"Old" People Writing for Teens V

Sage · Mar 27, 2015

Becca C. said:
Sage, I've always thought your job sounded awesome I would love to do something boring. My job is way too high-energy and stressful.

I don't mind it being boring when I can charge the time and doing other things. But most of the time when it's slow (like today and all of next week), it's me searching for work. We have to charge our time according to what we're doing, and it's a small lab, so if I'm there, it's making sure that I at least look busy if someone comes by. There are a few things that let me multitask while working, but not many. It's just this one project, which does take up most of my time for 3 years.

Smiley0501 said:
I HANDED IN MY REVISIONS TO AGENT!!!!!! This has been such an excellent week. Saw some friends, read a good book, got into 2nd graduate school, decided on graduate school #1, finished revisions. ahhhh just feels so good/like anything could happen

Woot!

RaggedEdge · Mar 27, 2015

I love those B&N coupons. I feel guilty because I usually only order one book each time and get free shipping, so I'm probably not their ideal customer. But it is my one main splurge!

JTR - dinner out and a B&N visit is our standard date! It never gets old for me.

Smiley - I love weeks like that. Congrats on handing the revision to your agent!

Becca - Seems like you flew through FOTM! Did you do a revision before handing it to betas or do they give feedback on the rough?

wampus - Were you a journalist? I did journalism in high school and sometimes I wish I'd studied it in college. I was an English major and was afraid of writing on short deadlines or running all over the place asking questions, but I think I would have met interesting people that way.

Speaking of jobs, I'm thinking of going back to work. I'm a medical transcription and would be working part-time from home, but I have a lot of review to do first (I haven't worked in two years) and then the job search. I just hope working doesn't kill ALL my mental energy so that I can't write. But having extra money again would sure be nice. We'll see.

Sage · Mar 27, 2015

My ideal job, tbh, would be something that was full-time data entry. When I worked at Washington Mutual for two minutes, the first minute was data entry (then they bumped me up to a loan processor because it was the refi boom). And I always had something to do but with very little stress about getting it done. I'm a fast typist when I don't have to think about what I want to say, and I find data entry very relaxing. If I could somehow do data entry full time but with a flexible schedule as long as I did 40 hours a week, that would be my perfect job.

I actually don't like a lot of down time. Even when I can sit at my desk and spread out some task because it's a slow day and I don't want to be wandering the lab looking for a bunch of 5-minute tasks to fill my day, I'm incredibly bad at being inefficient at work. The water filtering forces me to spend 3.5+ hours with nothing to do, so I fill it with other work (writing/reading), but it's understood that that's what I'm being paid to do. Filling 3.5 hours in the lab is torture.

I don't mind when we're screaming busy. Everyone else runs around like their heads are on fire, but I've found that everything gets done faster if you just do the work in a methodical way, and then you're not searching for work at the end of the day.

Bing Z · Mar 28, 2015

Except, Sage, your ideal job would be an entry-level job. You'd probably need to moonlight another 40-60 hours a week ghostwriting political blogs, paid yelp/tripadvisor/book reviews, or even porn to keep your apartment. You'd likely have to give me your cat. You can only spare 3 minutes a day writing fiction. You'd not publish before the age of 69. Testing water seems like a way better route. Amen.

Sage · Mar 28, 2015

I think that's an absolute that doesn't necessarily fit reality.

I was paid $14/hr in San Diego for that job (minus the flexible hours), but of course, SD is expensive, and I couldn't get an apartment at the $19/hr I got as a loan processor either. I took a pay cut for this job from the data entry one (much less the loan processing). Now i'm paid more than the data entry (and my EPA stuff gets me $19/hr, but I don't make that on the lab stuff after 11 years in this job), so it's all relative.

That said, obviously I'm not working the data entry job.

Bing Z · Mar 28, 2015

That sucks, Sage. Never knew EPA pay scale was that mean. I thought it would be somehow comparable to the UN/WASH jobs.

