I have a confession to make.

I am BAD at being succinct. Short. To the point. Direct. No wasted syllables.

See? I couldn’t even say that without extras!

Now, is this a terrible flaw? No, not really. We have a running joke in my family that my father has to strain to tie two or more sentences together when he writes, whereas Mom and I can blather on and on (and on). Melissa had a challenge once to write a 100-word sentence and I just sailed right past the goal without having to catch my breath.

(Hmm. Now that I think of it, this might be one of the reasons I talk so quickly.)

For me, first drafts of anything are always filled with lots of extra words. Adverbs, for example. I find I use “really” to excess. I’ll have run on sentences, digressions, and add ons. Like this. All sorts of verbal blatherings splashed all over the page, vomited up from the dark spaces in my head as I dredge up ways to talk about whatever I’m writing about.

It’s like the geyser of a new-found oil well–very exciting to have, but kind of messy until you get it under control.

In terms of creativity, work flow, and spontaneous, natural writing, this is good news. If one of the rules of writing is to write the way you speak, I’m doing just fine, and everybody knows getting the first draft on the page is the hardest part.

The problem is that a First Draft is Not Good Writing. (Please note the capitals denoting “important life rule.”)

Have you ever gotten a new suit or a dress that needed tailoring? The basics are all there–the fine fabric, the basic shape, the general idea of the garment. But. It’s not quite right. The sleeves are a little long. It’s too broad in the shoulders, or it needs to be taken in at the waist. Hemming is almost always necessary.

Without these adjustments, you’ve got something that’s sort of okay. You can buy a garment off the rack at the local department store and have something you can wear, but to get something that fits and flatters perfectly, you need to tweak it, adjust it, tighten up the loose spots, get rid of the excess bits, change the length. With these adjustments, you’ve got something fantastic.

Same thing with first drafts. You need to cut out the extra wordss, move things around, tighten the focus.

In other words, strive for being succinct. No wasted words. No unexpected detours. Be short, direct, and to the point.

You know, like me.

It’s one thing to talk about goals and plans, but there’s a difference between discussing something fairly straight-forward that you plan to do, and talking about The Dream.

You can talk about how you’re going to write a 400-word article, or how you hope, by the end of the year, to have an article published in a magazine, or will have finished your novel. Having plans with reasonable goals is good.

But sometimes, you have to shoot the moon. You have have to reach for the stars. You have to go for the gold. You have to pick the cliche of choice and just … go for it.

Dream the big dream.

We’ve had wise and brilliant people telling us for centuries that we are only limited by our own imaginations. External circumstances can affect us, sure, but we only truly fail when we accept that we have failed.

Or when we haven’t challenged ourselves at all.

So, today, on the 40th anniversary of Mankind walking on the moon, stop to think … what big dreams do you have?

Are you thinking about writing an article? Why not dream about it being published by Time, People, or Smithsonian?

Are you thinking about writing a book? Why not dream about it being on the NYT Bestseller list?

Are you thinking about starting your own business? Then dream about it being so wildly successful that you’ve just bought two homes and are turning clients away.

As President Kennedy said in his speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962:

We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.

This is a time of challenges for all of us, but ultimately, our only limits are the ones we allow ourselves to be limited by.

There is no dream too big to be dreamed.

There are no wishes too big to wish.

We may not be able to accomplish everything we hope for–world peace, prosperity for everyone, an end to disease and suffering–but they are worth fighting for. Dreaming the Big Dream is what makes us human. It makes us visionary. It makes us limitless.

On this day, on this anniversary of the day that mankind actually walked on the moon–something inconceivable for most of our history–take a moment to ask yourself: If I could do anything at all, what would I do?

And then? Ask yourself what you need to do to make that happen … and do it!

Reach for the stars.

You may remember Quinn Cummings from when she was a child star, paired up with Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason in Goodbye Girl, or starring on Family . But these days, I know her best from her blog, The QC Report, which is funny and insightful, and always entertaining. I mean, seriously, did you know that she can write? And write well? I love the way she turns a phrase, love her sense of humor (and writing humor can be just as hard as acting it, yet she nails it every time).

Well! The exciting news is that she has a new book out, Notes from the Underwire: Adventures from my Awkward and Lovely Life.

