My Writing Careers?

Last week I had an interview for a copy writing position. The job basically involved writing 30 minute commercials based on briefs of information received from sales reps. I won’t tell you where, until I start. They have offered me a couple of weeks unpaid trial. I figure I can use that time to learn everything I can about copyrighting and find out if I am any good at it. I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to show how creative and productive I can be.

Interestingly, the manager who interviewed me referred to this blog. So it is just as well I have been taking it more seriously over the past months. I have been doing a fair bit of research for articles, then trying to write them in an appropriate tone for the subject matter. I have been searching for topics that are relevant and starting to trend, but are not overdone, like the posts I wrote on Kickstarter and Klout. I have also tried to ensure that fewer typos appear. So my efforts in writing this blog seem to be paying off.                                                      

Divine. 

Those who follow me on Facebook might remember me mentioning an article I was writing about the use of medical cannabis for the Divine website. I spent a lot of time researching it as there was a heap of recent information around. I also contacted a scientist who was doing research into its medical use as well as the Victorian Health Department to get the Victorian Government’s viewpoint.

I discussed the article with the Divine editor to ensure her that I would be writing an article that was even handed and would not be advocating an opinion on whether cannabis should be allowed for medical use. I wrote what I considered to be an article full of facts and totally opinion-less and submitted it. Unfortunately the article was knocked back by senior management.

I was extremely disappointed. I was disappointed to have something I had spent so much time researching and writing canned. I was also disappointed that I did not have the chance to inform people about the use of medical cannabis. There are a lot of people in pain out there, who traditional medicines have failed. I know about some of these people from my membership of two Facebook groups devoted to Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis.

I was also disappointed for the Divine website. I think an article on a controversial subject such as medical cannabis could have driven a lot of traffic to the website. But there’s the thing, I knew it was controversial, so I was not surprised when it was knocked back.

I intend to find another home for the article. It was very Victorian-centric, so I have rewritten it to suit Australian-wide markets. As a result, it is a much better article now.

I have told my fellow members of the Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis sites read the recent NSW Report into the use of medical cannabis. In my opinion, which is not even hinted at in the article, anyone who reads that report, and its many submissions, could only conclude that the medical use of cannabis should be legalised. The report recommended that cannabis be legalised for those with terminal illnesses.

I have written and submitted another article to Divine. This one required no research because it was about my personal experiences. Next weekend I plan to go to the Victorian Writers Festival where a couple of sessions will hopeful turn into more articles for Divine.

My writing.

 

Hi all,

After a number of posts not about me, I thought it was time to shout out to the world about what I have been up to with my writing.

New Article on Divine

I have a new article up on the Divine website. This one is for all those people who love to cover footpaths with their out of control gardens, or think it is a great place to park their car, too bad for pedestrians who use wheelchairs or can’t see.

I have started researching another article and the editor of Divine has suggested a further article I have agreed to write.

Google+

I mentioned in a previous post that changes Facebook had made were making it harder to plug my blog and Divine writing. I said I was going to explore other avenues of social networking. Well, I am now using Google+ more often than Facebook. I particularly like the communities setup on Google+ and I have joined a number of very active and highly informative writing and speculative fiction groups. I have also started a community for the Divine website.

My Novel Writing

I am making slow progress towards the end of the novel I am writing. I am up to chapter 91, which is one long action sequence. I find action sequences hard to write as I ponder how much information to put in. Do I have to include every move and thought as a human and alien battle it out? I have decided not to. I am much more comfortable writing internal monologues and dialogue, even descriptive passages. But the second half of the novel is one action scene after another. Sometimes I wish I could just tell the reader the outcome of an action scene, but I know that is crap writing.  

I have a message on my monitor that says “If you think the scene will be too difficult to write, WRITE IT.” So I don’t allow myself to cop out. Whether what I am writing is any good, who knows. My inner critic is currently shouting “not good enough”.

I have now written 179,337 words of the novel.

I am taking my inner critic on a holiday this week to Lakes Entrance and its 90 mile beach. Hopefully my inner critic will come back refreshed and with something more constructive to say about my writing, or maybe I will just drown it.        

Week Four and the End of National Novel Writing Month.

National Novel Writing Month

It’s the last day of November and therefore the last day of my unofficial National Novel Writing Month. At the start of the month I planned to add 50,000 words to a manuscript I had been working on. Well I got to the 50,000 words yesterday. Yay me. So that is two years in a row that I have written 50,000 words in November.

I had a little scare on Monday when I could not find chapters 77 and 78. After a frantic search through the novel’s folder and back-up folder, I realised that I had not written them yet. While searching I divided the chapter files into folders of ten to make it easier to see what files I had. I found that two chapters were missing from my hard drive, but fortunately were on the back-up memory stick.

During the month I completed the daily target of 1667 words on every day. I know my word tally will drop off from today, but I hope not to the extent it did last year. At least 500 words a day would be nice, that is until I start the humungous task of editing the manuscript.

The manuscript is currently 155,800 suspense, action and emotionally packed words. I still have ten to twenty thousand words to write of the novel before it reaches its natural conclusion.

