Here is what works much, much better: accept critic but always, always remember you--the adult, is in charge. Accept that critic has gifts to share but he only gets to share them when you say so and even how you say so. Accept that we all contain light and shadow, and our full creative power means we have to listen to all parts of ourselves, icky and angelic.

Fully acknowledging critical parts of yourself is not same as agreeing, entangling with, arguing with, or believing this part of yourself. The best three tools to be in dialogue with critic are:

1) Tell critic, "Thank you for sharing," when you do not currently need his input.

2) Boss critic back during first drafts, getting paint on canvas, or designing sweater, then invite critic to be heard during editing, revising, during times you need discernment.

3) Never let critic have last word. You adult creator is always in charge.

It's very interesting to me that I had to take medication for 6 weeks (yesterday being exactly 6 weeks since my surgery) to keep my body from rejecting "foreign" object in my body...that is, stainless steel knee and ligaments and connective cement. It makes me think of how often we reject our creative impulses...how something that will renew us comes right into our laps and we reject it, consciously or consciously. The medicine that I had to take had to be monitored carefully. I had to have bloodwork every week, and I had to monitor some of my foods because excess Vitamin K threw dosage off. Each week, dosage was tweaked to make sure that this medication, this tonic for bodily acceptance, was working properly. ACCEPTING a gift of renewal, it seems, is tough work...it needs monitoring, upkeep, attention, and willingness to surrender to what pain can teach us. Just as that which our spiritual expansiveness requires from us.

Open any magazine, newspaper or webpage, and most likely you will come across a filler. A filler is a short item used to fill a space in a publication (or to fill time on radio or television--keep in mind that a writer writes these fillers as well).

"The Teaching Home" and "Reader's Digest" actually reserve space specifically for fillers.

Fillers can be as short as a fun phrase; Happiness is thirty-one different flavors of ice-cream. Or fillers can be a long five hundred word anecdote. Fillers are generally nonfiction.

Recipes are fillers in certain publications. Jason Wolfe's free online weekly newsletter, "DIRECTCOUPONS," includes a reader's recipe in each issue. Hints, tips, problems and solutions, jokes, witty quotations, quips, epigrams (short clever poem or paradoxical statement) and other juicy nuggets of writing can also be sold as fillers.

Where Do I Find Fillers?

Fillers happen all around you. Do you clean? Do you have children? Do you cook? Are you a husband or a wife? Do you work (okay, do you have another bread-and-butter type of job?)? Where do you relax? What do you do for enjoyment? Do you have animals? Do you belong to a church or another type of organization? Have you discovered a better/faster/healthier way to do something? You can find fillers everywhere, for any reason, as long as you keep your senses open.

Observe and be alert for unusual or humorous signs on marquees. We read this on a church billboard: Drive-Thru Bible Study. Keep an eye on store windows, traveling trucks and buses. You just never know what you may be passing by.

Watch people. Listen to what they are saying. You will hear twists on old sayings, puns, amusing stories and plenty of jokes.

Mary Ann Hahn of New York says, "Tune in when someone compliments someone else by saying, 'Good idea,' or 'I ought to try that!' Jot down idea. Many magazines use these tips as fillers, and these short pieces can help new writer's break into national publications."

Recording Fillers and Keeping Records Keep a pocket sized notebook and a pen handy at all times. You will be ready to record incidents instantly. Unless you know shorthand, I recommend writing comments, jokes, signs or happenings as completely as time allows. I have found that writing key words only does NOT always jog your memory when you are ready to type filler.

You can use one page per filler, or use index cards, which will be of help when you are ready to file them. File them under headings such as: "Hints," "Tips," "Jokes," "Amusing Sayings," "Quotes," "Recipes," "Personal Experiences," etc. If you feel your filler should go into more than one category, put it in each category and note cross reference.

Each time you submit filler, list date, name and address of magazine. When it sells, pull it from category files and move it to a "Published" file.

Additional Filler Tips

While writing, pay attention to position (viewpoint) you take to project your filler.

An objective viewpoint may be good if you are making a statement, when it doesn't matter who is speaking, when you report what happens, and when writing certain types of work/shop tips ("Before attempting to take out a splinter, soak area in very warm water."). The statement can stand alone in an objective viewpoint.

Using a subjective viewpoint allows you to use emotions or reactions of a person. First person ("While watching my three-year-old play catch, I...") viewpoints are subjective, as are third person ("Johnny Cash may have made good, but when he..."). This puts us in thoughts of major character.

Don't be limited to anything. Find out what works for you and for market. Practice writing your filler from different viewpoints. Which one is best for what you are writing? Which one would you want to read? Study markets to discover what is selling. Like any other form of writing; be sure your manuscript is in best professional form possible. Editors will be turned off by sloppy work. Include an SASE.

Most editors buy all rights when purchasing fillers.

But... Isn't Filler Pay Pretty Low?

Some markets pay about $5 for fillers, while others pay $50 or more. Fillers may not seem lucrative to you, after knowing payscale, but put it in perspective, and think about your time.

Most fillers do not require queries. With that in mind, you just saved weeks of waiting, as well as money for postage. But that is not time I am talking about. Say a feature article will pay you $500. It will take you hours, maybe days of research. Next you will be organizing your information, in order to complete article. Finally, you send it out, only to have to rewrite. How much time is that for you?

Writing a filler often takes mere minutes; you happen to read a sign at church with says: "What Part Of 'Thou Shalt Not' Didn't You Understand?" This took maybe a minute to jot down, possibly a half an hour in library looking for an appropriate market, and maybe five minutes to send it off. Maybe an hour. If you are paid $50 (think Family Circle, Woman's Day), that comes to $50 an hour.