Defining diet moment

So, I got on the scale, something I’ve been avoiding because I knew I’d hate the results. I was right, I hated the answer and I got mad at me. Mad enough to act. I know how to take care of myself and I’d let myself forget. So, I went back on a strict ‘food nazi’ plan designed to kickstart the weight loss. It isn’t some fad diet, but more like being aware of what I eat and making choices that fit the math of more calories out than in. The only supplements I’m taking are daily vitamins, when I remember to take them.

Maybe my motivation stems from knowing it can be done. I’ve done it before and forgot to take care and maintain what I’d worked for. That made me mad. I couldn’t afford to wait until the holidays were over.

That was two weeks ago.The first week I lost four pounds. I didn’t let myself get too excited about it because four pounds can be as simple as a bit of water. I told myself to just stick to it and wait. “Watch for it,” I said. When it goes past five, you are on the right track.

Now I’m excited. I’ve lost six pounds and I feel like I’m officially on my way back to a healthier me. I haven’t spent any time in the gym yet but I will have to add an increase in activity to the equation. Nothing of value comes without a bit of work. My only disappointment is that it doesn’t show yet. again I’m telling myself, “watch for it, it will.”

I hear a lot of people around me say that they are waiting until after the holidays to start eating healthier. That it is just too hard. I thought that too, before I got mad. I’ve gone through three holiday parties without slipping off my plan. I wasn’t even tempted. At the church holiday meal, while everyone went to the desert table I pulled a perfect, sweet, luscious Fuji apple out of my purse and dug in with total abandon. It made me happy. Attitude is everything.

A rewarding red pen day

I was paid the highest sort of compliment today. It was right up there with “gee, you’re gorgeous!” OK, so it was a statement that was way more believable than that - - and more important.

One of my writers told me he’d never had an actual editor before, and he liked it. He said they’ve looked over his work in the past and made the corrections but he’d never received the feedback he needed to improve his craft.

This comment was very special to me. I honestly want to be the person who helps others reach their potential. I want to see them earn recognition for what they’ve written. Most important, I want to see their confidence and skills rise.

As an editor, sometimes I feel the pressure of always wielding the red pen and being the bad guy. But, when someone comes back and says your comments are helping them, that makes me feel like the effort is worth it.

So, if you really want to encourage your editor, tell them when their inputs help you. If you can't think of something, tell them they are gorgeous then just smile and nod, smile and nod.

Courting social media groups - very smart marketing

I took a couple of days off following Veteran’s day. Not for anything important just for the pleasure of having a couple of beautiful San Antonio fall days at home, some time to take care of a few administrative details of life and to work on a couple of writing projects.

I opened the house up and aired it out and wrote some on my National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWrimo, project, went out to the Roy Maas Youth Alternatives facility in Boerne, Texas for a tour and some interviews for an upcoming article and went to a tweetup at Patty Lou’s Restaurant where Jalepeno Pancakes and friends involved in communicating were the special draw. I really enjoyed the food and the company. If you get a chance, I’d recommend a breakfast there sometime. The prices are great and the place reminds me of a small-town cafe in almost any town, including my own hometown of Chehalis, Wash. If you aren’t familiar with it, it is on the corner of McCullough and Hildebrand.

If you have a small business and social media group in your home town, I recommend joining it. It usually is free and you will be surprised at how many like-minded people you will meet. There will be techies, journalists, bloggers and people who just enjoy telling great stories through social and traditional media outlets. They are generous with their ideas and really work to help people get in tune with the best uses for social media. I learn something from the great group here in San Antonio every time I get a chance to meet up, or tweetup, with them.


One of the things we talked about was how smart businesses were currently courting the active social media set with great results. These people are in touch with their communities and come with their own built-in networks. When they join those networks together, they create a powerful communication tool. Courting your local social media group is very smart marketing. If you are a small business, or a start-up and you want to create a buzz about your services, invite the local social media club to come and see what you do. Make an event out of it so that there is value added for attending. Ask them to “report” the event. Most of the time you won’t have to ask them to report, they will just do it because that is what they are all about. Instant buzz for the cost of a few refreshments, some entertainment or a discount.

