Career (and other stuff) whine

[pantryslut]

I am tired of doing piecework for a living.

I don't even have the energy to whip this post up into a proper tantrum. I'm burnt out and my wrists and neck ache -- just a little, nothing serious, I still do my stretches and take breaks and everything, I'm not crippling myself, I just ache -- and I'm indulging bad habits like procrastinating until the very last minute on each and every assignment because I can. And if it doesn't have a deadline, it gets put off indefinitely. And everyone I know is editing books, or writing books, or at least shopping proposals around, and I'm writing piecework for a living.

I suppose now is as appropriate a time as ever to mention that I got turned down by a graduate school this weekend. My top choice no less.

It doesn't help my mood, either, that I had another attack of digestive upset over the weekend -- not as bad as in November, when I spent a week eating saltines, and more controlled this time by various remedies, but still no fun. (This is what kept me from the meeting last night.)

imnotandrei took a look at me yesterday and said, "So what you're telling me is that January came late this year." "I always was a late bloomer," I replied.

But back to the point. I'm tired of writing piecework for a living. I want to work on my own projects for a change. Which probably means I should find another job, maybe one that doesn't involve writing all the damn time. And maybe something where I got to see more than the cats during my regular working hours. Except that nobody seems to want to pay me for anything except my writing. I really wouldn't mind going back to being a managing editor type*, really. But who's gonna hire me to edit their tidy little journal when I used to file naked photos for a living? Nobody's hired me in the last five years -- that's how I got to be here in the first place. And everyone I meet is always so fucking *impressed* that I write for a living (dearest black_pearl_10 excluded), and they really don't want to hear about how I started doing this because I could't get a job doing anything else I was supposedly qualified for, and I continue yo do it because that continues to be true.

There. That turned out as a tidy little rant after all. I feel better now.

*they never gave me that title officially.

Comments

[dryadgrl]

Well I know of an admin job on Alameda that's open.
And I totally hear you. That's part of why I'm sorta glad I didn't get back into tech writing before I found school.

I'm sorry you're feeling crappy.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

If nadinelet doesn't wanna go for the admin job, I would be interested in the info. :-)

[dryadgrl]

I didn't know you two new each other.
Neato!

Anyway yeah, email me and I'll tell you about it.
I don't remember what you do or are interested in, but there are also jobs at Walden House that I found out about today. Let me know and I'll keep an eye out.

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Okay, thanks! If you don't get email from me in a few minutes, it means I have your wrong address. :-)

[serenejournal.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have your wrong address. Help? (You can email me at serene@serenepages.org) Thanks!

[stonebender.livejournal.com]

Much sympathy on not getting accepted to your first choice graduate school. *fingers crossed* I hope you get an acceptance soon. I tried making a run at graduate school about five or six years ago and never got accepted (it was a longshot). I was the first person in my family (for several generations as far as I can tell) to graduate college. I didn't exactly apply myself except to the extent of passing. So I don't really have the grades for postgraduate work.

As to hiring someone who used to file nude photographs, I would think that would be a plus, but maybe that's just me :-)

[manomano.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry about grad school. That really sucks. You must be nervous about the other ones. It's enough to make anyone's stomach do flip flops, and not in a good way. Having your life on hold for months because of that is really taxing. I'll keep my fingers crossed and prayers flowing for you.

Piecework

[zyxwvut.livejournal.com]

I have the same general feeling[*]... I miss having a career.

Z

P.S.: * -- But with more of a techy (and "I was doing software
work *before* all the baristas became Javascript developers")
kind of slant.

[desayunoencama.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear about grad school.

In re: piecework: I'm of the opposite mind. i'm thinking I used to make much more money writing short pieces for other people than editing anthologies... and that I need to start freelancing more for magazines, especially non fiction. Less draining, more income. In part I've been covering this with the translations, but it would be good for me to do more actual writing...

Of course, if you're burned out of the freelancing it might be good to try and switch to the other stuff. Although (as you know) it takes a hell of a lot of anthology editing to make a living... And usually there just isn't enough work. Jumping genres helps.

I saw Dr. Annie Sprinkle just sold a new sexual self-help book to some mainstream publisher (Random House?)

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

Have you considered driving a cab? Seriously.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

First, I'd have to learn to drive. Which doesn't rule it out, really.

[manomano.livejournal.com]

Actually, given the way a lot of cabbies drive, I'd say they don't know much more than you.