Blogetary (Weblog + Commentary = Blogetary)

Well, gotta another no thank you on a story. Everyone wants something different. I’m beginning to realize that now. There are times when editors have real feed back and listening to them can really make a difference. But sometimes what you want to say and what they want to read are two entirely different things. Charles Gramlich had a blog once where he discussed the “pay off” in short stories v. novels and in speculative fiction v. real life fiction. If I remember correctly, real life fiction is okay with a smaller pay off. And you know, I like the smaller pay off, the smaller story. I want the magic or the fantasy, but I don’t need the tension. It doesn’t need to be a larger than life story to make me happy. It can be a small story to make me happy. Anyway, I realized that some of my shorts are the smaller stories, with small pay offs. But they’re speculative fiction. I don’t want them to be full of tension and strife. I just want them to be small, thoughtful stories about life; magical life, sure, but life nonetheless.

*sigh*

And the other thing is the editors so totally missed the symbolism throughout the story. So, I added a phrase here and a phrase there to make it a little more obvious to the next editor, but chances are the next editor will tell me not to hit him over the head with symbolism.

*SIGH*

AND – onwards. Trying to keep the wolves at bay. Should be working on a couple of emergency orders tonight and I will when I’m done here.

I’ve been working on my resume. Thought I would be pretty good at this since I do it for other people. As it turns out, I’m probably better at selling other people than I am at selling myself. A friend of mine who is a head hunter went through it with me. An hour later as I looked at my former resume now ripped to shreds on my screen, I realized how much I still have to learn. Thing is, I’ve already posted and sent that old one out everywhere. So, I need to redo my resume and post it and send it out again. Nothing like redoing a job you thought you’d done correctly the first time. Embarrassing, really.

I am trying to go for walks during the day, running errands, etc to get me out and away so I can come back to what needs to be done refreshed and ready to sit still in front of the computer. Today, however, I came back so tired I crashed for 2 hours and felt like I wasted so much time. I must have needed it. I think I worried my cat, though. I’m worried myself, for good reason. One of the issues I had a dispute with my former employers about was the fact that they took away my health benefits about a year and a half ago. So, I have been unable to afford to go to a doctor to get the prescriptions filled I need to get filled and therefore unable to take the medications I need to take to stay healthy. Then when my health was failing and I couldn’t make it to work in a timely manner or all the time, it was suddenly my fault. And these people were people I thought of as friends.

Okay – moving onwards from THAT.

I keep meaning to post a review of Elizabeth: The Golden Age, since I saw it last Thursday. I will eventually. Really. Maybe tomorrow.

That’s it for now. I need to get going on the revenue enhancing prospects. I’m supposed to be having lunch with a friend tomorrow, so I need to get these done.

When I was a kid I was a real fan of the soundtrack and movie Godspell. One of my favorite songs was Day by Day. See, even as a kid I was a big hippy. Can’t seem to help myself. I’m relearning to appreciate that song and the verse in Matthew about considering how the lilies of the field grow.

So, my new journey into the unknown is happening one day at a time. I am crossing projects off my list one at a time. I am going through my days one hour at a time. My kitty and I have full tummies and, for now, adequate litter. I need to work on getting rent, food, and litter for next month. But this will only happen one word at a time. One more networking site at a time. One more serendipitous moment at a time where I trust God and the Universe to give me what I need as long I am putting one foot in front of the other and doing my part.

In case you didn’t know, that’s one of the reasons I chose Putt Putt Productions as my business name. It’s not a go getter type name. “Slow and Steady Wins the Race” is not the type of motto that wins over big business. But I’m not a “go-getter” and I’ve never liked big business. I’m a plodder. I am a work-horse. I pull the load one leg at a time. I write the piece one word at a time. I go through and get the project done, one item at a time. And I get the job done. That is my strength.

And I am learning that that strength is what will help get me through all this, one serendipitous moment at a time.

So, if you (or anyone one you know) would like someone who can write, copy edit, or proofread for you, I am your gal. I can write informational white papers (i.e. content researched and written for your specific use, say for your website or newsletter or something), movie reviews, book reviews, resumes, cover letters, hey, I’ve even been known to write fiction and poetry!

You know where to find me!

An online friend of mine posted a poetry assignment for this week:Write a poem about a room in your house or apartment or wherever it is that you live. What is in it, what does it feel like and what do you do there? Don’t name the room by name (i.e., kitchen, bedroom, etc.) 20 lines or less.

I wasn’t sure I could come up with something, but below is my offering. Thought I’d toss the prompt out into the cyber-ether for any other poets looking for a prompt to write by.

Time stands still…

Sunshine yellow sarong
knotted jauntily to the side
lets me gaze north through the window.
Hollywood sign stares back
stark against sunburnt hills.

Coffee lifts a steamy finger past whiskers
as the orange beast perched on the window sill
twitches a nose at the bitter smell.
Elbows lean on the worn oak table,
pondering life, waiting, breath suspended.

Behind me sounds the ticking
of a red, plastic apple holding space in time.
A ringing going off lets me know
Eggs and toast are done, butter melting across a plate
as my grandmother watches on.

Surrounded by the nurturing of the past
the purr vibrating the air brings me back to myself.

Time starts again.

by

Rachel V. Olivier

Yesterday I left my apartment. I know, that shouldn’t seem like a big deal, but I hadn’t left my apartment since Sunday, so it was a bit of a big deal. Believe it or not, just because I am currently unemployed, doesn’t mean I am not working.

