The first grade Vocab Fun puzzle project is complete. I wound up having to do a fair number of revisions, I’m sorry to say. While only one puzzle was deemed too hard (yay!), I lost sight of the vocabulary focus. I had a number of word puzzles that lacked any emphasis on vocabulary.

Enter the Editor.

She whipped out her lasso and roped me back in, oh-so-gently reminding me of the purpose of the book and how the puzzles fit into that purpose. I’m a bit of a rhino when it comes to professional criticism–and several other things, like climbing ladders and getting into a canoe–so I think it’s cute when editors get all kind and gentle and encouraging instead of saying, “Yo, writer–you forget where you’re going?” or simply “This is crap; try again.”

Not that I don’t appreciate kindness, of course, but you can tell they’re being delicate.

So I put the fifth grade puzzles aside and dove back into first grade ones. It was a brilliant bit of reminding I got, excellent guidance about what was needed. I can always create puzzles, but now I got on a vocabulary roll that carried me through the first grade revisions and the rest of the fifth grade submission with two puzzles to spare. That’s after unilaterally scrapping two puzzles from the fifth grade batch because they lacked a vocab focus.

I turned the lot in yesterday. Now I await revision requests for the fifth grade puzzles, and then that’s it. This foray into Educational Publishing is at a close. Break out the chocolate milk. That was fun!

Weekend in Cooper Landing with friends.