The more exciting news? It’s wonderful. My copy came on Tuesday and, well, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much at a book. As in, I was chortling with my hands over my mouth while I read it in bed, so I wouldn’t wake up the rest of the house. As in, my parents were complaining about the noise. It’s funny, though I should warn you a couple chapters made me sniffle instead of giggle. The blurb on the back describes her as “Erma Bombeck with an Edge” and that fits, beautifully.

I’ll give you one quote: “…Consort, on the other side [of the bed] had a more subtle approach. When we first moved in together, I offered him whichever side of the bed he wanted, and he chose. He swears he has never reconsidered his decision, but each night, once asleep, he longs for my side of the bed and he will achieve it, one patient inch at a time. Given eight hours, Consort will claim the entire bed to himself, leaving me a sliver of territory down by the footboard, at which point Lulabelle [the cat] will leap nimbly onto the bed and start inflating to the size and density of a keg of beer. Between Consort, the kid, and the cat, I was a modest nation with no natural borders staving off constant sorties from aggressive superpowers. I had become Poland.”

I can’t remember ever hearing the battle for bed space being compared to invasions by superpowers before, but that’s where the genius lies.

The even BETTER news? Quinn … I like to call her Quinn because we’re such close friends … (cough) okay, we’re not really, but I’m always excited when an author stops by. It makes me giddy. Anyway, she’s doing a blog tour and deigned to stop by here at Punctuality Rules to answer some questions.

So, welcome Quinn! And, here we go:

There’s the trite cliche of, “What made you decide to become a writer?” (Shudder)

It’s a personality quirk. When I’m in the middle of something weird or unpleasant, I get very happy because now I’ve got an anecdote. If I were social and gregarious, I’d just tell a few hundred friends and get the same sensation, but since I’m weird and solitary, I have to write the anecdote down instead. In short, I never decided to become a writer. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a very long phase.

Or I could ask something really obscure like, “What was it like to be on Remington Steele and roller skate in a long, velvet skirt?” (Can’t help that one–it’s actually one of my all-time favorite episodes from one of my all-time favorite shows, and, well, Pierce Brosnan… are his eyes really that blue in person?)

He’s deathly handsome in person, he was lovely on the set, and I thank God I was a very good skater because that ramp I went down was mined with broken beer bottles and used condoms.

(Editor’s Note: Thank you. I’ve honestly wondered that for ages!)

How about, “Are you as entertaining in real life as you are in print?”

Thank you for thinking I’m entertaining. I think Consort would tell you I’m very funny, because he loves me. I, who am only fond of me, would note that I’m very moody and a little obsessive.

What’s your favorite kind of thing to write?

I wrote a couple of blogs where I translated a Latin textbook. Not surprisingly, they were kind of hard to do, but I thought they were funny. People prefer cat-stories, though.

(Editor’s Note: Wow, Latin translations? Really? Color me impressed.)

When you’re not chasing around after pets, family, or doing home repairs, what do you do to relax? Any hobbies?

Not exactly. I love crossword puzzles, podcasts about the economy and documentaries (Spent last night watching “Standard Operating Procedure,” the Errol Morris documentary about Abu Ghraib). I just outed myself as the dullest person on earth.

Is there anything about acting that you miss? Would you ever consider acting again? Doing a cameo?

I can’t imagine a circumstance under which that would happen but five years ago my imagination wouldn’t have concieved of Quinn with a book deal. So there you go. Imagination, zero. Life, one.

(Editor’s Note: Life is tricky that way.)

Favorite kinds of things to read? Books? Magazines? Funny? Serious? Fiction? Non-Fiction?

I’m pretty much non-fiction. Funny non-fiction, serious non-fiction, with great lashings of science.

Somebody already asked how often you’re recognized from Goodbye Girl or Family … are there ever times when you EXPECT to be recognized but aren’t?

Not really. It’s more like any time I am recognized, I think “Really? Still?” I keep figuring that’s got to be done by now.

(Editor’s Note: Of course, now there’s the new book and the book tour to revive interest… Which reminds me, I haven’t seen Goodbye Girl in ages…)

What’s your ideal way to spend a day?

Heretofore unread Sarah Vowell, David Sedaris and David Rackoff books at my side, a sunroom, an endless supply of iced tea, a child at a sleepover until midday when she comes home tired and inclined to read and hang out quietly and all three meals magically premade by someone who can actually cook.

What’s the most recent book you read that you loved? (So much easier than asking about a favorite book–and, theoretically, recent enough to be easy to remember.)

