Friday, October 12, 2007
2007 St Albans Table Topics Competition
My table topic:
Is a computer a bane or a blessing - in your life?
A computer used to be a bane. The worst thing which happened to me was when I was preparing a book of short stories to send to a publisher. I saw a tab marked autosort and I thought something which sorted out the layout and fonts would be a great idea. I clicked on it and my wonderful work vanished. I couldn't work out where it had gone. When I scrolled down the pages there were rows of dots. Then commas. Followed by question marks. Then pages of the word and. Mid-way were several pages of the word THE.
(A few members of the audience start smiling here.)
Finally the word zoo. The autosort had sorted all the words in my book alphabetically. I never got that book published.
However, now the computer is a blessing. Using it, I have managed to publish three books, a book of poetry, a humorous book on online dating, and my family history. With just one click I can load up the text. With another click I can load up a picture on the front cover. With another click I can load up the title on the spine. So to me the computer is both a bane and a blessing.
That was my best table topic. It had two personal stories. Not one. Nor a dozen. It was clear and memorable. It stuck to the subject. It didn't suddenly stop with me waving goodbye when I saw the red light but ended with a conclusion.
My table topic:
Is a computer a bane or a blessing - in your life?
A computer used to be a bane. The worst thing which happened to me was when I was preparing a book of short stories to send to a publisher. I saw a tab marked autosort and I thought something which sorted out the layout and fonts would be a great idea. I clicked on it and my wonderful work vanished. I couldn't work out where it had gone. When I scrolled down the pages there were rows of dots. Then commas. Followed by question marks. Then pages of the word and. Mid-way were several pages of the word THE.
(A few members of the audience start smiling here.)
Finally the word zoo. The autosort had sorted all the words in my book alphabetically. I never got that book published.
However, now the computer is a blessing. Using it, I have managed to publish three books, a book of poetry, a humorous book on online dating, and my family history. With just one click I can load up the text. With another click I can load up a picture on the front cover. With another click I can load up the title on the spine. So to me the computer is both a bane and a blessing.
That was my best table topic. It had two personal stories. Not one. Nor a dozen. It was clear and memorable. It stuck to the subject. It didn't suddenly stop with me waving goodbye when I saw the red light but ended with a conclusion.
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Hi Angela
I enjoyed reading about your speeches - like reading your writing aloud but in reverse. I'm plucking up my courage to come along to Harrow Writers' Circle so maybe we'll meet there one evening. In the meantime, I agree, bungee jumping jumping is a more terrifying prospect than reading your work aloud - marginally!
I enjoyed reading about your speeches - like reading your writing aloud but in reverse. I'm plucking up my courage to come along to Harrow Writers' Circle so maybe we'll meet there one evening. In the meantime, I agree, bungee jumping jumping is a more terrifying prospect than reading your work aloud - marginally!
ps Please visit my blog and say hallo. I'm trying to encourage discussion with readers and fellow writers. It would be lovely to hear from you.
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