Sage · Mar 28, 2015

I got to the plot twist I've been waiting for since starting the book, and...

froze

It better not be like this when I get to the climax!

jtrylch13 · Mar 28, 2015

Sage said:
We have to charge our time according to what we're doing, and it's a small lab, so if I'm there, it's making sure that I at least look busy if someone comes by.

This was my last two jobs. When I worked on a big budget government job when I was on that same time code for weeks and weeks, if I needed a bathroom break or talk to someone or just walk away from my desk so I didn't go crazy, it was all on the same job. When I had to charge a half hour here and a half hour there to tiny jobs that couldn't afford any spare minutes, I was hard pressed to file my time appropriately. There just wasn't enough work. I'd have finished all my allotted work by 3 and had to stay till five.

Stiger05 · Mar 28, 2015

I wish I didn't have to keep such a close eye on my time. Being able to just show up and get paid would be amazing. Instead, I have to charge tenths on an hour, and I suck at math, so bleh.

Smiley, congrats on picking a grad school, that's awesome!

I'm posting from my writing retreat. Washington is gorgeous. I could totally live here. All of my agency sisters are super nice. They're really introverted and awkward too, which makes me happy, haha. I was literally almost in tears when my plane landed. I had to psych myself up to deplane and meet everybody. I'm glad I did this, though. Meeting people face to face makes them real, if that make sense.

I've missed the last week or so on AW. I hope you're all doing awesome!

Sage · Mar 28, 2015

Tenths of an hour would be awful. We do quarter hours and I round up or down based on what works best for me.

Yay, I'm glad your retreat is awesome, Stiger!

I think I'll go to my fave cafe tomorrow and spend the morning trying to bust through to the climax. I realized today that I can't wait to finish this book and reread it.

KTC · Mar 29, 2015

Is it crazy to be missing Facebook and Twitter? Lol. I'm in Shanghai, looking out my 19th story hotel room window. We're about to go to a crazy acrobatics show... Just came from museum, underground markets and river cruise. Can't breathe... So much to do. And no Twitter and Facebook. I'm such a yit. (-:

I keep hoping for a Shanghai surprise... But nothing yet!

KSavoie · Mar 29, 2015

Hey everybody! I'm crawling of a revision hole to say hello! I just finished a round of revisions, so now it's time to start a new one. This next round is going to be severe, trauma, hemorrhaging kind of revisions which is making me nervous/scared haha.

How is everyone else doing?

VeryFairy · Mar 29, 2015

KSavoie said:
This next round is going to be severe, trauma, hemorrhaging kind of revisions which is making me nervous/scared haha.

How is everyone else doing?

I'm almost through that round, and my book has lost a lot of blood and a few limbs. Hoping to finish up tonight and then I just have a final (fingers crossed) read through. Then (deep breath) check the grammar. Then query!!

Sage · Mar 29, 2015

I'm not looking forward to that round with this book. I know it will need it. I'm already making lists of what needs to be done to make things better, but right now I'm in that "Just get it written" mode.

KiwiLady · Mar 29, 2015

Sage said:
I got to the plot twist I've been waiting for since starting the book, and...

froze

I hate it when this happens - especially when you've been excited about writing that part...it happens to me often!

KSavoie said:
Hey everybody! I'm crawling of a revision hole to say hello! I just finished a round of revisions, so now it's time to start a new one. This next round is going to be severe, trauma, hemorrhaging kind of revisions which is making me nervous/scared

Good luck with all the revisions. Mine is with betas at the moment which is super scary but once I get it back I'll probably be doing the same thing.

Can't do much at the moment...my computer died on Saturday morning. It's really frustrating because my old one died last November so I had to get a new one and now it's not working either. Plus I don't know my email password so can't check emails (I know...stupid). I'm realising I spend a lot of time at the computer now that I can't use it when I want to. Thank goodness for my iPad!

Becca C. · Mar 29, 2015

RaggedEdge said:
Becca - Seems like you flew through FOTM! Did you do a revision before handing it to betas or do they give feedback on the rough?

It's been through a couple rounds of revision! Luckily I write pretty clean, and only a few scenes were removed and a handful of plot details changed, so it was pretty quick. I think I started writing it in the summer, got to 30k, then wrote 50k during NaNo to finish it. So all-in-all it took like seven months from first words written to beta-ready. That is pretty fast.

