From Bunny Slippers to Business Plans
I’ve been blogging about booze and four-leaf clovers over at Modern Materialist today, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. And all those clover images have got me thinking about luck. And how freelance success has nothing to do with it.
Hear me out.
It’s been a lazy week. Lazy, as in I was so thrown off by Wednesday’s on-site copy editing gig in Brooklyn that I was too lazy to post here on either Wednesday or Thursday. Will you forgive me if I provide you with some alternate reading material?
I blogged about this for Modern Materialist earlier today, and thought some of you might be interested.
As a writer, I find myself spending a lot of time staring at a blank screen. And then, at night, when I’m supposed to be shutting my brain down, ideas start coming fast and furious.
My husband hates this.
Every time I think of something new, I have to lean all the way over and turn the bedside lamp, so I can jot down my idea. Then I turn the lamp off again. Then I lie there tossing and turning and think of something new. I lean over. I turn on my bedside lamp. I start scribbling. And on and on.
Then, Michael brought this home:
My husband told me I should write this post, despite the fact that all I really want to do is hide under five blankets while watching a foreign film I can cry along with. Perhaps while eating Nutella with a spoon.
About a year ago, I stopped using credit cards, transferring all my debt onto two 0%-interest cards that I planned on paying off within a year. Then I lost my most major client, and this plan was seriously derailed. I’ve never fully recovered from that huge loss of regular income.
Then, this morning, I realized that my year’s worth of 0% interest was up, and the APRs had jumped up to 22% and 29%. It made me feel so helpless. I hated the fact that I had gotten my act in gear, but was still paying for my previous idiocy. It made me wonder if I had been stupid to turn down two full-time job interviews in the past month. I became sure that I would never catch up. Never be debt-free. Never be able to afford a career coaching certification. Never be able to save for a house, or a family.
Understandably, I don’t feel much like blogging (or doing any sort of writing) this morning. Unfortunately, if I don’t write, I don’t get paid. So, after the jumps, the steps I’m taking to make it through today:
I am so. pooped. I spent yesterday blogging, troubleshooting with RCA, landing a temp gig, doing product reviews, researching a story for Babble, and going over edits with my Nerve editor. And salsa-dancing. Here is your weekly link love. I’m taking a Nutella break:
It’s been a few months since a book got me really fired-up about my career.
Despite gaining momentum in the writing realm, with assignments from TONY, Babble, Lemondrop, and Nerve, I’ve had other career-related plans on the back burner for months, with no clue as to how I could possibly move forward with them.
Then, Jonathan Fields‘s Career Renegade got me excited, and thinking that it was time to take another risk.
After the jump, the 4 reasons I loved Career Renegade.
After reading a transcript of last week’s editorchat — a Twitter-hosted conversation between writers and editors — I got to thinking about how lucky I was to have had worked on both sides of the fence over the past eight years.
Too often, writers find themselves wondering why in heck editors do the things they do, while editors find themselves wondering the exact same thing about writers.
Knowing how the other side operates — what they’re going through, what their responsibilities are — can foster understanding between the two groups, and help them work together more smoothly.
And so, after the jump, the top 5 things each side wishes the other knew:
The Flip Mino – An Intro from Steph Auteri on Vimeo.
Hey there guys. A couple months ago, I was reading about the Flip Mino, and how it was the new It tool for journalists everywhere. Why? You could use it both to take interviews and photograph subjects, and its slim, sleek design made it ideal for on-the-go reportage.
Did this mean my audio recorder and fancy schmancy DSLR were obsolete? God forbid, people. God forbid.
Anyway. The people behind the Flip Mino ($179.99) were kind enough to send along one of their products, for review puposes. For the sake of comparison, RCA also sent me their Small Wonder. The nitty-gritty, after the jump:
I’ve been missing my old writing group.
We met several years ago, in Cris Beam’s From Pitch to Publish Class at New School. For at least a year, the four of us workshopped each others’ pieces, shared contacts, suggested paying markets, and basically gave each other the kicks in the ass we needed.
Eventually, life got busy. One of us moved to Brooklyn. One of us moved abroad. One of us had a baby. And I kept getting promoted at work, a development that forced me to travel more often on business.
I’d love to start a new group. But how? And who?
Hey everybody! I just wanted to let you know about some updates I made to Freelancedom over the weekend.
Aside from some minor visual tweaks, my husband has created a new logo for me (let me know what you think about the subhead!), and also figured out how to install what I feel is a much nicer-looking forum. (Honestly, I would have the most hideous blog ever if I wasn’t married to a web developer.) I’d love it if we could start taking some of our conversations from the comments sections to there. I think it would provide us with a great opportunity to get to know one another a little better! You’ll find a link at the top of the page.
I have also updated the About page, and added a Hire Me page, where you can read all about my awesome copy editing and blogging skills, and then pay me money to, um, do that kind of stuff for you.
How do you like my changes?
I’m going to attempt to get another post up here today, but my Internet is working so. slowly. because of the snowstorm. I’m already considering taking a Modern Materialist snow day. But we’ll see. Until later…