We also talked about bad examples of social media use. We looked at citizen journalists who “reported” on the shootings at Ft. Hood. Not all of the comments were good because, contrary to popular belief, reporters don’t want all the gory details. The folks I sat with brought up some really bad examples of citizen journalism that violated some very basic rules of privacy, namely the HIPA rights patients have -- no matter who they are. The one citizen journalist that made the “I’ll never follow a person like that” list was someone at the hospital where the shooter was taken. They were tweeting about how the patient looked and how they couldn’t believe that he was brought there at all - and a few other unsavory comments. Lesson learned, even though - and probably because - twitter is instant, some things are still better left unsaid.

If ou live here in San Antonio, check out the Social media club visit http://smc-sa.ning.com/

How to eat a 50,000 word elephant

Ok so I had one of those defining moments today. Not a define my life one but just for the morning. Unfortunately it came about an hour and a half before the alarm was to sound off. Dogs. My dogs. Yup, they decided they had to get up early just like we did on my Air Force Reserve recent weekend. And, they stinkers waited until Tuesday to pull this one. They wanted to get up, go out, play, snack and now, still an hour before it is time to get up, they are asleep on the foot of my recliner. I am defined as tired and under caffeinated. The only way to fix that is to start my day and caffeinate, one sip at a time.

I’m also using this time to write. I need every second these days. I’m embroiled in the National Novel Writing Month event. The goal is 50,000 words written during the month of November. That’s doable. Until I started doing it, I didn’t think I could write that much. Thats only 1,667 words a day. And they don’t have to be great. Meaning, do your best to tell a story but don’t dwell on producing publisher-ready copy every time you sit down with your paper or computer. I love the concept of NaNoWriMo because it gives you permission to mess up and press on. Because of that permission, the pressure is off. Getting to 50,000 should be pretty easy. I’ve been able to keep up in just an hour or two a day. But, I planned, plotted, made characters, drew little maps and daydreamed a bit about this story.

That same concept can be applied to any kind of writing. Many times the thought of doing a class paper, writing an article that is longer than normal or writing their first one is an overwhelming task. You know the questions, how many pages or how many words does it have to be. The same thought holds many people back until right before deadline and causes writers to just put something down on the paper to fill the block. We are all guilty of days like that but it shouldn’t be the normal way of doing our business. Writing may be an art, but it is also business.

The trick, the real trick, is to just start writing the story. No matter what you are writing, news, feature or a first novel, plan for it, tell yourself about the story information while driving or pacing , plot it and then attack it one word at a time, treat it like the business it is and get to work. Once you’ve thrown it all on the paper then edit. if you write down what you’ve told yourself about the subject, you’ll be at the end before you know it. The cool thing about that...is you can start the next one.

Now, a refill for my cup and back to work on those 50,000 words. I'll make it, one sip and one word at a time.

Today I learned a few things. First, even though my youngest child is 20, and I haven't used one in a while, a baby spoon fits nicely into the small opening of a horseradish jar when you are trying to get enough to mix into the Ketchup for a tangy cocktail sauce for shrimp.

The second is that it is way too easy to procrastinate when I write and procrastination can bite you in the body text.

But the real lesson I learned was one I learned a long time ago and forgot about it until today.

Long feature articles psych out experienced news writers. Many over think the process and miss the mark, not because they haven't the talent, but because they think anything over 1,200 words has to be hard.

I worked on two stories from the same writer today. One was well over 2,000 words and one was a sidebar of about 500. This writer is a solid writer with a gift for placing the reader at the scene. The short piece had very few errors and required only minor edits. Short, informative articles is that writer's norm.

The longer one, still possessing every essential element of a good feature, required more work and some revision. When faced with a longer copy requirement, the writer at first wrote in a less concise way than her normal style.

Let's establish the rule: Longer does not mean permission for wordiness. It does mean more information, description, research or a combination.

The writer, after putting the piece aside for a day, figured that out on her own. And that may be the key if you are transitioning from one writing form to another. Get it on the paper and step away from it for a while. When you come back to it, read it out loud to yourself and apply all the same rules you've always written by. Can I say it shorter and increase the impact of that phrase. The answer won't always be yes. Sometimes the flow of the story will dictate a longer sentence. Just remember, somewhere between 2 and 35 is the ideal sentence length. Anything beyond that is an exception. It happens, but with very careful construction and not as a standard.

So, don't get psyched out; get it out. Put it down for a few hours or overnight and then look at it again. You'll know you're getting there when you enjoy the read.

Now, it's time for me to quit procrastinating and get back to my own writing.