Fitting It In

So, it’s that time again… time to account for my Koala Challenge pointage for the month of January. I managed three…

I did the introduction comment at McKoala’s blog for 1 point. It was really kind of a freebie, but whatever, it’s mine, all mine!

I managed to finish and submit one regional parenting magazine article for 1 point.

And I managed to write, edit, gather critiques on, and re-edit the pitch for my query letter for 1 point.

I did write a bit of new fiction, but not enough for the point.

Normally, I’m really annoyed with myself when I do that little in a whole month. But when I sat down to look at where I was spending my time, it couldn’t be helped. I have literally spent no less than 30 hours each week looking through job postings, writing, re-writing and tweaking cover letters, submitting them to various companies, and filling out online employment applications. Outside of all that, I’ve been working through a temp service when they can get me office positions. I’m hoping one of those turns into a permanent position, or maybe one of my resumes/interviews lands me one. Oh, yeah, and then there’s the whole full-time parenting of three children, heading up the Band Contest Committee for the event coming up in a few weeks (which meant finding and scheduling 33 volunteers), and rebuilding my house with limited (read as no) funds. It is what it is. I need a regular, stable income. My kids need to be fed, taken care of, and watched over. And there’s only so much time in a day… I’ve tried to change that last one, but it’s not going over so well.

I’ve actually been looking for a job, off and on, for the past two years or so. It wasn’t so imperative then, I could make do with a little extra money freelance writing here and there, and budget out things at the time. But a number of people have said things along the lines of, “Oh, well what you really need is a creative writing position. You wouldn’t be happy in just any job.” Meaning that I wouldn’t be happy in office work, I’d guess, as that’s primarily what I’m looking for… it always strikes me as odd how people categorize you. First of all, those comments are almost always made from the standpoint of someone who’s never had something shut off because they couldn’t pay a bill. Seriously, any job is a good job if you enjoy it, work hard at it, and it allows you to live.

And, oddly enough, I like secretarial work. I do. I think the skills I’ve developed writing all translate awesomely to running or helping to run an office. Does that mean I’ll stop writing when I find a full time job? No. I won’t stop breathing, either. There are plenty of writers out there who are brilliant at what they do on the page, but it won’t pay the mortgage. I also tend to think that a career outside of writing gives you more experience and self to speak from when you do sit down at the keyboard. The trick is fitting it all in.

So how do you do it? Do you write full time or outside of your regular career and family obligations?

Public Humiliation

Okay, so the Koala kicked my ass. There. I said it. I failed miserably for the month of June. Please taunt torture and fuck with me appropriately.

I've been largely off of blogging the last few months, but fucking around on facebook wayyy more than I should. If you catch me in either place for prolonged periods of time, ask me what my wordcount is... If I have none, feel free to kick the hell out of me... I always have some hell in reserve anyway.

Koala Challenge 2010 - February Progress

Still not there, dammit! But not too bad, either. Here are my stats, for those counting and such:

Editing (4,000+ words on multiple projects) - 1 point

Fiction Submissions (unfortunately, no full-length which would have sent me straight up the koala ladder, but still not bad at 2 submissions) - 2 points

Essay Submissions - 1 point

Article Submissions - 1 point

New Fiction Written (not counting all the non-fiction words, dammit again) - 2 points

Altogether it's 7 points from the lofty Koala. Not bad, not as good as I wanted... Need to set a better writing schedule for March and my goal is to submit at least 4 articles and 1 or 2 essays along with upping my fiction word count. We'll see how it goes. Snipe at me when you see me lolly gagging around the blog-o-sphere, please :-)

How is your writing going?

January Progress - Koala Challenge

I talked a bit about the Koala Challenge a few posts ago. You can click on my lovely, little Koala Badge in the sidebar and it will take you to McKoala's blog to check things out from the marsupial's headquarters.

I found out about and decided to do the challenge on January 18th, and as you can tell by my badge, I only got four points :-( I'm not completely ecstatic with that, but it gives me a good kick in the pants to try to climb that Koala ladder this month.

I'll keep my badge for the previous month in the sidebar, and change the status on the last day of each month (provided my status actually changes). I've also included the links for other participants. My linking has more to do with a handy-dandy way for me to find the blogs I'd like to visit... but feel free to visit them, too, cuz, ya know, they're cool.

How about you? Did you do the Koala Challenge and, if you didn't, how is your writing progressing?

The Koala Challenge – Show Me, Show Me, Show Me How You Do that Trick

...the one that makes me scream, she said... the one that makes me laugh, she said... threw her arms around my head... show me how you do it... and I promise you, I promise that I’ll run away with you... (sorry, I was singing to Realmy)

This year, I’ve entered the Koala Challenge 2010



Isn’t that a cool little sinister Koala? JJ Debenedictis designed the awesome little badges that signify your progress for the month, and if you’re interested in playing, you can see all of the badges on her blog post, here. Even if you’re not interested in playing, it’s worth the trip just to ogle JJ’s artwork.

The basic idea is that each bit of writing equals a point in the system... but they’re not small bits of writing. It has to be a submission, for 1 point, for long fiction it’s 1 point per 4,000 words. That sinister badge up there equals 3 points, or 12,000 words if you’re only doing long fiction, and really the goal is to get the happy happy Koala, which is 9 points. You can go visit either McKoala’s or JJ’s posts linked above to get all the rules and see who else is playing.

“Okay, so what’s with the song at the top?” one might wonder. Around January, all of us writer types start discussing our goals for the year, our plans for what we’re going to do. I’m no exception. I wrote an entire, and entirely too long, post called, The Year of No Excuses on this topic. I got to the end and realized something – it wasn’t for you. It was for me. It was a way for me to work out what I was doing wrong and fix it for fuck’s sake. But you don’t need to know what I plan to do, or want to do, or what my goals are...so I printed it for me, but I never posted it.

There’s an old saying that I’ve loved for most of my life – “Don’t talk to me about what you’re going to do, show me what you did.” There’s a time and a place for dreaming and planning and plotting out your future – and it’s not meant to be shared. Okay, addendum, when you’re planning a joint future with someone you should probably key them in to your plans. But otherwise, you don’t need to know why I haven’t done what I haven’t done. You don’t need to know what I plan to do.

Giving out a detailed goal list for the month or year, just makes me feel like I have to make excuses for why I fell short. So, new tact. You’ll find my Koala Badge on the right hand sidebar on the last day of the month. So the last month’s progress will be visible until I change it to reflect the newest month. The motivator for me is that I hold myself publicly accountable. There is no hiding from my lapses and no shirking my workload. At the same time, though, it feels better to me to say at the end of the month – this is what I accomplished. I like the camaraderie of a group, too and the fact that other challengers can stop here and congratulate or give me shit about it.

Your turn – what have you accomplished lately that you’re proud of? And do you prefer to show or tell – or a little of both?