• I am still writing the occasional paper for pay.
• I am trying to get more freelance work on my own as well as seek employment as a writer, proofreader, or copy editor in other areas.
• The other day I revised three stories and sent them back out into the world again after receiving two more “no thank yous” on poems I had sent out.
• I am researching other areas to work in. A friend of mine reminded me of the nonprofit sector, which I have always wanted to get back into.
• And then then there are the every day chores that one needs to do to (as Marion Zimmer Bradley once put it) keep the health department from knocking at the door.

And it all takes time and energy, which eventually translates into money. Yesterday I was rewarded for that time and energy when I checked my mail and found a gift card for Safeway from “The Universe” (I think I know who it is and I respect their desire to be anonymous, but thank you so much “Universe” for thinking of me!). I also found a check from a family member to help me keep things going. But even more than the help financially, was the help emotionally. I know I said it before, but I want to say it again, I am overwhelmed by the emotional support from friends and family!  I knew most of them didn’t like where I worked or how I was treated there, but I didn’t realize the strength of that emotion until I was forced to leave that place.

So, on the docket today: finish a paper, work on revising two more stories that need to be resubmitted someplace, go for a walk, check on a story I submitted back in June that I haven’t heard back from yet, and maybe work on another story I have in mind or give my brain a rest and take care of housework and other nitty gritty details.

Thanks, you all!

What she said: http://coffeeden.blogspot.com/2007/11/writing-is-work-or-dealing-with.html

I just expect them these days. This one is a longer tale. It’s going to be more difficult to place, anyway. I’ll add it to the pile. As of this morning I had five pieces to revise and submit elsewhere. This makes six.  Add this to the list of things to do in between looking for other paid freelance work or day work, revising the old resume, doing laundry.

My cat, Pye, is sitting on my old monitor, staring down at me like a Sphinx or a dragon from a long lost tale. I’d love it if he could impart some wisdom to me that would help me sell my fiction or find that one vein of richly colored gold ore that I could use remake my life.

If anyone out there needs a writer for their resumes, their cover letters, their executive summaries, or something else, just let me know.

My schedule is wide open.

Friday as I waited for the bus with my lunch bag filled with all my goods from my desk (or as many goods as I could stuff in my purse and my lunch bag), I reflected on how much like a “walk of shame” this was, without the fun of the night before. Anyone who knows the signs can see it. The person who is normally on the bus in the morning or evenings, now on the bus in the middle of the day, arms full of things like old mugs, desk top first aid kits, and packets of teabags and bouillion cubes tossed in the empty spaces.

But making that walk of shame I learned quite a bit:

• How cool the world looks on a weekday at noon.
• How nice friends are when they hear you suddenly have the afternoon free and why.
• How the Universe can show you that this was actually a good thing by serendipitously providing free food (bagels, rugalah, cookies, etc) at the bank branch where you’re depositing your severence check.
• Running into fellow writers randomly in line at the same bank.
• Having friends who celebrate this change – not just friends, but friends’ relatives.
• Being down to the last can of cat food and finding a free sample on your doorstep when you get home.
• Having every single one of your immediate family tell you it was the absolute right thing to do (even though they would never, ever, EVER actually admit to agreeing with one another), and letting you know that they’re there for you. Then asking the tough question: What next?

I’m not sure what is next. As I put my rent check in the box today I wondered how I was going to pay for next month’s rent, groceries, other bills, catsitters, and let’s not forget CHRISTMAS. Part of me wants to just leave the fake tree in its box and ignore it altogether. But it is my favorite holiday.

But those thoughts only sneak in to whisper darkly to bring me down. For the most part, I know that this is a GOOD THING. The circumstances under which I was working were becoming intolerable. Something had to give. Then it did. And WOW did it!

Now, as I spend this weekend getting organized and prepared to scramble for financial footing next week, there’s a part of me that whispers, “maybe now you can write more….” I don’t know if I’ll be able to write more. The logistics of job hunting or seeking freelance work or even temp work requires just as much work as if I had to go into an office everyday. But it would be on my own time. We’ll see how this all shakes out.

I am proud of what I did. I stood up for myself. I did what I knew what was right. When seen from that light, the Walk of Shame becomes part of the Heroic Journey. Suddenly I have a new story.

Crossposted on Tribe.net and MySpace.

Things are not what they appear. People and circumstances are either better or worse than you think they are. That’s a good writing lesson. Life lesson.

All you NaNoWriMo people – keep at it!  Keep going. Don’t get discouraged. Slow and steady wins the race!  You can do it!

Keep going to those writer’s classes and meetings. Keep at that story. Don’t back down. Keep going.

Don’t let the bastards get you down!

Maybe I really am not that good. I’m not having a good day. So, I shouldn’t take anything I say today seriously. But, the story I submitted for a contest didn’t win. That was no surprise, I guess. I’m running out of optimism, or “out of steam” to use the colloquial. My body hurts from the 2 1/2 hour trudge home last night from the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, and I wasn’t even bolstered by food or alcohol cuz I couldn’t afford it.  I yelled at my boss last night for an insignificant thing, but that on top of other things and I just couldn’t take it all anymore.

So, I took today off. Slept until noon. Now I want to reclaim some of that day, but not sure how. I shouldn’t have taken it off. I need to work. I need the money. But I need the rest. I need a break. I need something to give. Somewhere.