Oh, no! Another confounded machine! I still recall the day he set this new contraption on my desk top and said, "Okay, write something." What? I failed on a basic typewriter. How would I ever learn to use this new monstrosity? Since I'm years beyond worrying about my grade point average, I had no excuse. My first attempts proved dismal. The word processing program that came with the computer, didn't come with an instructor. After a week of frustration, I was ready to throw the computer (and hubby) out the window. I left the PC to the kids. Once again, publication seemed beyond my reach. But hubby, who had upgraded from electronic stores to computer shows, provided the solution. He bought a writing program geared to kids. The Learning Company's Student Writer, a program I've been using since 1995, has been my salvation. It's totally idiot proof! It doesn't care about my less than adequate typing skills. It contains spell check, word count, a variety of fonts, and everything else I've needed. I love it! I also love my computer now. I realize, if I had been born at any other time in history, my dreams of being a writer may have been only that-dreams. A few years ago, Hubby had another great idea. "Let's go online!" "Why not?" I said. I've learned not to fight progress. I've learned not to fight the machine. I still haven't learned to type! But with my PC and a children's writing program, I can hunt and peck my way up the ladder of success.
Lisa Wheeler writes from her home
in Brownstown, Michigan. Her patented two-finger typing method
has finally produced manuscripts worthy of publication -- fourteen
picture books and an easy reader series of four, all from top
publishers. Her first picture book, WOOL GATHERING: A SHEEP FAMILY
REUNION, was released from Richard Jackson Books in 2001. Visit
Lisa's website www.lisawheelerbooks.com
to learn more about this prolific author. |
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