Writing of my experiences during World War II comes easy. Making sense of what I wrote the first time around becomes more difficult.

When doing my original Memoirs, I lost some of my sequencing and ended up placing a few of the original chapters ahead of events that should have come first. I guess that's why I am forced to do so much rewriting in the process.

To complicate matters, I have a monthly column in the "Senior Perspective" out of Glenwood, MN. Income from that endeavor helps me pay for all of the paper that I rip up in the process of writing my memoirs.

How did I succeed in selling my column? I submitted a few suggestions to a monthly publication that looked interesting to me. My suggestions matched the needs of the editor and he hired me on as one of his columnists. At first, I didn't even know if I would get paid.

To my surprise, the editor sent me a check a few days after he had printed my column. I've kept it going for almost four years. Since then, he has given me a couple of raises. He is paying me more than I have received from most of the editors I've worked with. Que bueno.

The moral of this story is to keep plugging along and never quit trying. Most of the editors I've sold material to have become consistent buyers. The approach I use is to concentrate on the first sell and then feed the editor plenty of useful material.

My suggestion number two is "never miss a deadline." Editors like to have writers that they can depend upon.

As the old story goes: "C'est la vie" (that's life).

Signed,

Hank Lefevre, author, poet, and dreamer.