Cathy C. Hall Writes

Well, this is embarrassing. I just talked about the virtue of taking care of business in a timely manner; that is, not putting off tomorrow what you can do today. And here I am, opining on Saturday what I should have opined yesterday, on Finding Something Friday.

So pretend this is Friday and I’ll feel better. I’ll also feel ever so much better if Santa brings me a sparkly writer’s conference for Christmas!

I had a little note yesterday from the Highlights folks about their writers workshops for 2011-you can read all about the workshops here. I’ve always wanted to go to Chautauqua and soak in all that writerly wisdom. Maybe I’ll put one of those workshops on my wish list.

Or I could give Santa Baby a choice and add Springmingle, the SCBWI Southern Breeze conference in February. Honestly, there are so many sweet conferences out there, my list is getting longer and longer.

Maybe you’d like to give Santa a few conference choices, too. You can check out Shaw Guides for a complete listing of wonderful writer’s conferences. And then you can dream of a Write Christmas, too!

MACBETH:

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

Oh, my little grasshopper, you would think after a few years in the writing business, I’d run out of What Not To Do’s. And yet, I still manage my fair share of blunders, mishaps, boo-boos and abject failures.

I’m not sure where procrastination falls in that list. It seems more than a boo-boo, but perhaps not quite as bad as abject failure. I mean, putting off blog and website maintenance won’t cause the fall of the Cathy C. Hall writing empire. Or will it?

What if an editor wandered in and found links that were no longer active? Out-of-date clips? Or headings that made no sense because a certain writer started making changes then got sidetracked? Would that editor think a. Cathy C. Hall is terribly busy? Or b. Cathy C. Hall is terribly lazy?

And when I think that I’ve had a note on my bulletin board since MARCH, reminding me to stay on top of website and blog maintenance, I have to accept that what was just a boo-boo in May is kinda ridiculously HUGE in December. Which is why I’ve finally fixed a few things around the old Hall of Fame. Actually, if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s a work in progress. But at least I’m progressing.

So, don’t put off till tomorrow…and tomorrow…and tomorrow what you can do in May. And then again in August, and again in December. Update your clips, check links, and stay on top of your writing career. You want folks to notice your brilliance-not your boo-boos.