I have two weeks of solid hard work to do over the mid semester break, especially if I am going to come close to mastering the meta language of our language. Thank fully Mike is making it start to make sense. I hope he never reads my blog because the dangling and misplaced things he would find here are sure to give him nightmares. They will disappear as the year progresses I am sure.
It has been a sleep deprived week with a sick toddler and so much to do however I am managing and my brain is loving me.
I have to play around with the photo manipulation program on my computer and design a logo. I have an idea in mind and as soon as I work out how to do it, you will see it here on my blog.
There was not much of a decision to make about choosing a theme/genre for my blog. I already consider this a lifelong learning blog. I do love to learn.
So week four or is it five, flew past. I am so glad I scheduled my calendar to remind me to blog.
I gave a short talk on Creative Non Fiction, had my research proposal approved, signed up for the state library and Trove, and checked the online resources at both and at several local libraries with which I hold a card. I checked a final edit on the anthology I have three stories in and created the cover art for.
Okay stop checking, it is week four...I spent today in court and I am three weeks into four of an OWL.
which, as the logo clearly states, is an online writing lab. Short short courses that will fit into any budding writers lifestyle.
I don't write romance with a lower case or capital R, I write
relationships into my works but the relationship is not the focus of the
story. The Romance Writers of Australia organisation is a marvelous one
to belong to no matter what you write. Take a look at some of their
short short courses and squeeze a little writing polish into your busy
life.
I finished A Sparkling Guide to Gripping Goal, Motivation & Conflict with CT Green, last month and this month I am taking Bring your story into focus: why ‘show don’t tell’ is a layer cake with Sandy Vaile.
I know what you are thinking "This woman is insane, a diploma and short courses, insane!" and you might very well be correct but I am fairly likeable crazy apparently.
Another task this week in Writing for the New Media was to look at other blogs and see what I liked about them, plus write up a report on them, and then implement some of the things I like into this blog. Apparently I need the little linking icons for my other social media so I will put them in soon. I suspect my blog will change a bit over the next few weeks as I experiment.
Please let me know what you think of the changes and feel free to suggest things that would make landing on my blog easier for you.
Next week I have to make a decision about this blog. What genre is it? Well it is a bit of a babble about my learning and my writing so I am thinking it fits into lifelong learning. Is life long learning a genre though or just a theme? That is probably the question I need to answer first.
Academics will tell you they dislike Wikipedia and other encyclopedia because they are too generalised but I love them as the doorstep to more specific knowledge. Thank you 'pedia' put together-ers. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about lifelong learning.
So fourth week of my new direction and I am feeling good. Stressed, tired, overworked but really good. My brain is having a party.I am managing to jog a little up the first flight of stairs. Stepping firmly up the second flight and shuffling the last after a break on the landing. This is an improvement on the first week.
I am cringing in Editing 2 because I feel as if I am drowning in information but I also feel that the tutor/teacher Mike is going to get me through it and I will emerge greatly enriched and better prepared in my writing.
I am being more habitual about this blog for New Media and looking forward to creating a logo and webpage where I will link this blog and I am keen to learn how to use the photo manipulation program on this laptop I am typing from.
Creative non fiction is skilling me up for several non fiction projects I have in mind and I am excited about that 'big kev'. Once I have my extra extra tech day with my good friend Mica I will even know how to utilise all these library cards to access their online interface. (see what I did there Geoff? Of course you didn't, :) )
Industry Overview is of course vital. Many a rejection is in my folder because I did no do enough research in targeting my submissions. Writing a game plan is vital in any business and being professional means getting business sense. So I am writing a plan and planning to publish!
Mists and Thimbles is proving extraordinarily stimulating in terms of story ideas. I loved reading fairy tales, myths, folk tales and legends when I was young but have not visited the pantheons for a long time. It is lovely to be back amidst the magic. I love that science is also still investigating the far past. There are many an archeological discovery that add some truth to the legends. Try this article about Sutton Hoo
I am popping in this short video because I had to work out how to do that for my new media expectations. Let me know in the comments please, if it works.
Advanced fiction is my final subject for this semester and I am so pleased I am enrolled in it. I have been working on several novels for a few years now in between, kids, dogs, domestic drudgery, life, the universe and everything and thought I had two close to complete, but now I see they are about as finished as the buildings in Huff post's (and they are even more worserer than encyclopedias) list of seven unfinished monuments. I managed to write scene cards for one manuscript and discovered a whole host of discrepancies in my narrative.
On that note, I shall wind up my post and leave you with a sunset (taken by me on my phone).
For my fellow students, how are you enjoying your studies?
For my fellow travelers, do you consider yourself a lifelong learner?
ps deliberate misspelling of words is deliberately aimed at my dearly beloved deliberate grammar tyrants. <3 You know who you are.
One of the adages bandied about in the writing community is "If someone asks you for money up front to publish - you are being ripped off".
I managed to avoid having my wallet heavily skimmed over the past few years but I sure as heck didn't make any money as the pile of publications with my writing and art has grown. Sure, some of the publications were raising money for good causes and I am a sucker for a good cause but I have had to pay for a copy of most and have not had the budget to acquire some and I won copies of others in competitions where they were offered as prizes, I have only once been given a copy of a publication and that was a small writing group.
Too many small press like to groom the little hopefuls(like me) to "do it for the experience", "it will get your name out there."
I am no longer doing it for "EXPERIENCE".
That term makes me very angry. So many people offer the dubious thrill of experience as the payment for artists/writers/musicians creativity. The creative person is expected to pay their rent and electricity bill and put food on the table with "EXPERIENCE" while the person taking the creative work makes plenty of money from the hard work of others. There are far too many sharks in the waters folks, quite a few wolves in the woods and plenty of naive, gullible, bright eyed creatives out there losing a lot of money for the thrill of seeing their name in print.
I should have known better.
I should have valued myself and my work.
I should have known that I am entitled to be paid for my work the same as a surgeon, a mechanic or a gardener would be, even fast food teenagers get paid and so should I.
I should have learned my industry the easier way. Through study and research.
It takes a long time for the pay cheque to come for a writer, which can be disheartening, and having something - anything - published can be a big, albeit temporary, boost to the self esteem but in the long run it isn't worth it to throw away your treasure to the sharks.
I have learned some valuable lessons over the past few years and come through relatively unscathed and now I know that what I create is worth being paid for.
Editing
Guess what, there is a serious typo in my title. It is there to remind me that I need to practice my copy editing skills.
I
feel out of my depth with the meta language of our language but, just
as with my other language studies, slowly but surely and with plenty of
practice, I will acquire the knowledge to know the function of the words
in sentences and it will take my writing to a higher level. It might
even help me with the cases in the other languages. Cheer me on gang. <3
Do you have a 'rip off an artiste" story you could share with me? Tell me in the comments.
