I wore a new shirt to school

4/16/08 --I wore a new shirt to school last week, a mock turtleneck from Eddie Bauer's. It's the first mock turtleneck I've ever worn to work. A fellow teacher commented that I looked like a writer, and that got me thinking. Is that the secret? Is that all there is to being a successful writer? Does the color matter? Does it really have to be white or grayish white. The funny thing was that I started feeling like a writer by the end of the day, and I really hadn't done any more work than usual, except that it took a little more work to get that shirt off from around my head at night. You can see I've been thinking about this a lot lately."

I love the understated voice in this, and the dry wit. Clothes, as this teacher well knows, do not a writer make.

Then again, confidence is a big part of any creative process, and an especially crucial ingredient for kids. If wearing a mock turtleneck makes a person feel more like a writer, then I say pull one on and go for it. Besides, a classroom full of third graders all decked out in mock turtlenecks would look mighty fine, don't you think?