My writing week 3 (29)

Hi all,

Waiting, waiting, waiting. I am impatiently waiting for things to happen or not happen. The online magazine I submitted a couple of articles to got back to me last week, they wanted to use one of my articles. I asked if that meant I was getting a contract and that that the article would be considered the first one written under that contract. No, was the reply, they are still yet to make decisions on who will be contracted, so I didn't give them permission to put the article up. It would have been slightly hypocritical to allow them to run it for free as in that article I ask people not to download free ebooks, for which the author would receive nothing.

They did change the article a lot, and initially I felt like I had lost ownership of it. But then I thought, shit I have written about six magazine/newspaper type articles in my life, and four of them were for writing courses, two of which appeared in local newspapers. Didn't get paid for them. But I was thinking many changes would probably be usually made to the first article/newstory of new writer to any paying publication. I can see why most of the changes were made, and feel I can adapt to that style of writing.

I had a look at their website and saw a few new articles up, were they paid for, I found myself asking. I will wait and see what happens but the negative side of me is whispering in my ear. In the other ear, my creative side keeps on whispering all these ideas for articles, which I keep on having to stop and write down, makes for some very long weights sessions.

The new articles on the website all seemed on the lighter side of life. Nothing heavy like my article on my father's dementia. If they don't want it, I intend to write the full anecdoted and unabridged version, rather then suffer a 500 word limit, and then look for another market.

I have applied to work at this year's federal elections. I have worked at the last two federal elections as a polling assistant: the guy who asks you to repeat your strange name five times before finding it on the roll and crossing it out and then giving you only one ballot paper and directing you towards the door rather then the polling booths.

I had worked at Rutherglen in the last two elections, getting a lift with the same bloke, but having my father as a back up if that bloke got sick or something. This time I have excluded Rutherglen from my polling booth preferences and limited them to Wangaratta. So I might have preferenced myself out of some work. If I have, then I will be able to make a few political comments on this blog, as there has been the threat of the overtly political not being acceptable for people wanting to work in polling booths.

I also can't wait for Aussiecon 4. It's so long since I have had a fun holiday. This week I booked a session at the Melbourne Writer's Festival (which runs at the same time) entitled Frontier of the Imagination that has China Melville and Alistair Reynolds as two of the panelists.

Last week I mentioned that I had just finished the second draft of a novella. I had, but then I promptly thought up a much better and lengthier ending. I really hope it doesn't turn into another novel like the last novella I wrote.

Speaking of novellas, I am halfway through reading the last novella nominated for the Hugo awards this year. The previous novella I had read was a real drag and very long, so it has slowed my reading down. Votes have to be in by Saturday.

I went and saw Inception on the weekend. It was one of the more thought provoking and ideas laden science fiction films that I have seen in recent years. Worth going to see again. I will hopefully have time to write a review of it later this week.

Time for a cuppa.

Graham