Running Against Time

Readers of this blog would know that I spent a far bit of time this year critiquing/editing a non-fiction manuscript about a guy running up Mount Fuji. After editing it I know why marathon runners look so pained: it is because their sweaty shirts are rubbing their nipples raw and everyone around them is passing wind.

I very much enjoyed Chris Pavey’s inspiring story from McDonalds addict to marathon runner. His story is one of dedication and pain from so many injuries. He also raised a lot of money for charity and dedicated his run up Mt Fuji to the memory of Christina, his wife’s sister who tragically died in an accident.

I never thought I would find a book on running so engrossing. I don’t run myself. The last time I tried I could hardly walk for days. (I prefer the low impact of swimming).

So as Molly Meldrum used to say: do yourself a favour and check out Chris Pavey’s book on Amazon.  

New Article Submitted to Divine

I submitted a new article to Divine last week. It is about all the things people like to clutter up footpaths with: signs, dining tables and chairs, cars, overhanging gardens etc. These obstacles make the footpath hard to navigate for people with vision and mobility disabilities. Hopefully the article will be up in the next couple of weeks.  

 

Week Two of National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month

I am three-fifths of the way through my unofficial National Novel Writing Month. This is how I went:

Day 12: I had a lot of fun creating an alien. Originally it was going to be a variation of an X-File grey, but by changing the POV character when it first appears, it became something much more original and aesthetically interesting.  I wrote 1719 words for the day.

Day 13: The words came express delivery. When I walked to town and back in the morning I spent most of the walk with notepad and pen in hand scribbling notes. When I got home I wrote a scene that involved a quick-fire, multi-layered conversation between a doctor, pilot, linguist, yobo and three aliens. I wrote 1778 words for the day.

Day 14: Many interruptions today, but I eventually wrote 1693 words.

Day 15: I wrote 1678 words to reach 25,911 words at the halfway point of the month.

Day 16: When I got back from my swim I spent the next hour writing notes. I outlined a better way to get to the end of the novel. I then wrote 1685 words for the day.

Day 17: A real struggle. My writing stalled as I tried to think of solutions to a plot problem. I ended up rejecting an easy solution and taking the harder one which will make the rest of the plot more complex. When I eventually started writing I thought I had no hope of making the daily target, but I did, writing 1679 words.

Day 18: More scribbled notes before I started. I now have a really good idea of how the novel will finish. Now I just have to sort out my pile of notes. I wrote 1721 words for the day.

It was a real struggle this week, but I got there. Three-fifths of the way through the month I have written 30,996 words which is just over three-fifths of the required words. This time last year I had written 33,561.

I am currently writing chapter seventy of the novel and I have written 136,700 words of it. I estimate that I have about 20,000 words to go.

New Article on Divine

In other news, I had a new article go up on DiVine this week. The article is about how to describe and refer to people with disabilities.

New Article on Divine - Review of Me and Her.

Divine News

I have a new article on the Divine website, a review of Me and Her, a memoir by Karen Tyrrell. It is about her life with Bipolar Disorder. The review is very different from the personal review I had previously posted on my blog. This is the first paid book review I have done so I was determined to keep references to myself and my opinion out of the review. I think I succeeded.   

I originally submitted an image of the cover of the memoir to Divine in the body of the email with the article.

 

Unfortunately the image did not show up in the email when the Divine editor viewed it. So the story did not go up with the book cover as its image. I am trying to rectify this. 

The editor at Divine told me I needed permission from the publisher to use an image of the cover of the book. If that damned image in the original email had revealed itself to her I would have known about this proviso before the story went up on the site. Anyway, I immediately contacted Karen Tyrrell and I have forwarded her permission to use the image to the Divine editor.

Only at this stage did I think about not mentioning the book was self-published in the review. A year ago, I probably would have, but having seen how good carefully selected self-published books are, I did not even think it required mentioning.

I have read other reviews of Me and Her, all personal ones, and I can’t remember any of those reviewers mentioning the memoir was self-published. Perhaps they didn’t know, but I suspect most didn’t care. They had read the book and made up their own minds about the quality of the writing and editing of the book. I think readers and reviewers who refuse to read or review self-published books should rethink their intransigence.  

Me and Her is an engrossing, well written and edited book. I recommend it to everyone. I reckon most people will encounter mental illness during their lives, be it their own, a family member’s, friend’s or a work mate’s. This memoir will give you an insight on what to expect and how the support of family, friends and workmates seems crucial for the recovery of a person with a mental illness.

Next Article For Divine.

I have now started writing my next article for Divine, about my adventures in the public dental system. Since April last year I have made so many trips to the dentist I have become an expert patient.  

At the start of the first draft of the article I wrote a humorous opening paragraph about the various tortures dentists put their patients through, like how I am always troubled by them fleeing the room just before they irradiate my head for x-rays. But when I finished the draft I found I had written 1200 words, which is slightly more than the ideal 500 words for an article. So the opening paragraph was extracted. Now I just have to give the rest of the article an major floss and clean.