I woke up yesterday morning with a yucky sore throat and sinus pressure. By last night, I craved comfort food. Nothing says "comfort" to me like hot thick-crusted pizza dripping cheese, so we ended up at Pizza Hut's Tuesday night Kids Eat Free buffet. (Don't worry, no fever, I wasn't contagious. Besides I scrubbed my hands and didn't sneeze at all.) After we filled our plates and started eating, I tried to press my pounding sinus headache away with my fingers, then I looked at Kevin. "Did you thank God for the food?" He nodded. (He had his mouth full.) "Out loud?" Another nod. "Ok, I thought so, but I wasn't sure."

Our 7-year-old daughter tugged on my sleeve and flashed me a mischievous grin. "Mom? Do you have short term memory loss?" Kevin and I gaped at each other and burst out laughing. She laughed, too, then got serious. "You don't usually laugh at my jokes THAT much."

Right there in Pizza Hut, she learned a lesson that I'm still learning. Sometimes you just hit a sweet spot with a line. And sometimes you don't. She probably thinks those jokes she makes up (If you have a 7-year-old, you know the ones) are just as funny as her short term memory comment. But it doesn't matter what she thinks. It's all in the audience's reaction.

When you write you have to learn to be your own audience. Write it and rewrite it, then read it through fresh eyes and cut the lines that don't hit the sweet spot. Yep, that's right. Writers have to have a split personality. Oh, and short term memory loss doesn't hurt either. :)