Z is for Zipper

 Just  back from a writers conference. I have very recently measured myself against other writers; people hoping to find a publisher.  How am I doing I ask?  Well, if I was spectacular and awesome,  I would have left with the promise of an agent.  If I was super fabulous as well as spectacular and awesome, I probably would have been on the panel.  I was/am none of those things at least not yet, so I have to remember the importance of the metaphorical zipper.  A "zipper" on my mouth (ears sometimes too) is important for learning.  I'm not sure how the other attendees feel at these conferences, but I attend as a student.  The panel that sits in front of the room with the microphones are the experts, and they are looking out at a living, breathing slush pile.  These experts have traveled, sometimes a great distance, to talk to a pile of slush.  Speaking with slush in my mouth, I am thankful they have taken the time away from their busy jobs to speak to me (drip, drip).

I bet a zipper will help me crawl out of the mush or slush.  Keeping my mouth shut and ears open should help me learn, right?  It's easy to get defensive when my baby is being examined with a critical eye. That's when my own personal mouth zipper would come in handy; my mouth needs to stay shut and locked.  Listen.  Learn.  However, always consider the source. Who is telling me this thing I don't want to hear or I really, really want to hear?  Is it an editor from a major publisher?  Or is it someone who is new to writing.  I'm not saying the expert is always right and the rookie is always wrong.  I'm just saying my plan is to remember the zipper, and to use it wisely.

This conference helped me with the first page of my manuscript (too much back story).  I also learned the importance of an elevator pitch.  I should be able to tell someone what my book is about without torturing the person that asked.  I'm like "Oh it's about blah, and blah, and oh yeah blah, blah, too.  But there's more blah, and blah and yeah I forgot blah, blah."  I think I stunned the table I was sitting at.  They all looked at me with big round eyes like what the heck was that?  I wondered myself.