Revision Reunion

I had an interesting experience in my fiction writing class today that I want to share. I was forced into a revision that I didn't want to do.

The professor had told us to bring a work in progress that we could practice revising and, of course, I forgot to grab something. The only piece of work I had in my backpack was the first workshop story I had written for that class. I was dissatisfied with the story when I was writing it because it wasn't what I wanted to say, but I hadn't had enough time to devote to it. When I submitted it to the class for critique the whole thing jumped around, it didn't explain enough to the reader, and there wasn't a development in the plot. I didn't expect good things from my readers. And I didn't get anything positive from them when it came time to discuss it.

After workshop I hated the story entirely. I felt like I had tried to make a relationship work out with someone who turned out to be incompatible with me and it ended in a lousy break up. I didn't want to see its opening paragraph ever again. I thought it best if we parted ways and never spoke to each other again. I remember feeling reluctant for a while afterwards of starting any new stories because I was afraid I'd have a repeat of the last one.

Here I was today, forced to confront this past fling and try to make it work. I went into it with an open mind, though. I didn't think it could really disappoint me more than it already had. So, I started pointing out its faults and suggesting improvements. I blocked out so many bad mistakes. If we could only find the areas that worked...

There were parts that I felt were telling the essence of the story, so I circled those, and there were a couple scenes in particular that involved good character interaction. I think I'll actually spend more time with this story in the future. I think we might actually have a future. There's still a lot of work ahead for us, but this was a pretty good revision experience for me.

Re Vision

I have a tough time with revising. In all the times I've done it it hasn't been bad, but I still dread going over my work and trying to see it with fresh eyes. I have a big problem distancing myself from the work. Sometimes, when I let the censor in, I end up hating the whole project. I have several stories that bombed in workshop and I couldn't go back to.

I like the basic tips in this article. It's good for a reminder. I think a big part of the problem is that I just don't care enough about my writing right now. I don't really know why that is.

(I just reread and revised this post.)

In an effort to make myself more efficient now that I don't have a job, yet still haven't gotten more writing done, I've created a daily schedule. I'll get on it tonight and see over the course of the week how it works for me.

(I almost revised this post again, but I stopped caring. What's wrong with me?)

I'll get to work on revisions and maybe I'll have a breakthrough. In the meantime I'll also be developing and writing my new stories.

One more thing, I've been having an extremely hard time staying away from facebook. And my will power is horrible. What should I do? I allotted time for Internet at night and during school, but I'm not sure I'll be able to stay off. The sad part is that I just want to see what's happened since I left, like I'm afraid I'll miss something. I don't like it.

Thirty

That's all I kept thinking about yesterday. I'm thirty years-old. Now, I'm not complaining. I'm very happy that I've had thirty years and I hope I get to stick around for a whole lot more, but I would just like to have a few more accomplishments to my name. That's all.

I had a good birthday, even if it was boring. Joey (my 14-year-old cousin) and I watched a movie, I drank wine. I gave him some. Is this starting to sound a little creepy? He didn't drink much of the little bit I gave him, but the idea was to let him have a little alcohol so it would seem less romantic, off-limits and appealing, and then maybe he wouldn't think getting trashed was as awesome as a lot of other teens do.

Yesterday I got a ridiculous deal on a digital audio recorder. Originally $109.00, I got it for $54.00 at Best Buy. What's wrong with this thing? I wondered about it. I'm skeptical. I'm also pretty broke and I need to do some interviews. The recorder I had was being unreliable and wouldn't record when I needed it to. This one feels like a lightweight piece of garbage, though.

I wrote about five pages of a short story that I based off of a story in the newspaper Friday. It's about two girls in Somalia who were accused by militants of being spies and were executed by a firing squad in front of the members of their town. Unwilling witnesses to the executions, the people who watched were outraged and horrified. I don't know how much of the story can be real. I want to use the real names of the victims. I also don't want to have to make up a village. I can use the true info, can't I?

So far I haven't been able to pick up a job. It's disappointing but at least I can focus on school. Speaking of, I think I'm ready to graduate. I have some bad senioritis. All I can think of anymore is getting writing jobs and working. Adding a second major will be worth it, but staying that extra semester is gonna suck.



