Learning to Adapt

Saturday, April 20, 2013
Hello, Muffin friends! If I've learned one lesson from living the writer's life, it's this: adapt.

Of course, the second lesson I've learned is simple, too. When something goes wrong, everything goes wrong. :)

Let's take today, for instance. I had planned on posting a book review for your Saturday viewing pleasure. But we've had trouble with our satellite internet system (you find you have that problem when you live in the boonies in the middle of nowhere) and instead of pages loading at a lightning-fast clip, it's like we're connecting via dial up. Yikes!

I forgot I had the Blogger app on my tablet until this morning, when I sprung up in bed around 6 AM, but I haven't figured out how to link or add photos. In other words, the book review will wait until next time.

I've learned to adapt when I'm on a story assignment, too. For example, I was assigned to cover a story that's of local, state and national interest. My job: cover it from the local angle since the major news outlets would cover the state and national impact. I sat through three hours of testimony from 60 individuals to hear four local speakers. Between note taking and tweeting highlights from speakers, my laptop battery drained quickly! Welcome to the world of smart phone reporting.

See, we writers adapt to less-than-favorable conditions at times. We modify schedules to meet deadlines. We adjust pieces of work to suit editors or agents or both.

Why?

Because we are writers and we strive to get words on paper and tell a strong story and unleash the creative muse waiting to pounce on the page.

It's an innate trait.

How have you learned to adapt to bumps in the writing road?

by LuAnn Schindler




4 comments:

Suzi @ chores and chandeliers said...

Hello.
Love your blog!
I'm also a Nebraska blogger. I'm co-hosting a link up for Nebraska bloggers. I'd love to have you link up with us!

http://choresandchandeliers.blogspot.com/2013/04/nebraska-pride.html

Please share with other 'sker bloggers you know of!

Sioux Roslawski said...

LuAnn--I was going to submit a story to an anthology. It was nonfiction. I liked the story. It had been critiqued and was properly polished.

I got ready to send it and saw that the submissions were supposed to be fictional. So, I worked on embellishing it, added a fictional (but much more interesting) ending, involving hunky firemen.

Yes, we have be flexible. We have to move and flow and shift, just like the characters in our stories.

LuAnn Schindler said...

Hey, Suzi! Another Nebraska blogger! I joined the Nebraska Blog Connect. :) Great idea.

Sioux, I've done more adapting in the last week than I care to admit, but it's made my work stronger. Good lesson worth learning. :)

Anonymous said...

I struggle with making decisions with limited information all the time. It feels hard to go forward when you know things are uncertain but I agree that as a leader you often have to take a deep breath and do it anyway. It’s also critical to keep the bumps that come after a decision in perspective and know that they are part of the learning and growing process EssaysWriters. Good advice!

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