At First It Looked Impossible

This week I faced what looked like an impossible task. I’m in the process of reworking and expanding a book manuscript to turn in on or before the end of this month. As an addition for this book and to add variety to the topic, I wrote another author and asked permission to use the material. This author graciously granted the permission. The file was in an Adobe PDF format. In the past these types of files have been locked and not able to copy or use in a text file. I asked the author for the MS-Word file but he didn’t have it any longer.

A few days later, this author pointed me toward a simple conversion program. This program takes PDF files and converts them to MS-Word documents. The program was going to make the impossible possible. I downloaded the trial version and tried it. The program worked great—except it was restricted to only convert five free pages. I opened the test document and everything from the PDF was now in MS-Word. A satisfied customer, I registered the product and received the registration key. I’m able to use the document in my manuscript. Equally as important to my overall writing and editing life, I’ve discovered a proven tool. I suspect at some future date, I will face another PDF file which will need to be converted into MS-Word. It will be a snap to take care of next time.

As writers, at times we face daunting tasks and seemingly impossible deadlines. Last year, I wanted to build a site on the internet to encourage writers called Right-Writing.com. I had a vision of building a large database of information and articles. The task seemed a bit daunting for one person. I built it day after day until now the site has a great deal of diversity—for different types of writers such as children’s writers, fiction writers, nonfiction writers, magazine writers, newsletter writers, people who want to write a resume, grant writers and even encouragement to write thank yous. I’ve got room for additional articles and continue to expand it—but the basic structure is there for others to discover, use and learn. Maybe you will find some encouragement on Right-Writing.com that will help you face the impossible—and turn it into possible. I hope so.