The Poet

The poet opens his mouth
and words bloom.
Images dance off
his tongue
and plant themselves
in my imagination,
take me to places that
failed to exist
before,
where grace and grit
live side by side
and ideas grow.

Radio Intimacy

after talking about
murder
corruption
disaster and
hemoroid research
the radio announcer
wets his lips
I can hear it
an intimate sound
sexual even
and I wonder what
he looks like.

The Shield

Young man

Oblivious

Marches through the parking lot

Eyes glued to his

smart phone

Held before his face as a

Shield

Protector of his disconnection

With the

real world

Crucifix of the Martyrs

Written by

Susan Reetz (April 1, 2013)

Photo by Irene MacFarland

the path to the top winds

around the hill,

a red spiral belt

lungs burn in

desert air

each step slower than the last

plain white cross looks down

guiding the pilgrims

and keeping watch

over the martyrs

Time Flies

My oh my! Time sure does fly. I can't believe how long it's been since I've added a new post here. I suppose it's a good thing that work has kept me busy, but not good that I've been too busy to post and write my "non-client" work. I've been working hard to get back in the habit of writing just to exercise my creative muscles and will soon be back to posting items here on a regular basis. 'Till then, make every minute count!

Playing with Plays

Last year a client asked if I'd be interested in working with them on a new type of heath education event. Would I be interested in writing a series of short plays or skits that would give the audience important information about breast cancer screening and treatment? Oh, and could I make them funny? Well, I love a good challenge, so of course I said yes.

I got some background information from them, came up with a list of concepts (which they liked), and proceeded to panic. I write scripts for video projects on a regular basis, but it had been a long time since I'd written a play. I did what any self respecting student of words would do - I found a class.

I had planned to attend the Rhinelander School of the Arts, a summer program run through UW Madison, and they just happened to be offering a one week class on writing 10 minute plays. Halleluiah and pass the paper. I was saved!

The class turned out to be not only informative but fun. We read well written plays and shared our own work in the class. I got some great feedback on the first of my six plays, and I was off.

I had a blast concocting scenarios and characters, working in tandem, which conveyed important information about breast cancer screening, symptoms, and treatment. Other people who read the plays even laughed at the parts I had intended to be funny - no small relief.

The plays will be staged locally in about a month. (They came up with a cool logo for the event. Check it out! ) If the first show goes well, we'll take it on the road for one night performances at regional clinics. If that goes well, we may be looking at an annual event dealing with different women's health issues. How cool is that?

OK. Now. How do I make ovaries funny? THAT will be a challenge.

Making the Most of Down Time

We are just barely into September and I’m sitting on my deck as I write this. Summer goes by way too fast in Wisconsin, and I refuse to squander even one day of warm weather and sunshine by sitting in my cave chained to my desk.

I also refuse to squander my down time. When work is a little scarce (as it is with many of us in the current economy) I need to get creative with how I spend my time. I’m one of those people who work best under deadlines – the more I have to do the more I get done. But when I have less to do it seems that my pace slows and I don’t accomplish as much. So, I make up or find additional things to do. Like take a class. Read about industry trends. Experiment with my little prosumer HD camcorder. Write more short stories and poetry. Etc.

Right now I’m reading a book by Wisconsinite Stephen Woessner called “Search Engine Optimization: Increase Your Google Rankings, Double Your Site Traffic.” My business partner and I went to one of his workshops at UW La Crosse on search engine optimization and learned a lot. The book is a great recap of the presentation and I’m sure I’ll refer to it often as we plan the re-design of our website. And I am happy to tell you that Stephen will be presenting for our chapter of the Media Communications Association - International this spring on SEO and marketing.

At the end of last year I bought a nice little Canon Vixio HD camcorder. I’ve done a little shooting with it, but haven’t had a chance to try edting any of it. So, within the next month I plan to write, shoot and edit a short story. My main stumbling block is finding the right method for digitizing the footage. (Yes, I went with tape for a variety of reasons.) Even though I have no aspirations to shoot and edit for my clients (I'll stick to writing, directing and producing), it would be fun to learn how to do it for myself or my family, and may help me as I write shot descriptions in scripts.

Some writer-friends and I started a writing group a few months ago. We are having a blast exploring screenplay, short story, poetry, and creative nonfiction formats. I believe that working in other genres reenergizes my scriptwriting, making for fresher concepts and crisper narration. Who knows, maybe I’ll even try my hand at writing a book some day. Whether it would be a work of fiction or industry related I can’t say, but the general idea is intriguing.

Of course, marketing is also a very good thing to do when you have time between projects. My business partner and I are developing a marketing plan that includes our main target markets, what message to tailor to each market, and how to reach the most people with investing the least amount of cash. We’d rather go heavy on the time investment and save the cash for the highest return ventures only.

So, what are you doing when work gets a little slow? How do you make the most of down time? Send me your response and I’ll post a compilation of answers.

Thanks for reading!