Bio Trepidation

Why is it so hard to write a bio? Is it just me? Does anyone else struggle with bios? I had to write two of them today. The first, for my Creative Writing 101 class, which started yesterday. This one caused me a night of sleeplessness as I tossed and turned composing and editing in my head. The class is online so the bio is important. It is my introduction to the instructor and my fellow classmates. The people I will be interacting with over the next 10 weeks. I wanted it to be crisp, witty and informative. I wanted to come across as a person who loves to write, wants to write and has the potential to write well. So this is what I came up with:
“The first thing people tend to say to me, in shops, restaurants etc. is, “I love your accent. Where are you from?” The reply, “I am from Ireland, but I live here in Eau Claire.” Fifteen years ago, I moved to Eau Claire, WI with my husband, four children and thirteen suitcases. Oh the grand old days when baggage was a realized necessity! We moved from the seaside Gaeltacht village of An Rinn, Co. Waterford, the beautiful, lush, green, sunny southeast coast of Ireland. We still have a home in Ireland. This allows me spend the summer months and every second Christmas in the land of my soul.

Reading and writing have been hobbies of mine for as long as I have been able to read and write. I asked Santa Claus for a typewriter when I was nine. I love books. When my husband thinks I need some cheering up, he will suggest a trip to one of the local bookstore chains. Hours pass like minutes for me in bookstores and libraries. I have stacks of books in practically every room in the house waiting to be read, from these jaunts.

I am hard pressed to name a favorite book, there are so many. I would need more than the allotted 500 words! Authors I cannot pass, reading over and over are, Nuala O’Faolain, Colum Toibin, Deidre Purcell, Jane Austin, James Michener, Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy to name but a few.

I write as I speak. And I speak in run on and fragmented sentences. I am hoping this class will cure me of this ill. I also hope this class will add much needed polish to my writing. Once, I am a bit polished confidence might follow. Then I may feel brave enough to submit something, somewhere.”

I know, but it was the best my exhausted brain could muster!

The second bio of the day was for the twitter page I started about a week and a half ago. I have no clue how to manage twitter, what it's for, or what to do with it. It is an enigma I am attempting to fathom. I followed the instructions and everything was moving along nicely until I came to the bio section. The mind just went blank. I mean really, what was I going to say about myself. I have mulled over this for the last 12 days. Today I just decided the best thing to do was to describe my mindset when it comes to twitter. So, my twitter bio is, “Confused and bewildered, but still laughing.“ The laughing came with the acknowledgment of my confusion and bewilderment. Hopefully this too shall pass. The confusion and bewilderment I mean. The laughter I am trying to hang onto.