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Now Available: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Thanks Dad: 101 Stories of Gratitude, Love, and Good Times
Don't Give up on Your Rough Drafts

Over 10 years ago, I was taking a journal writing workshop through the community center in Mesa, AZ. We were asked to write a "Name Story"--what our names meant to us, what changes our names have been through, that kind of thing.

My first idea, the obvious--nobody knows how to pronounce Haapala (I actually wrote about this in "Finding Common Ground" for Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus Chronicles).

As I wrote out some ideas, I started humming a song. Of course. My name story had to be about the song that carried my name: Tina Marie '73. My dad had written and recorded it and sent a cassette tape to me in Arizona. I wrote a page for the next workshop. In that page, I talked a little about my parents divorce, a little about being a bratty teenager, a little about music. In the workshop, I played the song to tell the rest of my Name Story.

And then, for a few years, I put that page away.

It resurfaced when I moved to Texas. I decided to send it along with a Father's Day card when that day rolled around. Words, like music, can make a heart dance if set to the right beat. I was glad I finally shared.

A while later, when I started submitting my writing, I rewrote that story. I submitted it a few places and was turned down. I took another look at it when I saw that Chicken Soup for the Soul was looking for stories about Dads. I edited again, and sent it.

I had all but forgotten about it when I got the email about being a finalist. (Well, it was on my spreadsheet--you know the one you should have that lists all of the places you submit to--it just had taken longer than the others, so I assumed it wasn't being used.)

So, if you get a chance to read "Melody of the Heart", remember that it started as some scribbles years ago, and now it's published.

That "rough stuff" really can turn bright and shiny after a while!

Do you have a piece that you have given up on? How do you decide if it is worth another try? Or does the piece decide for you?


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Comments

  1. Laura S.April 20, 2010 at 10:37 AM

    You've inspired me to look through some of my old "rough stuff" and see how I can smooth it out. Congrats on the Chicken Soup publication!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tina HaapalaApril 24, 2010 at 4:03 PM

    Thanks Laura! Sometimes it just takes some time and living for old drafts to become new again.

    ReplyDelete

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