KiwiLady · Mar 29, 2015

I have a question...its a bit long winded so bare with me.

My book that is currently with the publisher was finished in about May last year. It took about two years to write and all the names I used were fictional. Last February, we purchased a car which didn't end up to be working properly so we returned it. Long story short the dealer ended up taking our money AND the car ($26,000) and we can't get it back.

I woke up last night and realised my antagonist has the same last name as the car dealer and his first name is almost the same (Marcus instead of Mark). This was totally unintentional - didn't know the guy for almost the entire time I was writing the book - but I wonder if I need to change the name. What do you guys think? I doubt this guy will ever read it but he's already taken so much of our money I don't really want to give him the chance to get more. But I LOVE the name of my antagonist and don't really want to change it.

On another note...I've just signed up to Twitter so if any of you see Hayley Barrett following you - it's just me.

Sage · Mar 29, 2015

IANAL, but it shouldn't be a problem. But if you're really worried, give yourself the peace of mind and change the name to something you can live with.

KSavoie · Mar 29, 2015

I'm just feeling really overwhelmed by everything I know needs to be done, and of course I'm starting to now doubt everything I've written. I'm quickly finding myself in a shame spiral haha. I just need to keep my head above water while editing haha.

triceretops · Mar 29, 2015

Change the name only if it bothers you; hangs you up or screws with your pace.

tri

jtrylch13 · Mar 30, 2015

Kiwi, I am angry and frustrated for you about the car thing! I can't even believe he can get away with it. I have no advice about the name, because I don't know, but I hope everything turns out well.

Kids are on spring break this week. Teen is gone to Arizona, but littles are home. Not sure how much work I'm going to get done, especially with Easter coming up and 2 of my boys have birthdays. And one of my twins has a bad ear infection. I hate seeing my boys miserable!

jtrylch13 · Mar 30, 2015

KSavoie - Sorry about the doubt/shame spiral. I get so overwhelmed by all the work that needs to be done on a novel too. Just take one step at a time. Sometimes I will go through and fix all plot holes. Then go through and work on showing not telling. Then go through and change or remove filter words. By fixing portions at a time, I don't feel so daunted by the enormity of the task.

Christabelle · Mar 30, 2015

Kiwi, that sucks about your car. I would be horribly upset. I don't know what to do about the name in your story, but I think I agree with Tri - don't worry about it unless it's causing problems with your writing.

KSavoie, *HUGS* I hate those spirals, but keep working and keep writing. You'll make it through. We know you'll get it finished!

And it'll be great!!

I didn't get any writing done this weekend. We're getting ready for hubby's sister's wedding next weekend, and things have been super busy. I'm hoping for some time this week. We'll be spending time with family members who haven't seen the little one since last July, so surely someone will want to babysit long enough for me to hide in my writing cave for a couple of hours.

I'm kind of stuck on my WIP. I think I'm just going to have to write through and then edit it down when I get where I need to be. I know what needs to happen, but I don't know how to get there from where I am without a lot of filler. It seems so daunting at the moment.

jtrylch13 · Mar 30, 2015

Christa - Is STILL BREATHING the sequel to FALL TO PIECES? I love the titles!

wampuscat · Mar 30, 2015

Kiwi! That sounds crazy. I work with a guy who a salesman tried to screw over like that and he ended up getting fired by the dealership over it. I hope there's some recourse!

Ragged, I did work in newspapers for several years. Part of the time was as a reporter (mostly sports), then I moved into copy editing for a few years. I'm out of the business now for several reasons but partly because it's a really difficult industry. A lot of my friends have been laid off because of massive downsizing in the newspaper world. I did love the jobs though, both reporting and copy editing.

Smiley, I missed the news that you picked a grad school. Congrats! That is ridiculously exciting!

Becca, I hope your betas love your new MS! I'm sure it's fantastic.

"Old" People Writing for Teens V

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I can do this

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Stand in the Place Where You Live

I'm not a fairy.

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