I've had this song stuck in my head lately. It's so fun though.

This week should go by pretty quickly now. Tomorrow I have two classes, then one quick one Friday morning. I want to get to work on the profile I'm writing next. The words should come pretty easily for this one.

I've been wanting to read this book, but I haven't gotten the time. Reviews look pretty good. The book doesn't officially release for a couple more weeks, but I have an advanced copy from one of the librarians. It starts off really well. I think I need to sit down and read it. Jeez. I don't think I'm ever going to get to read all the things I want to. Seems like I find another book I want to read every day.

Submitting the Draft

I love being in the position to send a draft of an article to a professional editor and get it back for revisions without ever submitting it to a publication. School is great for that. My professor was a magazine editor, and goes through my work line-by-line, looking at sentences and figuring out what I can do better.

I have to figure out where I'm going to send my article when it's done, but I'm sure it'll find a market somewhere.

Today I start on the profile I've been wanting to write for a year. I'm so excited to tell this story. I don't plan on giving the details here, but when it's published I'll put the link up.

I think I'm gonna reread this book by Ralph Keyes. A pep talk would be nice right now.


I still haven't heard back from a few of the writing jobs I applied for. I thought they would have been good experience for me, but it doesn't look like it's meant to be. I'll keep looking, anyway.

Interviewing Issues

I'm working on a story about the recent legalization of guns in establishments that serve alcohol, and my angle was on local bar owners and patrons who disagree with the relaxed gun laws.

Earlier today I interviewed Basil Marceaux. For those who don't know that name, he's a former gubernatorial candidate for Tennessee. He's also insane. My question for him was: "Will you please clarify this statement that you made: 'I want everyone to have a gun. . . . I think that if someone doesn’t have one, maybe I’ll fine them $10.'?"
He proceeded to tell me about how this country is made up of two governments and that the people should be armed to protect themselves from their governments. He wanted to leave me with a question, but I could hardly make it out. It was something like, "If you go to Afghanistan and they point a gun at you, what will your government do for you?" 

I politely told him that his question would be better asked of someone with the qualifications to answer it, then thanked him for his time.

It was a relief to get off the phone with him!

I had lately been feeling discouraged by the direction my interviews were taking. Aside from Basil, I had spoken with a young woman who owned a gun, and had worked at the nearby Hooter's Restaurant where their gun policy is prominently displayed. She was all for people keeping a gun for safety. I next spoke with an owner of a popular bar. He is himself a card carrying member of the NRA. The predominance of pro-gun sources made me unhappy, and I though my article was doomed. Then I realized that my sources actually agreed with the popular opinion all around: guns should NOT be in bars. I found that I had a story after all. Now I just have to stop blogging and write it.

Do What You Love

I've recently quit my job at the library and I've been looking into freelance writing. It's something I can do part-time while I'm in school, and guess what: it pays pretty well. Even the low priced freelance writers are able to make $45/hour.

I'm reading The Well-Fed Writer, How To Open and Operate a Home-Based Writing Businessand Writing For Money. I recently checked this book out from my library. It'd be nice if my library had a better selection, but these should be fine for now.

I recently had an article published in The Chattanooga Pulse. I was very happy to see something I've written finally make it to a public medium. It's not going to keep me afloat financially, though. I'll have to find some other ways of making money. This kind of stuff will just allow me to have some freedom with what I write.

To gain some experience doing promotional materials, I've been working with a client in town on print ads, press releases, fliers and a brochure. This is only to gain experience, however, and not a paid job.

I have sufficient education and enough experience to go for professional work, although my experience is very limited. I expect to start work at $30-$40/hour until I've proven that I deserve a raise (a concept that makes me smile). Here's my card:

I don't have much to list just yet, but these are enough to start. I plan to add grant writing, Web content and technical writing to my resume eventually.

I've considered working for a certain online company, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the rates they offer. $5/article seems silly to me. I'm not exactly sure what they're looking for based on the directions they gave me, which were basically: write a 450 word article about Viagra for altitude sickness and add lots of links to other sites. Who would be reading this?