I have had borderline carpal-tunnel pain in my right wrist—har-har, fellas, let's go ahead and get this out of the way right now—for at least 15 years now. You know what I've only recently noticed? It flares up when I write lots of promotional copy, social media posts, emails. In short, when I pitch.
The old gun never hurts when I'm writing long pieces. (Or as the kids call them today, "long form" pieces; I think they call them that in order to s t r e t c h t h e m o u t .)
Well I've been writing lots of promotional stuff lately, partly because that's the modern writer's life—write the newspaper, and deliver it too—and partly because I've had lots to promote: my own articles, my wee book and now, the ridiculously rich 2015 World Conference of the Professional Speechwriters Association—to be hosted at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, Oct. 7-8—which we've opened for registration.
(Check it out, and sign up before the hordes. Seating is limited at this show—and quite a show it will be, including longtime Hillary Clinton communication confidante Lissa Muscatine, as well as White House speechwriters from Obama back to Nixon, and Jim Fallows, who began writing "long form" journalism before "short form" came along.)
My pitching arm needs a break, and my catchers could probably benefit from a week off too. So I'm going to miss a couple starts while I drive to Nebraska this week to communicate through competition with an old pal from my sweet college days as a summertime golf course greens keeper. Then a quick stop in Des Moines to emcee a graduation ceremony for my sister-in-law (a rehab start). Then back here to the bigs, for another dramatic launch that you'll hear about next week.
Next scheduled start: May 11. Until then …
Leave a Reply