Yesterday afternoon I went to take my “Building your Blog” class at the Indiana Writers Center. It was the largest of the three classes I have so far taken at IWC. At the start of class our instructor had us do a quick “who are you and why are you here?” introduction as a way of breaking the ice and generating conversation. There were professional people who wanted to offer expert advice for their blogs sitting alongside the “creatives” like me, who wrote fiction or poetry or just wanted to blog for the hell of it.
When it came to my turn to introduce myself I nailed it. I know my name. I know what I currently do for a living. No problems there. But when it came to describing Tripio I blew it. I had hoped to reel off a couple intriguing, fascinating sentences describing Tripio and then answer questions from the rest of the attendees along the lines of “When does it come out? And “How soon can I buy a copy? That didn’t happen. I stopped and restarted. I mumbled and talked too fast, then paused and restarted again. I think I ended by saying the pointless, “I love it.”
Luckily, our instructor saved me. He had taught in quite a few environments and must have been used to pulling bodies from the verbal wreckage. He helped me by restating the plot of Tripio as a question to everyone else. “So, Tripio has three plot lines, one involving a relationship, one involving writing a book and in the other, you as the main character, received over 250 shares of Starbucks stock at the IPO. In …1992??
“Yes. 1992” I replied, once again handling the two word reply like a pro.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about not having the stock anymore.” He replied.
“Yea. So am I.” Was my riveting reaction, though I was proud of myself for having used four words this time.
To be honest I did recover over the course of the next three hours and managed to receive positive feedback and comment about Tripio. That in turn provided motivation for me to write again this morning.
And as you know, I am writing this blog in part to help and prepare aspiring writers in as many ways as I can, based on my present experiences, not any past success. This morning, in researching my journals (Sketchbooks of the Mind) for this post, I came across this entry about Tripio, -“I have no doubt at all in Tripio. In its creation, authenticity & purity. For it to work, it cannot be preconceived. It has to just happen. It has to be read as if it is just happening.” Which for me, is also how this blog is going to work best. This is a day in the life account of my efforts to publish Tripio. I have never tried to publish a book before and am discovering that it entails a lot of things I didn’t expect. One of which is describing your book to a room full of strangers. And blowing it.
Which brings me to an inspirational quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that I have kept close for years now…”In life you must do the things you think you cannot do.” In my case, as you just read, I could write Tripio. It is everything else I have yet to do.
“May I help who’s next?”
