It's been a bit since I last updated, but I can at least say it's been due to busyness* and not apathy.
-I've started taking an online writing course. The latest assignment is to write five story pitches and, well, pitch them. It's due on Tuesday, but I'll have to let the teacher know I've run into a bit of a snag with regards to getting my sources lined up in advance. It seems that there's this "holiday weekend" thing that all the kids are wild about, so I haven't been able to speak with some of these people. Hopefully I'll have more luck next week, after which I can actually pitch the articles to actual editors who will accept my ideas and pay me actual money. Money's always fun.
-I'm working on another story for The Gazette, this one about a local teacher who was involved in Project Dragonfly. I interviewed the teacher today, and she was very enthusiastic. I look forward to writing the story and helping her educate the community about this program. More people should know about it.
-One of my friends is working on a website for our 10 Year High School Reunion, and he wants me to help him out by writing the copy for it. This is harder than it sounds, especially since my initial pitch for the splash page was rejected.^ I need to dedicate some part of my brain to coming up with acceptable content, though I have yet to determine which part.
So that, on top of the day job, is what's keeping me hopping now. Somewhere in all of this, I also need to get more job applications knocked out. Someone out there must need a writer, and I intend to find out who.
*No, it's not a typo.
^"Hey! Do you want to relive four years of teenage angst while drinking with people toward whom you feel either ambivalence or open hostility? Then come to the __________ High School Reunion for the Class of ______!"
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job search. Show all posts
Friday, July 3, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
You Said to Go Back to the Beginning!
Had a loooong talk with Big Mean Flash Gamer about the whole job situation...thing. There's really nothing else to call it at this point - it's a big, ugly thing that sits in the middle of the room, leering and taunting us. Or maybe it's just me. As per usual, my love has done an excellent job of shaking off this disappointment and going on with his life while I spent the day having little fantasies about being rich enough to buy up the company that pulled the rug out from under him, firing all the decision-makers and installing him as head of the whole shebang. Hey, a girl can dream.
Anyway, the discussion turned at one point to Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the book I'm currently plowing through about finances, investing, and why no one should ever buy anything on credit, ever. There are several things I like about the book, but there are two things that I found most fascinating:
1) Intellectual property rights are an asset - that is, they can be like stocks if treated properly. Intellectual property is like a stock in the sense that you have ownership over an intangible (i.e. an idea), but that intangible will provide you with continuous revenue of managed correctly.
2) You're never just selling one thing. I'm a writer, but I don't just sell my writing - depending on the job, I sell emotions (advertising/marketing), illusions (advertising/marketing/PR), knowledge (arts/entertainment reviews, factual articles) and experiences (concert reviews, essays, crappy fiction). Learn how to market that, and you can drum up some decent business for yourself. Or so the logic goes.
That's how we got on the subject of websites. I've wanted to do a website for BMFG for a while so he'd have a place to showcase his reviews, videos, read-only PDFs of his scripts, an online resume and links to his LinkedIn, Twitter and so on. It isn't lack of desire that kept me from doing it, but rather a lack of time and knowledge. (And patience, yes. I've been told that I'm pretty good at page layout, but most graphics/page layout programs and I don't get along. Add to that the additional aggravation of coding everything in HTML and you've got a very stressed woman on your hands.) I mentioned the idea of a website to him and was pretty surprised to hear how enthusiastic he was about the prospect. He and his friend Mark had taken web design classes in college, and he seems eager to use this knowledge. He said that he would be happy to make me a website as well, but this presents a bit of a problem: as of now, there's nothing to put on it.
