Okay, so I'm only going to Pittsburgh, about 90 miles from home. People who know me personally know this really is a big deal.  

In the early 80s, I was agoraphobic. I couldn't leave my house without a panic attack. I've come a long way from that situation, but I still have problems traveling very far. I also have problems with tunnels and large crowds. This weekend I'll have to face all three phobias. Thankfully, a friend is going to do the driving. A very good thing, since I stop breathing in tunnels. And there are two tunnels on this trip. Deep breath... 

This month we're examining the little things in writing and in life. We welcome

The shower is not devoid of its small, but really-matter moments either. Picture it, you turn the dial down, fresh as a summer breeze and oops! there's no towel. Did the laundry get done? Loads of "little things" go under the radar of our everyday lives and, without the smooth sailing of small moments, the big ones would never get their chance to shine. 

My eight year old son recently graduated to no training wheels- not a small feat in the realm of an elementary school aged child. This ability did not magically happen. Throughout the late days of summer and the early part of fall, he blazed a wobbly trail. When the winds kicked in and the snow began to fall, the bike found its way to a back corner of the garage and stayed there. As spring blossomed, and summer on its heels, my husband fretted. "He will be the only kid his age with training wheels!" This would not do. With the first warm wind his bike was dragged out of hibernation and put to the test. His wobbly steering and unsure peddling melted in hours!  

Those baby bike steps taken in the waning summer hours supported his efforts until he could reach the big boy stage. Taking off training wheels is something we have all done; even if you have never sat on a bike. Taking small steps to achieve a goal is the hallmark of living. A chef does not arrive at the hoity-toity French restaurant on day one and voila! turn out magical dishes of soufflés and Coq Au Vin. No, things are burned in the kitchen, the pairing knife veers off and cuts too deep, etc. Time and practice change this, slowly at first, until things begin to take shape and form. Steps, baby or otherwise, make this feat possible. 

Learning through trial and error gives us a window to a world of possibility. This journey is not always easy, but always worth it. Watching a baby learn how to crawl affirms such an idea. At first the attempt is comical, direction elusive. My training-wheel-free son proved this true every time he crawled backwards. Imagine how frustrating it must be to the diaper clad set, spotting a colorful toy, it's within reach, momentum is on their side, only the object of their desire begins to move farther and farther away! More crawling fixes that. Moving forward is what you need. This idea may not hit until you've thoroughly frustrated yourself and mommy comes along and saves the day. But you will crawl again, and steady yourself on the coffee table, and topple over and try again. Such a metaphor for life is simple. We stumble. We fall. We get up. We learn. 

Writing without training wheels is something I aspire to. Not having the annoying spell check wriggle its squiggly red line at me every other word, would be a Godsend. Stops and jerky starts would be another. Let's not leave out my personal friend, grammar. (Lest it rears its ugly head, in a fit of anger) But, I know I have to cut my chops. Who sat down and wrote beautifully their first time out?  

Moving prose, woven into a magical novel, had its small start too. Re-writes, scrunched up wads of paper and your fingers clutching tightly to your hair are the stuff writing is made of. The small steps and little things are, like most others, frustrating, annoying, and can test your self worth more times than you believe you can handle. Why do it? Why do anything? Words are put together in sentences; these make up paragraphs, which turn into chapters, which turn into a novel. Steps, leading to a goal; the story you want to tell, the dish you want to prepare, the walk you want to take or the bike you want to ride. It all leads somewhere- bumpy ride and all.

BIO: Sofia Skantzos is a freelance writer, wife and mother. She thrives on writing personal essays with a slight twist of humor. As a result, her husband is the inspiration for many articles. She enjoys flexing her writing muscles and is always up for a great article. Articles swirl about her desk, vying for her attention, along with her first novel. Sofia can be reached at sofias_s@yahoo.com .

We all know the plot and characters in your story have to be strong, or they won't hold the reader. The facts in your article have to be correct, but still entertaining. We concentrate and worry about the big things, rightly so. But too many writers skip over the little things. 

Correct spelling is important. A misspelled word can change the entire meaning of your sentence, throwing the whole work into disarray. I saw an offering on a critique group that said "The storm reeked havoc on the town." I was supposed to feel bad for the people in the town, but all I could think was "Reeked of what? Manure? Skunk? Boiled cabbage?" I had no interest in reading the rest, because I couldn't get past wondering what the town smelled like after the storm.  

[reeked - To give off or become permeated with a strong unpleasant odor.  Wreaked - To bring about; cause. ] 

Grammar is important. Another example from a crit group was a short story about a couple. It kept talking about "they're problems". They are problems? Problems for who? Turned out that they were problems for the writer, who didn't get a crit because everyone was giggling about her problem characters.  

[They're = contraction for they are. Their = belonging to them. There = in or at that place; opposed to here.] 

Punctuation is vitally important. A simple little dot in the wrong place can change everything. A classic example is "Woman without her man is nothing." Depending on the punctuation, this can become two VERY different thoughts: 

Woman, without her man, is nothing. 

Woman. Without her, man is nothing. 

Take your pick. But make sure your writing says what YOU mean it to say. 

Some people shrug off these things and say "Isn't that what editors are for?" If one of those mistakes is all you made, possibly. But mistakes in the little things jump out and slap an editor in the face. Slap an editor more than once or twice, and they're going to toss your work. Yes, everyone makes mistakes. But inattention to details is a warning sign to an editor that you are unprofessional and may be hard to work with. Since the editor probably has 100 more submissions lying in front of her, she's going to toss yours and look for one that's more polished. 

There is an old saying that goes: 

For want of a nail, a shoe was lost
For want of a shoe, a horse was lost
For want of a horse, a rider was lost
For want of a rider, a battle was lost
For want of a battle, a kingdom was lost 

Nail down those little details. You don't want to risk losing your kingdom...or a published clip.

BIO: Audrey Shaffer is finally back on schedule. She's updating her blog again too! You should stop by and argue with her. http://audreysays.blogspot.com

(Brant Randall was our chat guest in May. Linda reviewed his latest book.)

Blood Harvest by Brant Randall

Pages: 286
Publisher: Capital Crime Press
ISBN: 13:978-0-9799960-1-6
ISBN: 10: 0-9799960-1-5

Brant Randall delivers in this historical mystery based on a story told to him by his grandmother. Although most of us think the KKK was a southern phenomenon, it had a direct hold on the New England states where this story unfolds--and in most other states across the nation.

Brought to life is 1920's America; a time of prohibition, bootleggers, mob rule, the first sexual revolution, unionization of the workplace, the Spanish Influenza epidemic, returning war veterans of all races and ethnicities, the League of Nations' promise of no more war, a huge influx of immigrants, speak-easies and jazz. It was a time of extravagant prosperity and extreme poverty.

Audrey Shaffer      Linda Hutchinson      Renee Barnes    Kim Richards      Lisa Haselton