Getting To Know You... ♫ Getting to Know All About You ♪♪

Client relationships are interesting. I of course begin every encounter in "professional" mode, ("Mr Smith? Dena Harris returning your call. Is this a good time for you?") but I'm often surprised--and pleased--how quickly pretensions are dropped. I don't try to be buddy-buddy or best friends with my clients. Indeed, I'm more likely to follow their lead on how friendly/business they want to keep the relationship. But I'm always thrilled to get a glimpse of the person behind the job.

For example, I wrote website copy for a London-based company and while writing the founder's bio we both agreed it would be appropriate to include some personal information on the site. That's when I found out his nickname was "Salsa King," for his love of the dance. Hel-lo! How could I not refer to him as Salsa King in our next correspondence? I soon learned what type dogs he had and that he runs half-marathons. Who knew?

Another client had to cut a phone call short because he had a tennis match with his wife. I e-mailed him information I'd been working on and concluded with "Hope your tennis game went well." His e-mail back contained feedback on my work and the ending sentence, "Tennis is a stupid game. I can't believe I ever liked it."

Cracked me up. I love the dry wit.

I find most people are happier dealing with a "real" person--someone who's not afraid to laugh or poke fun at themselves (or, as appropriate, at a project). I'm meticulous about meeting deadlines and honoring my word, so why not just be myself with clients? It makes working on projects more fun for me and, I hope, for them. I feel for my friends in the corporate world who tell me they so often feel they have to wear a mask and be someone they're not. No thanks.

Yet another reminder of why I'm so lucky to get to do what I love--and be myself while doing it.

Cheers!

A Few Random Thoughts

I don't have enough for a full blog entry today so, like poor man's soup, I thought I'd toss a bit of everything in the pot and hope it comes out tasting good. Our ingredients:

• As of this morning, I'm signed up to run the 2009 Chicago Marathon on October 11--four days before our 15th wedding anniversary.
• A friend gave us tickets to the Greensboro Symphony, which we attended last night. Next door--and generating much more traffic--was a Monster Truck Rally. As we pulled up to the traffic cop, he took one look at us and said, "Symphony?" and pointed the way. (I could SO fit into a Monster Truck Rally if I wanted to.)
• Neighborhood Superbowl Party today. I will probably eat my weight in chocolate and fried foods.
• Speaking of food, the "You Bought It Now Eat It" week was a great success with the exception of the Red Lentil Load that was, in a word, nasty. Additionally, the dishes all seemed to have a high carb value - lots of pasta, potatoes, and rice. Maybe I could set aside an orange or something this month...
• Blair and I are both spending today working before the Superbowl. Just not enough hours in the week to get what needs to be done, done.
• Ran 11 miles yesterday which is the most I've managed since November's marathon. Good pace, felt great. 30 degrees and a windchill factor encourages one to pick up the pace. 
• Novel writing begins tomorrow. Need to find time today to get organized.

That's it. Stir well and serve.

February: Novel Writing Begins

A writer friend and I made a pack in early January that, come February, we would both consciously devote time to working on our novels. We've been discussing how, exactly, each of us will make time for this endeavour. What I have come up with is this:

• I will spend a minimum of two hours each morning novel writing.
• I will not check e-mail, blog, or post on Facebook or Twitter until novel writing time is complete
• I will produce a minimum of 1500 new words each day. Editing is to be kept to a minimum or non-exsistent.
• I will write Mon-Fri. Ideally we'll each get in an hour of writing time on Saturday, but it is optional depending on schedules. Sunday is a rest day.
• My friend and I will report weekly on our progress. *We are allowed two "pass" days a month where life interferes and we just can't get to the writing.

I'm hoping to spend closer to 3-4 hours per day on creative writing time, but edits to my cat book are coming in and I need to allow time to edit/rewrite portions of that.

I recognize that what I've written above is the dieter's equivalent of declaring, "I will eliminate all refined sugar from my diet, go to the gym 6 days a week, and not snack between meals until I am a size 2."

And yet... I have hope the schedule will stick. It's two hours first thing in the morning. It's a matter of sticking to it for a month so the habit forms. Blair asked what I would do facilitate the above behaviors and other than sheer force of will, what I came up with is that I'll check e-mail right before I go to bed at night, just to assure myself nothing urgent is waiting for me, and I'll turn off my computer's Internet connection at night so it's not hooked up in the morning when I sit myself down, tempting me with e-mail and Facebook.

Will it work? I've been dieting for years and am not anywhere near a size 2 so a pessimist would say, "no." But I luv me a new schedule and routine. And I've felt an internal shift that has said, "You're ready to work on the novel."

Ready or not, February, here I come.

Commitments

Looking ahead to the month of February and doing a quick count, I see I'm already scheduled for 23 hours of appointments, not including drive time. These range from everything from board and marketing meetings to teaching a class at the Greensboro Women's Center, attending a friend's book launch to my radio show, coffee with friends to Artist Dates. 

In the middle of each month, as I look at my growing list of commitments, I always swear to do better next month and not overburden myself. "I'll just say 'no,'" I tell myself. Doesn't happen.

Part of it is that I want to be at all these places. Board meetings and seeing friends and volunteer work is important to me. But so is writing and sometimes I feel like I let go of my time for that in order to "fit in" everything else, instead of the other way around. But I'm grateful I have the kind of work and schedule that allows me to fit in so many different things. I wouldn't want to stay home every day and just write. I'd go insane.

Balance is key. I keep hoping I'll just luck into it as I go, but it may be time to break down and put a bit more thought into what I can and can't commit too--even as it relates to coffee with friends or driving into town for a run. 

Gotta go. Got to get some work done before I shoot into Greensboro for today's appointments. =)