That's not to say that my writing isn't online in some capacity - heaven knows I did plenty during my tenure with AMG - but unlike people like The Rotund (who has a book out now - rock on, dude!) I don't have a set subject or area of expertise. I'm a writing mutt by experience and necessity; I started my career at a trade magazine company where I wrote about construction equipment and underground infrastructure, wrote freelance music and entertainment stories for an alt-weekly and then moved on to covering music. I didn't do much writing after being laid off, due to a crisis of confidence and some family tragedies, but I think I'm ready to get back to the swing of it. Which sounds good, until I realize that I have no idea what the hell to write about these days. I'm facing a quandary - if I even want to hope for a dream career, I need to get myself in gear and land some high-profile gigs, such as the aforementioned Rotund. (She has a column in The Guardian, which is something I envy to no end.) At the same time, I have no idea where to start or what to say. Sad but true. I also don't know if my words alone are going to compel anyone to visit my as-of-now hypothetical website, especially since the web is so thoroughly driven by multimedia these days. I'd take some pictures, if I wasn't such a crap photographer, but I lack the equipment to make things like films. I'll leave that to, since he does a great job anyway.
Perhaps the best course of action at this point is to help him get his website squared away before I worry about my own. It'll at least give me more time to figure out if a website would be a good option for me anyway - after all, I need to determine if there's a market for a writer like me. You know, the odd, yet average, scattered sort.
Music For This Post: Placebo - Running Up That Hill
Anyway, the discussion turned at one point to Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the book I'm currently plowing through about finances, investing, and why no one should ever buy anything on credit, ever. There are several things I like about the book, but there are two things that I found most fascinating:
1) Intellectual property rights are an asset - that is, they can be like stocks if treated properly. Intellectual property is like a stock in the sense that you have ownership over an intangible (i.e. an idea), but that intangible will provide you with continuous revenue of managed correctly.
2) You're never just selling one thing. I'm a writer, but I don't just sell my writing - depending on the job, I sell emotions (advertising/marketing), illusions (advertising/marketing/PR), knowledge (arts/entertainment reviews, factual articles) and experiences (concert reviews, essays, crappy fiction). Learn how to market that, and you can drum up some decent business for yourself. Or so the logic goes.
That's how we got on the subject of websites. I've wanted to do a website for BMFG for a while so he'd have a place to showcase his reviews, videos, read-only PDFs of his scripts, an online resume and links to his LinkedIn, Twitter and so on. It isn't lack of desire that kept me from doing it, but rather a lack of time and knowledge. (And patience, yes. I've been told that I'm pretty good at page layout, but most graphics/page layout programs and I don't get along. Add to that the additional aggravation of coding everything in HTML and you've got a very stressed woman on your hands.) I mentioned the idea of a website to him and was pretty surprised to hear how enthusiastic he was about the prospect. He and his friend Mark had taken web design classes in college, and he seems eager to use this knowledge. He said that he would be happy to make me a website as well, but this presents a bit of a problem: as of now, there's nothing to put on it.
That's not to say that my writing isn't online in some capacity - heaven knows I did plenty during my tenure with AMG - but unlike people like The Rotund (who has a book out now - rock on, dude!) I don't have a set subject or area of expertise. I'm a writing mutt by experience and necessity; I started my career at a trade magazine company where I wrote about construction equipment and underground infrastructure, wrote freelance music and entertainment stories for an alt-weekly and then moved on to covering music. I didn't do much writing after being laid off, due to a crisis of confidence and some family tragedies, but I think I'm ready to get back to the swing of it. Which sounds good, until I realize that I have no idea what the hell to write about these days. I'm facing a quandary - if I even want to hope for a dream career, I need to get myself in gear and land some high-profile gigs, such as the aforementioned Rotund. (She has a column in The Guardian, which is something I envy to no end.) At the same time, I have no idea where to start or what to say. Sad but true. I also don't know if my words alone are going to compel anyone to visit my as-of-now hypothetical website, especially since the web is so thoroughly driven by multimedia these days. I'd take some pictures, if I wasn't such a crap photographer, but I lack the equipment to make things like films. I'll leave that to
Perhaps the best course of action at this point is to help him get his website squared away before I worry about my own. It'll at least give me more time to figure out if a website would be a good option for me anyway - after all, I need to determine if there's a market for a writer like me. You know, the odd, yet average, scattered sort.
Music For This Post: Placebo - Running Up That Hill
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