Presently Not Present
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
Pete Dulin might be the most patient editor I have worked with – almost comically patient. About a month ago, he assigned me a story for Present involving Hope House, the battered women’s shelters in Lee’s Summit and Independence, Mo. I agreed to the write the article knowing that there would probably be some upheaval in my personal life. But I thought I could throw myself into my work and let all the distractions fade away. So a call was scheduled with the organization’s CEO and another high-ranking staff member immediately after I talked with Pete. I conducted the interview on my lunch hour a few days later. I came back to my desk, set the tape recorder down and thought I’d eventually get to it. Then, a couple of weeks ago, Pete checked in with a brief e-mail: Just want to check in and see how things are going with the Hope House story. Let me know if you need anything.
I told him about the distractions I’d hoped to avoid that they’d caught up to me. He was understanding. His wife, Pam, who is copied on all Present e-mail, forwarded her kind sentiments to me. Both volunteered to lend an ear if I needed to talk, but I planned once again to submerge myself in the writing trade as a way to forget things. I My deadline was extended to April 22. Their kindness should have been the motivation to start writing, but it wasn’t. Last week I got a calmly worded e-mail from Pete titled “Update” and inside was a single sentence: Just wondering where you’re at with the story draft?
Me too. I wrote back that I’d have the story soon. I sent it over yesterday and, in the end, it took me just two hours to put the story together. Somewhere along the way I’d started to enjoy my personal writing: blogs that you’ve seen here, a few that I started and abandoned after a few hundred words (usually the pieces I write when lying in bed, about to fall asleep and the glow from Blackberry lighting my face and the bedside mirror), some fiction that isn’t ready to post yet, and other personal material that I never intended to write. Sometimes those pieces come out unexpectedly.
My reluctance to get started had nothing to do with the subject. The Hope House story is inspiring. There are so many images to draw from and amazing stories to tell. Still, the organization’s wishes to conduct the interview via the phone and not in person, made it more difficult. All it took was sitting down to write to get me interested. And that is always the hardest part, no matter who your editor is, no matter what the topic might be, and no matter what’s going on with you. Writing can take your mind away from you troubles, but you have to follow through on the commitment to sit and put the words down.
Pete, thanks again for the opportunity. I post the link when the story goes online.
