A Post a Day in May #1: The Brief

-
It’s May 1st and, in my corner, that means it’s time for another round of A Post a Day in May. I take on this challenge because I want to be a writer and, to be a writer, a person has to write. Self-evident, of course, but without a plan of action, the want remains in the realm of fantasy. But I want it for real.

This will mark the third year that I’ve taken on this personal challenge of writing something every day in May and sending it out to readers via my blog. Last year, the stress of the daily deadline was outweighed by the satisfaction I felt from meeting my daily goal and the response I got from readers.

The 2020 Brief

Over the past few weeks, I have been catching up on episodes of The Great British Bake Off from which I have learned much about baking (that I likely will never use) and a great deal about friendly competition, personal fortitude in the face of steep expectations, and the importance of following instructions. Which brings me to, what in the show, they call ‘the brief’. 

Photo by Alexandra Gornago on Unsplash

Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry, the two judges, sometimes admonish the baker for being inventive but for straying too far from ‘the brief’, in other words, not actually delivering on the core requirement of the assignment. Sure, it’s nice to add an extra layer to the cake and decorate it with dancing maidens, but it would have been better if the cake itself had been the right flavour and had not been under-baked! In other words, follow the instructions and deliver on the expectations because no number of dancing maidens will win you "Star Baker" if they were not part of the brief. 

Which brings me to this blog and my commitment to this year’s A Post a Day in May pledge. Here’s the brief I have set myself:
    • Post something every day that is worthy of being read
    • Keep it short(ish)— there’s already too much to read out there for us all to keep up with 
    • Write about what strikes my fancy, but also revisit some core themes over the course of the month; for example:  
      • Lessons from the Arts
      • COVID-19 Contemplations
      • Writing as a Tool of Transformation  
      • Leadership by the Letter 
    • Include an image
    • Bonus mark if I write one piece of fiction (not my comfort zone) that is worth posting
There. I’ve shared the brief. Set the expectations. Now all that’s left is for me to follow my own instructions. 

Dear Reader, I hope you’re interested and that you’ll come back tomorrow for Day Two. Fingers crossed there are no dancing maidens, but there is a post worthy of being read. 

------------

Writers want to be read, so comments, rebuttals and feedback are all welcome. Subscribe to the blog to receive the posts direct into your email inbox. Use Google Chrome or FireFox as your browser, if you have problems via Safari. I cannot post comments via Safari, but can via Google Chrome. 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 1, 2020 at 9:51 AM

    Looking forward to reading more! Thanks for the invite!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PamelakatMay 1, 2020 at 10:38 PM

    WHAT!? It's May already??

    Looking forward to reading everything!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated. Please be respectful.

Popular posts from this blog

Listening for the piano / Thinking about grief

-
Image
Grief is not a land in which I have travelled much, though I routinely explore it via others’ experience. I am drawn to do this as a student is drawn to the masters: To observe, to sit with, to wonder if those others’ experiences might help prepare me for my own when I find myself in that place. Will it? Sara Paretsky, author of the V.I. Warshawski mystery series, says that the grief over her long-time husband’s death hit her like a grand piano falling out of the sky onto her head. There is no pre-mourning, she says. Nonetheless, I persist in my studies: Memoirs of loss. Stories of grief. Tales of survival. I sit with those experiences. The words, the feelings, the anguish wash over me. And I ask myself: Will the sun rise tomorrow? Will I see it when it does?  Should I worry about this? Should I just expect, presume that what has always been will always be? Absurd. It will not always be. The loves of my life are all older, are all old. 95, my mother. Almost 80, my p...
Read more

Anniversary post: This year marks 31 together

-
Image
Amanda and Val: many years ago and today.  Man, look how young we were. Sheesh. Thirty-one years and counting certainly shows. But who in their right mind would care about wrinkles or grey hair when it is a good and generous love that has propelled us through the years together.  Every good story is told through both summary and scenes. Val & Amanda’s story: The summary A generous love that has withstood the challenges of two bouts of cancer and multiple joint replacements, of job changes and career disappointments, of cats found and cats lost, of parents living and parents dying. Two women, together, building a good life. Amanda: Three scenes April 1997: Val and I are driving from Winnipeg  down through the Dakotas and Wyoming and Utah to Arizona, camping in a tent along the way and marvelling at what we can do together, still, after Val’s cancer diagnosis earlier that year. At a roadside cafe somewhere in Utah, a woman asks me if we are sisters. Without skipping a b...
Read more

If pride comes before a fall, what comes after disappointment?

-
Image
Disappointment is not something any of us aim for, I’m sure. The very last thing I ever want to be told by someone is that they are disappointed in me. But this week, I have been very disappointed in others. Life goes on, but that niggling thread of “if only” and “why could it not have been different” lingers in the corners of my mind. Last week’s lightening-quick sale of our cottage ended in disappointment all round when the deal fell through at the final hurdle. The details are not what matter here; what matters is that age-old life lesson about counting your chickens before they’re hatched and sharing good news before it is fully rooted and secured. But who among us has not jumped the gun? Presumed that all would go as promised, as planned? Believed in the goodness of people and trusted that the story would unfold as it had begun — smoothly, seamlessly, successfully? Ah, well. Sometimes it just doesn’t. So we find ourselves at a new beginning, with a different round of showings and...
Read more