Give That Woman a Prize!

Six weeks since I last posted on my blog? No! Really? I can’t make up my mind to plead extreme busyness or sheer laziness. As always, it’s something of both. Please to keep in mind that these last few months have been the most event-packed, exciting times in the life of the church fellowship I attend, but that’s another story altogether. I don’t intend to chronicle the why, how and where of laziness, but I will justify the ‘busy’ part of the equation.

I want to relate something of the recent activities that have excited and challenged me. The first one was conducting my first two-day writing workshop. I spent several weeks creating interesting hand-outs and innovative writing exercises, and planning and organising my material. I agonised over whether I had too much material or not enough, too advanced or not sufficiently challenging.  As the designated weekend drew nearer I teetered between anxiety and blasé nonchalance about the actual number of attendees.  The upshot of it was… I had an absolute ball! It was well attended on both days, the writers asked great questions, they responded positively to the exercises and several of them expressed interest in further workshops. I couldn’t wait to do it all again, the sooner the better.

Concurrent with that, I was signing a contract with Wombat/Even Before Publishing to publish my book – a biography of Marion Fromm and the work amongst landmine disabled in Cambodian. The contract actually was signed during Lifeworx Arts Expo in Mclaren Vale in SA, where my workshops were held. No wonder I was on a high.

Those two events set me thinking like an entrepreneur; I wasn’t going to wait for things to come to me, I was going out to get them. With that in mind, I’m in the process of putting several initiatives in place. Watch this space!

Also - with the prospect of spruiking my book in the not too distant future- I decided I needed a business card. I have to say I’ve always considered them to be well on the vanity side of necessity, unless you happened to be a carpenter or upholsterer, or the like, who needed something handy to write a quote on that would fit neatly in the customer’s wallet and not get screwed up or trodden on in the footwell of a car.  Vanity or not, it’s been great fun designing one. And it took me ages. Of course, two hours after finally lodging my order for a modest first run of 250 I decided they weren’t glossy enough – actually, they’re not glossy at all; an error of judgement, I feel. If you’ve got it, baby, flaunt it! I’m going to be absolutely prodigal with that first lot so I can do better in a second print just as soon as possible!

Last but not least, I wrote a short story this week, about Studley and his dog, Turd. I think it could be one of the best I’ve done.  Plus, I wrote it in between bouts of extensive editing for another writer. I think I need a prize for doing those two things at once. Don’t laugh. One half of me is a tunnel visionary and the other is anally retentive. I just can’t decide which half should get the prize.

Just to keep things in perspective, I did plan to have that story ready for a competition, but I missed the closing date by two weeks. That’s where laziness came into it. Or was it lack of motivation, and is there a difference?