Rambling on writing

I just read a book called “Writers [on Writing].” Now wouldn’t you think I’d love a book like that? Well, I didn’t. I couldn’t relate to most of it because a lot of it had to do with fiction and I can’t do fiction, either in reading or in writing.

My own writing is very reality based, practical, unsentimental. It’s mostly founded in the urge I have to tell people about some experience I’ve had within the context of, Here’s something I did/discovered, and here’s what you can learn from this.

One of my favorite articles was one I wrote a long time ago called, “How to be Good Houseguest.” It was totally based on my own experiences as both a guest and as a host. In fact, I turned that into two more articles and sold one of them to Woman’s Day. (But alas, they never published it.)

And after going on many group trips with my friends, I could write a great piece on how to plan/carry off a group vacation. In fact, I tried to sell the idea to Island mag a while back, but no go. It’s now on my list to pursue with Budget Travel.

In my job, I write a lot about health issues – especially weight loss. And I’m always coming across stories that think deserve a wider audience. Like for instance, last spring I interviewed a woman who was about to go in for a stomach staple and at the last minute, decided to try one more time to lose weight on her own – and she did it! She lost 80 pounds and she went from looking like Two-Ton Tillie to Katie Couric. Plus, she inspired her two kids to lose weight, and her 17-year old son ended up getting on the wrestling team as a result.

Well, I think her story would make a great article in a women’s pub — not as a weight loss testimonial, but about what it was like for her to be overweight. She told that story beautifully – about how her little kids couldn’t even hug her b/c she was so big around, etc. etc.

I’ve got that on my giant Things to Do list, too, but I'll probably never get around to it. Although after writing about it just now, I’m sitting here thinking, “Wait a minute, why DON”T I pursue that!??”

It all gets down to time, I guess. If I weren’t so busy writing for other people, I’d have time to go after the things I WANT to write about! But then, nobody pays you for doing that, either. It' s my constant dilemma.

Good job!

Nothing is more satisfying to me as a writer than to hear these two little words: “Nice job!” Because what I do is hard. Interviewing people, then telling their story in print is a very iffy proposition: What if I missed the mark; what if they hate it; what if something they said was not what they meant?

So I’m always a little nervous when I send off stories, especially personal profiles, for approval – first to the editor, then to the person I’ve interviewed. (For corporate newsletters, anybody who’s quoted gets to see the copy before it’s printed.) And I’m always a tad anxious until I get their responses back. So when I open an e-mail and the first thing I see is, “Great job, Keasha!” I let out a huge sigh of relief.

Sometimes I think about what it would be like if I were at the other end of an interview. If somebody were asking me a bunch of questions about my life or my work, then writing it up for all the world to see (well, a few interested folks anyway), would I be OK with everything they’ve said?

One time, I wrote a Home & Garden story for the Grand Rapids Press about my sister-in-law, an artist, who uses fabric in creative ways all through her house. In fact, her living room drapes are made from a beautiful antique bedspread that was her great aunt’s. Well, after the story appeared, somebody made a crack to my brother about how cheap he must be if his wife has to use leftover bedspreads to cover their windows! (Actually, he is cheap, but did they have to use my story to tell him that?)

Anyway, this week I got an e-mail from one of my editors on a story I’d re-written at his request using a different angle. His response to my revision was, “You rock, Keasha!” He’s young, so I guess this is his way of saying “Nice job” exuberantly. I don’t care how he says it, the bottom line was he was happy with it.

Because that’s what it’s all about: making people happy with my work so they hire me to do more. It’s like any product or service: If they like it, they’ll keep coming back.