Math vs Writing = Walk-a-thons...sort of

Tomorrow, I take my final for my Statistics class.

Am I nervous???? Um…sort of. Why?

Okay, well, I have to give you the background for you to understand why. I took this stats class once before (online) and failed. I could just not grab the concept of p(1-p)2…/1/n! (I do so much better with 2+2.)

Right now I am earning a B out of the class (this includes my homework and exams). If I get a 50% on the final, I will still earn a C from the class, and you know what? I am surprisingly okay with that. Why? Because I worked my butt off for that C. I took extra time to study (sometimes into the late nights after I tucked my kiddos in bed). I anguished over homework assignments that I didn’t want to do (but did anyway and learned a ton in the process).

Then the strangest thing happened the other day. I heard a statistic mentioned on a commercial (I won’t say which one, because I don’t want to give the fun away for anyone else learning stats), and I said, “Hey. They are trying to fool us! Because….(again, can’t say or I would give away who it is – mwa ha ha).” After these words slipped from my mouth I thought, “Whoa, I learned something from my stats class! I’m a genius!” And then I jumped around the room a little bit singing at the top of my lungs until one of my kids walked in on me wondering if someone had gotten hurt.

But I have realized that after all that work, I learned something (I know…awesome).

It’s the same thing with writing. Sometimes it is hard, sometimes I want to yell at my characters, “Why did you do that? Don’t you know what you were supposed to do in the next scene? You are in so much trouble!”

But the more we write, the more we learn. We learn a purple prose is not just a cool color to paint your bedroom walls. A dangling participle is not just a funny word. Queries are not the same thing as quails, even though they both start with that same adorable qu-qu sound. We learn as we go.

So remember, never give up the learning process of writing and keep keeping on! One day there will be an a-ha moment when all the writing conferences, classes, late nights, early mornings…will all add up.

So I am headed back to my studying. Have a great week everyone! I’ll try to have a run down from Linda’s walk-a-thon next week. If I pass my test!