Add-a-Kid

Rodney Robbins. That's the name of the boy I added into the Hamilton's Pond story that I am revising. I did a reworking on Wednesday in ABC then tested it on my 14-year-old daughter. She had some good insights: things like, "Who's Rodney talking to when he says . . . ?" or "Would a kid really send an email to the mayor?" (I decided that this particular kid would. But it's helpful to think about things as a genuine first-time reader does.) I've now given the story two days' rest, and I'm going to go back at it this afternoon to see what I think now that I have a little perspective. I'll probably read it aloud, too. It's amazing what that exercise will point up.

I'm reading a memoir of Mary Higgins Clark right now (Kitchen Privileges), and she states that she submitted her first short story 40 times before it was published. Wow.