Thumbnail writings #1

Just like a sketchbook and thumbnail sketches, it's wise to write a little each day. Even for a hobby writer like myself, doing a little writing in the midst of everything else (trust me, it's a welcome change from writing code all day) tends to help.

Yes, I'm aware that I'm not a full-time hard-core heavily-dedicated writer. Not everyone really needs to be. In all my long hours online researching ideas for stories and learning more about novel writing, I've found that not every writer - best seller or not - writes constantly. For this reason, I'm going to try and post what I now call a "thumbnail story" every now and then. Regardless of genre, these mini-stories will be minor exercises to keep my storywriting sharp.

Here's thumbnail #1:

I liked to think of myself as a supermodel. I would dress, act and even wear makeup like one. I kept myself lean and strong. I wore heels and designer clothes, despite my parents' protests. Even still, the rejections kept coming. Some would say, "you're too tall," others, "your smile is blinding." I chose not to listen to some of them. Others, I tried to heed their advice the best I could. Most simply offered a polite brush off and tried to leave it at that. When I pressed for an explanation, few would answer my questions.

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard," my mother told me.

"Be patient and keep trying," my father told me.

"Do your homework!" my teachers tell me.

"Go to New York," my friends tell me. "There's lots of modeling agencies there."

"I want to model here," I tell them all. "I want my dreams to come true."

I find myself enjoying a good challenge and love trying new things, so finding a means to my dream where there is less competition and even fewer agencies is a great challenge.

Then one day, I get a call. It's from a tiny local agency just getting started. They'd found a copy of the school newspaper with my picture in it and had loved it.

Now, I'm a big name model in magazines and everything. That tiny local agency took me to stardom, but it took several years.

The moral? Keep trying, listen to constructive critics, and sometimes the tiniest stars can shine brighter than the largest suns, if given the chance and time.