Runner's World

Sunday morning I had what is probably my best run ever at 6 1/4 miles and just under an hour. That's not an especially fast pace but what made the run so good was that it was easy.  Breath, speed, rhythm--everything came together. The first time I got tired and looked at my watch I was already at 52 minutes.  Plus, I ran into the neighboring town and back which made me feel like I'd actually been somewhere versus running in circles. Blair has informed me we'll no longer use the car and gas to get groceries and instead he'll just send me.

I'm amused how nothing gets missed in a small town. I go to the bank and people say, "I saw you Monday morning on Murphy Street." I go to give blood and hear, "You were down by Hardee's on Sunday around 7:30."  There's no chance of me ever going missing because apparently I'm being tracked. During the week I run with Royce and Margharita. Royce and I run a little faster pace and sometimes pull ahead and someone told Margharita they saw Royce running with another woman. Margharita's reply? "I know. I'd do something about it if I could catch her."  She cracks me up.

Today's run was not quite as joyful. We pushed to make 50 minutes and you could have mopped the floor with me when we were through.  But it's still a great feeling to be up and outside, sweating and knowing I'm getting something done as I run past houses still black, or cars pulling into McDonald's for morning coffee and pancakes.  No matter how tired I am when I come back in the house at 6:30, it's always a good tired, knowing I've already got a big checkmark to put against my to-do list for the day.

And the runs are getting easier. 40-45 minutes is a no brainer now. Which is good as starting in September we pick up the time and pace. And if you ever need to know where I am, just call the local bank or clothing store or any neighbor in town and I'm sure someone there will point you in the right direction. ;)

Speakers Gone Crazy!

There may not be as much skin as in the "Girls Gone Wild" series, but there is drama nonetheless in today's dramatic and riveting episode of "Speakers Gone Crazy."

I tell my public speaking students that they must be ready to adjust their talks at a moment's (if even that much) notice and yesterday gave me the opportunity to practice what I preach. My friend Pam Cable and I were invited several months ago to speak at a celebration for Women's Equality Day, hosted by the Commission on the Status of Women in Greensboro. We were asked to prepare an hour and fifteen minute presentation.

When we got to the event and looked at the program we saw we were scheduled for an hour. No big deal. Then breakfast started late, which meant the keynote speaker started (and ended) late. The day was then supposed to be divided into morning speakers, 15 minute break, afternoon speakers.  The people who spoke before our session went WAY over time limit. They blew through the break period and went right on talking up to the start time of our presentation, with no indication they had any intention of stopping.

I was livid. More so at the event organizer than the speakers. How hard is it to step in and say, "I'm so sorry to cut you short when you have such wonderful information to share, but we need to take a quick break and start our next sessions. Let's have a big round of applause for...." ?  Didn't happen.

We were scheduled to start at 11 and at ten after I left the room and found the event chair who was in the foyer.

"Are we cancelling the afternoon sessions?" I asked.

"Oh. No. We just got a little late start but they'll start soon."

"Really?" I asked. "Because the speaker in our room just launched a 10 minute video presentation." 

Eight minutes into the video the chair came in and signalled them to cut it off.  And so finally, with 35 minutes left in the day, Pam and I started our speech.

And it was fine. Both of us thankfully are able to go with the flow and we got the main points across and had a fun time. But I find it inexcusable on the part of the chair to have let matters go the way they did, and the only reason she stopped the session when she did is that I went out and got her.  Pam and I volunteered to do this and each of us probably put in 4 hours of prep time, getting the handouts and information ready.  There was no apology for wasted time, no acknowledgement that things could have been handled better.

I went home and was telling Blair what happened and he grinned and said, "This is why men still rule the world." He was kidding, but I'm frankly inclined to find some truth in the matter.  This is how a group of women wanting to celebrate women run the event? It's too bad, because there were great speakers with great information there. And chances are strong I'm much more bothered as a presenter than I might of been as an attendee (although  maybe not--I'm pretty anal about start/stop times all the way around). =)  But in the end everything turned out okay, we delivered the talk and went on with our lives.

And it was a good lesson that even when you're handed a prescribed length of time to talk, always be prepared to extend or shorten on the spot. 

The Business of Marketing Yourself

As a feature writer, I haven't had to put a lot of effort into self-promotional materials. All that's required to land an assignment is a well thought-out query letter and a couple of quality clips (articles already published).  The magazines typically have pre-set payment prices or if a little negotiation is in order, it's handled quickly by phone or e-mail.

Recently however, I've been straying into work for businesses--writing web site copy, brochures, press releases, etc. Most of this work has come to me via friend or referral and so I still haven't had to worry about promotional materials. Yesterday though, a friend called wanting to refer me to someone who needed web site copy written and she asked if I could send her a brochure and price sheet. I scrambled and got something out to her but I didn't feel good about what I sent. It wasn't professional looking. It looked more like someone who opened Word, typed in a headline that read "PRICE SHEET" and made some columns. (Which is pretty much exactly what went down). No logo, no glossiness, no polish.  Yecch.

So I'm thinking it's time. Time to, as my friend Dreena likes to say, "pull up your big girl panties and get to work." (I do love living in the South).  I've decided I need to pull together:

• A glossy 4-color brochure listing my writing services
•  A price sheet
• Convert my best articles into PDF formats for easy sending
• Have a professional headshot taken
  
• Update or maybe revamp the web site (Ick. Hate to even think about the work involved in that one)
• Pull together a press kit, or maybe two. (One for the book and one for speaking engagements)

The funny thing is, I do this sort of work for other people and it's no problem. But I dread having to write my own brochure. I know a lot of writers who feel that way and actually I explain this concept to business owners that it's worth their money to hire me to write their copy simply because they're too close it. That makes it hard to see what needs to go in and what needs left out.

The question is WHEN in my happy little schedule am I going to have time to do all this? One step at a time. I think the brochure needs to come first.  I've got a brochure from a writer/editor friend of mine in CA that is top-notch, so I'll work off that and see what I can come up with. And I'll need the headshot/photos to include in the brochure so I'll book that soon as well. Any excuse to parlay playing dress-up into a work-related expense.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Friday. Cheers - D. 

No Time for Writer's Block

Someone asked me today if I ever get writer's block when working on articles. The answer is no--at least, not yet. Article writing is a lot like any other job. If it has to be done, it has to be done and there's no time to be "blocked."

Now certainly I have articles that come to me easier than others. In fact, I'm working on a marketing column and yesterday before I even wrote the first sentence, I was stuck. That's because my idea wasn't fully thought out and--the kiss of death--I was less than excited to write about the topic. I thought the topic was a snore which almost always will comes across in the writing.

This article is due in less than a week. So I called a friend yesterday and after ascertaining she was willing to take a break from her workday, begged her to brainstorm with me.  That's usually the best way to break through any "writer's block." I talked with my friend about 10 minutes and near the end of the conversation a way to restructure the article came to me. I'm  much more excited about the new format and will rough out the article today.

I think that's the secret of most writers. We don't actually figure stuff out for ourselves. Instead, we bounce ideas off friends and associates and take their knowledge and claim it as our own.

So today will be spent writing a marketing article. No time to be blocked.