I say it’s all non-fiction for me, but I was given “Stories of a Marriage” by Andrew Sean Greer, which I found elegant and simple and damn impressive.

My dog would like to know what, if any, is your favorite dog breed, and how do you feel about Boykin Spaniels?

I just looked up Boykin Spaniels, because while I consider myself reasonably up to speed on spaniels, I had never seen a Boykin. I’m here to say they are my new favorite breed, being ever so handsome and noble.

(Editor’s Note: Boykin Spaniels ARE the best, but I’m widely considered to be biased.)

Are you enjoying the book-tour? Are the virtual hotels between blog spots comfy? Where might people find you physically signing books?

I actually am, although my typing injury is starting to awaken and look around. The virtual-hotels are quite comfortable, but they serve a very weak cup of virtual-tea. I am doing one reading tonight (July 11th) in Pasadena, California at Vroman’s Bookstore. Beyond that, nothing right now. But if that changes, the date will be noted at www.quinncummings.com

‘Consort,’ really? What were his parents thinking?
Consort is his nom de blog. It’s the official term for the non-royal husband of a queen and since I’m the least regal person I know, I thought it had, you know, irony. For the amount of people who have asked me where his family found the name, I think I confused irony with invisibility.

(Editor’s Note: I had suspected something like that…)

Summer camp obviously means a lot to you (or, your daughter, anyway). Did you go to camp yourself when you were a kid? Did you love it? Hate it?
It’s not summer camp specifically; it’s just that my kid really loves running around like a maniac in the summertime. Also, she likes watching me fill out camp applications. I never really went to camp, because by the time camp was an option, I was acting and the thought of spending an entire day inside, repeating the same lines over and over, sweating under hot lights, sounded much more fun than learning camp songs. It’s fair to say my kid and I are very different people.

I know that, in addition to writing, you also invented the Hip Hugger baby sling. Was your daughter really that heavy when she was a baby? Or you just needed wanted to share your brilliant idea with the world?
No, it was that I had Carpal Tunnel Syndrome while pregnant and while it politely goes away within hours of giving birth, it left me with some residual nerve damage which would be aggravated by the exact motion of holding a growing baby on my hip. I wanted something cute, I had a friend with design experience…nine months after we started designing it, we had The Hiphugger in our first store. We had planned to make me a couple, nothing more, but when I wore the first prototype to a store, women kept stopping me, asking me where I got it. We still sell a few here and there, but it’s not my first priority. But I am pleased to say that we designed a unique enough device that we have a patent.

Quinn, thank you so much for coming! This was FUN! Love the book … when’s the next one coming out?

Dear Amazon:

The first thing you need to know is that I want a Kindle. I do. I’m in the middle of trying to pare down my 3000+ volume library down to manageable size, and have to admit that an eReader that can hold half of them in its memory is tempting, to say the least. Not to mention space-saving.

It doesn’t hurt that your available Kindle library is huge. When you read as many books as I do, this is a huge bonus. And how cool is your Whispernet service, too, which would let me order books any time, any where (more or less)? No cables, no messy computer interface, just a quick order, and boom, reading within minutes. Can’t beat the convenience!

But, I’ve got a few concerns.

First–and this can’t be a big shock–is the price. I’m delighted, actually, that you just dropped the price to $299, which is now in between the Sony PRS-505 and their PRS-700BC. But, still, you have to admit that it’s not a cheap little gadget. I know, neither is an iPhone or an iTouch or a Netbook, but they can all do other things also, which helps ease the pain.

But, it’s  not just the price of the unit. I could gulp a little, take the plunge, bite the bullet, throw caution to the winds (pick the cliche you like) and splurge on the $300 (or the $480 for the bigger DX version), but I still need something to read. And, frankly, the books aren’t all that cheap! There are Kindle books that cost almost $300. (As big a fan of Shelley’s poetry, I can’t imagine spending $288 for a critique of his work.)

Okay, to be fair, there are a LOT of books available for less than $5, which I think is fabulous. But why are so many of the Kindle books you sell going for prices remarkably similar to the paper editions? Sometimes the same as or even MORE than the paper version? I am all for writers’ royalties–I hope to have some of my own someday–and I know that you and the publishers have to stay in business. I’m certainly not suggesting that you give copies of current bestsellers away for free (unless you want to). It’s nice enough that you give free samples.

