I Just Like Writing

I have been a writer since I was quite little.

By "writer," I mean that my most eloquent-- and preferred-- form of expression is the written word.

I often get taken to task because I don't have a "theme;" a field of expertise that I write about. And it's true, I'm all over the map, writing about whatever idea pops into my head. Which goes a long way toward explaining (perhaps) why I am writing a lot, but am not (for example) "A Published Author."

Well.

That, and an excessive fondness for using quotes, parentheses and the ellipsis...

Bottom line is that I write because I simply like writing. I'm not trying to accomplish some kind of "goal," I'm trying to express myself. Or formulate an idea.

Maybe it's ADD-ish.
Concept of the day: "Writer's ADD."

I was a technical writer, for some years. I more or less gave it up because "writing to order" bored me. A number of people insisted that tech writing is "creative," because the presentation of specific information in a readable format was-- somehow-- "artful."

Whereas I appreciate the feedback, these people clearly inhabit a different universe from my own.

txt spk and the Decline of English

Call me old-fashioned, but the whole text messaging thing is destroying the English language. At least as we know it, from a writer's perspective.

I know that some scientists are postulating that texting has genetic benefits: Our thumbs were increasingly falling into disrepair, but now video games and texting are "saving the thumbs."

Fine.

I like having thumbs, but at the cost of using real words?

"I 8 chkn 4 dnr" is NOT a sentence!

Maybe it could be argued that being limited to 160 characters per message fosters a sort of economy of language that steers people away from excess verbosity.

Fine.

I say it also fosters a sort of vocabulary shrinkage arising from the fact that people will always reach for the shortest (or most "abbreviatable" ... just made that up!) word they can find. And language will lose, as a result.

Just saying.

This is NOT "progress." This is the beginning of a regression back towards monosyllabic grunts of the cave age.

Writers and their Egos

For almost as long as I have been writing, I have been somewhat stunned by the size of the egos of writers.

Let me rephrase that.

Some writers.

Usually the not-so-good ones.

It's a bit like those people who get up and try out for American Idol. The louder they are about being "all that, and a bag of chips," typically the less actual talent they have. In fact, most of their talent seems to be in the realm of convincing people how GREAT they are, while the actual greatness is sadly lacking.

A friend of mine-- who's an editor at a literary 'zine-- has often shared that the peskiest and most annoying submitters are the ones who can't write their way out of a paper bag.

Similarly, some of the greatest writing I have read came from people who barely considered themselves "writers," and would dismiss accolades with words like "I dabble a bit, on occasion."

Makes me ponder whether we-- as human beings in all aspects of-- tend to substitute bluster and bravado for actual talent and ability.

Is this REALLY possible?

I have been exploring the possibilities offered by a couple of revenue sharing sites, HubPages, and Squidoo.

As is the case with many new things I "have to learn," I am feeling a little overwhelmed by the seeming complexity of both sites' writing interfaces. Being a writer with ADD and a tendency towards perfectionism, it can be a real struggle for me to "get started" on anything until I have a full and complete understanding of "how it works."

Part of this stems from growing up in an environment where anything that even remotely resembled "crap" (a.k.a. "less than PERFECT") was deeply frowned upon.

It's problematic for me because I tend to have quick and fleeting ideas about what I want to write about... but it takes me hours to "polish" a thought enough to feel good about releasing it to the public. And by then the idea is half gone, anyway... a bit like the way we wake up with dreams, but have forgotten most of them by the time we get to our first cup of coffee.

Anyway, I have started on HubPages... put up a few initial articles I am not unhappy about.

Writing Life: Detachment, Isolation and Involvement

As a writer-- and especially one who primarily writes through channels on the Internet-- it is easy to become detached from the "real" world. I friend recently remarked that she was feeling increasingly "lost" when she had to go "out in the world," in connection with her job. Indeed, it can be one of the major challenges of web-based entrepreneurs (herunder: Writers) to manage the sense of isolation that sometimes accompanies work that puts us in front of the computer for 8-10 hours a day.

For at least a couple of years, I have increasingly been working on "staying involved" in outside life. I think what may be important to those who work at home (and especially sensitive introverts-- I am an "HSP"), is not so much to make an effort to "get out," but to be very selective in terms of how and where we get out.

