A Lesson in Writing From My Cat

By Bea Sheftel

Baily was five weeks old when he came to live with me. He was so little he could fit in my hand, but being young and inexperienced didn’t stop Baily from exploring and trying new cat feats. I was in the kitchen reading when I noticed Baily climb up a ladder back chair, carefully moving to the top. And there he tried to hang, his belly centered on the top slat, his head and butt hanging south. He stayed in this precarious position about a second or two, and then fell. “Don’t do that” I cautioned the cat, but since when would a cat listen to a human? Baily continued climbing up the chair and falling with a soft thud to the kitchen floor.

This preoccupation he had with climbing the chair continued for a couple of weeks. One day I walked into the kitchen, and there he was, happily hanging on the top slat, chewing on his tail. He didn’t wobble, he didn’t sway, he didn’t fall. He had tried, and tried again until he’d succeeded, not letting failure and a few bumps on the butt keep him from success. Baily’s persistence taught me a lesson.

After learning about perseverance from my cat I decided it applied to my writing life. I’d been trying to get into the confession market for years with sporadic submissions. Determined to become a published confession writer I decided I’d send in one story a month until they accepted me.

I applied the same lesson of perseverance to another magazine I’d tried for years — Woman’s World. I wrote at least one article or short story every month specifically for them. You can’t get published if you don’t try and you can’t write if you don’t sit at the computer and do it.

Another dream I had was to publish a book of my collected poetry. I’d had many poems accepted through the years and published in magazines and books, but I wanted one source, something I could send to my family and friends.

So, taking the lesson from my cat who didn’t quit until he succeeded, I sent out my stories and articles, and I gathered all of my poems together. I revised my poems and added new ones. I continued to write more stories and articles. It didn’t happen over night but within a few months I had achieved the fruit of my perseverance.

I had a story published in Black Romance, a magazine of MacFadden/Sterling, my non fiction article on my experiences when my son was labeled learning disabled (wrongly) was a two page feature in Woman’s World, and my collection of 50+ poems was accepted for publication in book form by a small press.

The lessons I learned from my cat continue to help me fight against procrastination as well as self-doubting blocks, which are the writer’s nemeses. I continue to write regularly for the confession magazines, my second book of poetry is due out this fall (from the same small press), and I have two books in the works requested by publishers.

Article by Bea Sheftel
bts1ct@aol.com. Bea Sheftel is a successful freelance writer for both print and online publications.

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