But, since there are no printing costs, no postage costs, no binding, storage, or paper involved, no inventory to keep, just digital bits, shouldn’t the electronic copy of a book that’s already written and published be, well, cheaper? And not just by a few dollars, but substantially cheaper? Sure, when a brand-new hardcover is selling for $24.95 and you can get it on Kindle for $9.99, that’s a great deal. Can’t be beat. No argument. But once the book comes out in paperback, shouldn’t the Kindle version still be LESS? Like, half-the-price less?

There are other little quibbles. It’s a black-and-white reader, and color would be nice, but no rush. It would be really nice to be able to share books with friends. I understand the process for transferring pdfs and such to the Kindle for easy reading is unwieldy which is a shame since I have a lot of pdf-format ebooks already. It seriously worries me that there’s no changeable battery. I try to avoid buying ANY electronics that don’t have a battery pack I can replace myself. That’s like buying a digital camera without a memory card, where all the pictures are stored into the camera itself, and if it dies … too bad. And, speaking of the memory card, why CAN’T the Kindle read a SD card?

But, really–here are my biggest, most serious concerns.

There’s the longevity. I’ve heard horror stories–and yes, I DO consider this a horror story–about books and magazines that people have bought that suddenly are no longer available on Kindle. Poof! Gone from the library, just like that. As a person who’s been building her own personal library for decades now (as you know, since you’ve sold me most of them), the idea of any of my books just disappearing is … disturbing. If I buy it, I want to know that it’s going to be there when I need it.

So, why couldn’t I read it on my computer? Or even print it out? I understand about the proprietary coding to keep me from buying one copy and then handing it out to four hundred of my closest friends, but what if the Kindle’s battery is charging? Or–heaven forbid–what if it’s broken? Shouldn’t there be SOME way to be able to read your books on something other than the actual Kindle? Even if I had to log into Amazon via the internet from my computer to do so?

And, don’t tell me. I could use my iPhone. But, I don’t have an iPhone and can’t get one because they’re only supported by AT&T (don’t get me started). Nor do I have an iTouch iPod, either, because my MP3 player is a different brand. I can’t afford an extra $300 just to get a back-up gadget that meets your very limited criteria for “acceptable substitute.”

You know what I’d really like to see?

(Cut to my soapbox; cue stirring, patriotic music.)

I’d like to see eBooks have standardized formats, like MP3s for digital music. Isn’t part of the beauty of this electronic age we live in the fact that exchanging information is supposed to be easier? Isn’t this little format war just like the VHS/Beta war? Where, when the dust settles, half the people will have wasted their money backing the wrong side?

I would never steal your content, or spread it illegally, but I do understand there are people who would. But I don’t consider lending a copy of one of my books to my sister is harming the authors–not if my sister wasn’t going to buy a copy anyway. Making a copy of a cd for my mother to listen to in the car seems within reasonable User Rights, since we live in the same house and she can hear the music wafting down the hallway. I know there are growing pains this eBook technology has to go through, just like the ones the music industry did when faced with illegal MP3 copies racing around the internet.

But that’s the point.

I want my eBooks to be as convenient, portable, and sharable as my paper books–or the MP3 albums on my harddrive.

I know that, if I buy a Kindle now, I will find all sorts of things wonderful, convenient, and useful. The ease of travel, the freed up shelf space, the multitude of books, will be very helpful. I WANT one of these gadgets.

But I don’t like then being totally reliant on what you, Amazon.com, allows me to do with that content that I paid for.

Words should be free. That doesn’t mean “unpaid for,” but rather “free to be shared, free to be spread.” Our very country is founded on the concept that ideas cannot be controlled or censored, and it worries me that, by putting so many restrictions on the books readable on this wonderful invention, that you’re limiting my freedom as a book-purchaser to what YOU deem appropriate.

Which is why I’m reluctant to shell out the $299 … no matter how miraculous the Kindle is. It’s not the gadget I worry about–it’s its gate-keeping restrictions on the content that concerns me.

Hoping we can come to a mutually-satisfactory agreement, I apologize for the length of this letter and remain yours,

–Deb Boyken

(stepping off the soapbox)

While you’re waiting for a new post HERE, let me direct you to the one I wrote for Joyful Jubilant Learning.

The month’s theme is about Communication, and since today would have been my grandfather’s birthday, I wrote about communicating between generations. Please come over and read it!