For example, much of my writing is on topics relating to the self-improvement and metaphysics fields. I may not have the bandwidth to necessarily go and join some local random softball league, but I do have the bandwidth to be a participant in activities that relate directly to the people and events I read about.

Don't get me wrong. I am an introvert, and I do enjoy the writing life. However, there are also times when I just feel like I need to "get out more."

Writing on the Internet

It was not long after I got my first Internet connection that I first thought to myself "Wouldn't it be cool if I could get paid for all this?" At the time, I was very absorbed in the process of writing lots of emails, and I had recently discovered forums, message boards and other sites with "user-generated content."

At the time-- around 1996-- there really wasn't much action in the writing online industry. The whole idea of "micropayments" was brand-new, and most of the pundits of the day were scoffing at the idea of users being PAID for their contributions. In fact, many people were still offended by the whole idea that the Internet was a commercial venue. I never could quite wrap myself around that idea... after all, the servers, and the people who put information online, the software driving it all... those things didn't just appear out of the goodness of someone's heart. SOMEthing had to buy them, drive them, and pay for their maintenance.

The Changing Landscape of Writing

When I was in the process of changing my work life-- from being a business owner, to more of a focus of art, writing and creativity-- the landscape of the writing market was changing.

My initial exposure to seriously trying to "write for money" came in the late 90's, and my focus was more "technical" than "creative." Somehow, I didn't really believe that I had what it took to write fiction and get paid for it. So I took a "half-step" and wrote for (predominantly) Internet-based businesses, and the high tech industry.

One of the primary ways the business of writing was changing could be linked directly to growing Internet usage. Getting work-- and getting fairly compensated for it-- was becoming harder and harder. Where the market for contract technical writers had previously been the domain of "professionals," we now found ourselves competing increasingly with a demographic I can best describe as "Stay at home moms with an English degree."

Ultimately, I don't begrudge anyone the desire to write-- however, this particular set of players in the market helped perpetuate the old reality that writers tend to be "starving" and barely make a living. After all, they weren't dependent on making a living, they were just there to make a little "pocket money." For them, bidding a contract job at $6.00 an hour meant they'd win the bid, and get the pocket money, as desired. For me, it meant "no work," because I couldn't make a full-time living on that kind of income.

The writers market continues to change. More people than ever-- regardless of whether or not they can actually write-- call themselves "writers." The size of the "pot" is fairly steady to growing slightly, but it is spread among a huge number of folks. Where once (and granted, the process was far more laborious and protracted) a published article might earn a writer $500, now many people think it is "great" that they were paid $10 by some web site. With the exception of a few who write "mainstream blockbusters," getting a book published is harder than ever... and more and more writers turn to self-publishing and print-on-demand houses.

The landscape of writing is constantly changing, and keeping up with trends takes almost as much time and effort as the writing, itself.

Beginnings, Part II

In college, I was one of those "strange people" who deliberately sought out courses that had a "heavy writing component." Truth be know, I'd much rather write a long essay, than have to get up in front of the class to present something, or be part of group work.

I was never an English major, however, as I was talked out of following any kind of writing track. Even my sophomore English professor-- who was an accomplished and published writer-- suggested that it was a bad idea to pursue writing for a living, and that fewer than 5% of writers actually made a living from the craft. Although the idea of being "a writer" really appealed to me, I had already been somewhat "conditioned" against the idea by family, so I didn't take a lot of persuading.

I did, however, take a number of creative writing courses, while in college. One of the primary lessons I got I learned in a short story writing class, where one entire 3-hour session turned into a Q&A with the professor, about becoming an author.

Naturally, one of the questions asked was "What exactly does it take to become a published author?" The professor responded that all it took was the ability to string together 75,000 words of prose, in some reasonably coherent fashion. This didn't sit well with the aspiring Hemingway's who were looking for an answer that involved words like "talent," "mastery of English" or "an original idea." Ultimately, the point was that less than 1% of what is published is "literature" quality-- the majority of books come from very mediocre writers who she the one commonality that they have the determination and discipline to sit down and write. And then to market the hell out of themselves, not giving up because they have received 85 rejection slips in a row.

I got a nice degree in Finance, and went into the business world, feeling largely like I didn't belong... but having the hope that I was doing "the right thing."