Last week, I went to one of those wholesale/warehouse type mega-stores.

Okay, it was Costco.

There, armed with an oversized shopping cart, I ran free to partake of the goods stacked to the ceiling, filling every aisle and dwarfing the mere mortals that scurried among the giant packages. I quickly filled the cart with huge crates of cereal, industrial-size bottles of vitamins and of course the obligatory case of toilet paper, but it was something else that caught my eye. There, between the toaster ovens and men’s athletic socks, stood a treasure trove of jelly beans.

I immediately hefted the plastic jug, nay, barrel of all that is delicious and right with the world into my cart and, like a rat with stolen bits of tinfoil, I scampered away with my booty. Once home, the eating of the jellybeans began with gusto. I gave little thought to the individual nuances of their flavors - it was the total jellybean experience I was going for. I scooped and devoured handfuls of the things until my skin attained a definite greenish tinge and sugar shock was imminent. Only then did I slow down and actually start picking out my favorite flavors from the pile.

Sure I was I was full, but they tasted so good.

This process of thoughtful selection was much different from the feeding frenzy that preceded it. I picked up the candy, bean by bean, regarding each color and shape before popping it in my mouth. I paid attention the sharpness of the peppermint, the salivary gland-cramping tartness of the lemon, and hey - there really is a difference between cinnamon and red-hot cinnamon.

Even though more than half the jug remained full of jellybeans, I never did go back to shoveling them down. Good thing – they probably wouldn’t have stayed there.

Now before you think that I never intended on making an actual writing point, I have been all along - at least from the jellybean part on. When I start a writing project, whether it’s a five hundred-word picture book or a fifty-thousand word novel, I’m a glutton. I immerse myself in my story and revel in the characters. I’m always surprised and amazed at the wealth of language that’s available. And then, finally, I write the words ‘THE END’. And even though I may be feeling a bit sick of my project, I’m not near finished. Now it’s time to start being picky.

No matter the length of a manuscript, every word matters. Each one is a delectable individual that must be considered for flavor and color. This is a very different experience from the first excitement of throwing words on paper, but it is still in its own way, just as satisfying. It’s here that you begin the editing process that will refine and define the smorgasbord you intend to present to your reader. Will your words blend together to form a to-die-for entrée? Or - will they be the lemonade/chocolate-milk mash-up of the literary world? Here’s where you get to figure that out.

So, go forth and write, stuff your face and enjoy. The English language (and all the others, too, as far as I know) is free for the taking. But you know, those jellybeans didn’t cost much either.

They were on sale.

Oh, and I know the piece of art at the top of this post doesn't really fit the theme. But it's close enough - PLUS it's for sale. Email me about it. I'll confirm the accuracy of that statement.