Everybody involved in pro/am ballroom dancing in America should know this name: Patricia Schneider, a dominant US champion in Smooth.
With the publication of her 1-page story, you should know she can write as well. Her 8-page full story will be a fascinating read for sure!
In this post, I will share some insights into her 1-page.
1. Patricia’s 1-page
2. Patricia can dance
In a previous post (“Dancing Queens”: A Critical Review), I named two real dancing queens, Lynn Magnesen and Nichelle Kennedy, with the following comment:
In this dance-sport, if Lynn has an advantage over many in dance (referring to her teenage training in ballet), Nichelle has it in sport (referring to her teenage training in gymnastics and participation in Marathon and Ironman as an adult).
Now, enter Patricia – She has both – Patricia was trained in ballet as a teenager and is a nationally-ranked Marathon and Ironman athlete!
With Slawek as her teacher and pro partner, Patricia will continue to dominate in Smooth for years to come!
3. Patricia’s 1st draft of her 1-page
It was actually two pages, plus a bunch of photos, asking me to pick one.
Below is her message to me.
Hi Frank, I really am not good at this at all. It takes me a good deal of time to put this together. Sorry if it is incorrect.
I agreed without telling her, though.
Now, see her two pages yourself …
3.1 Patricia’s 1st page
3.2 Patricia’s 2nd page
3.3 Summary
It is a diamond for sure, but very rough, requiring a great deal of work to make it shine…
3. My 1st cut to help her out
As you can see, I merely helped her better structure her draft, having it fit into my 1-page template (which I have done with all the 1-page submissions so far), without changing the core of her writing, including her repeated references to God.
4. Her final 1-page
I was shocked to see it (Section 1) – The diamond was shining, and she even removed God completely!
What a huge difference between her final 1-page and her 1st draft (Section 2)!
Patricia can write, JR-like (Ballroom Dancing vs. Writing for Publication) for the 1-page at least, if she is serious …
5. Discussion
For those who have already finished their 1-pages, hopefully, you find this story familiar and will put greater efforts into your 8-pages.
For those who are still working on their 1-pages, hopefully, you find this story useful and interesting.
Personally, I have found working with Patricia both frustrating and rewarding:
- It was frustrating because it took her 2 long months to come up with the 1st draft.
- It was rewarding because the end result was very good.
According to Patricia …
It took me 3.5 hours for the 1st draft and two months of thinking ‘When could I write that paper?’ It is likely what others are doing.
From her 1st draft, you should easily see that Patricia has a great story to tell via her 8-page. Furthermore, I am sure her 8-page will be great, given her fast evolution from the 1st draft to the final 1-page.
Patricia can write, and she is very serious about her 8-page!
6. Closing
Patricia not only is a champion in ballroom dancing but also can write well to tell her story, thus inspiring thousands to be like her.
Together, let us make this book a huge success!
