How was your writing week?

I have no honest sensibility within as to why I am doing this. On the surface it is simply that a freelance forum that I have just started to use is moving and when all the kinks are kinked out I will post the url, and I no longer have the Speakeasy as it was between 98 and 02 and the only poignancy I have left is nostalgia- in any case, there was once a thread called "How was your writing day?" It wasn't mine but it was very popular and we all patted each other's backs with progress posts.

I JUST SPENT THE LAST BLOODY FORTY EIGHT HOURS PREPARING AN ARTICLE PITCH FOR A PUBLICATION WITH A CLAIMED CIRCULATION OF WELL OVER FIVE MILLION, AND TO THE JOURNALIST WHO ADVISED ME TO SEND OUT ONE PITCH A DAY I HAVE SOME CHOICE WORDS FOR YOU THAT THE CENSOR WOULD GO BIPITY BOP A DO.

Other than that, I have an entire poetry manuscript taking my vacation for me on the west coast, am almost finished a new science fiction story that some online editorializing disparaged without even knowing I'm alive, and I have started my third spec piece to get an online mag's attention once again.

So how is yours going?

Enjoy!:argue:

This is a great idea for a thread Jozy. Perhaps it will kick me in the a$$ and get me to write more. I wrote a poem last week. :)

My writing week was rubbish.
Have to write an editorial for faculty newspaper, but everytime I write something it all goes wrong and ends up in naturalism (e.g. me writing about how youtube slowly kills our braincells, that you can almost hear them dying one at a second)...
So after it all goes off to the deep end, I turn myself to an unfinished short story (now turning to a novel, because I cant seem to finish it) and realise that my muse must be stoned.
So I switch on youtube instead. :brickwall

I've written 2000 words on Anglo-Saxon ethnogenesis, a subject on which I know literally nothing; its a masterpiece of nonsense and drivel. The only problem is that I've got to hand it over to one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, who will procede to interrogate me over it.

I'm doomed.:argue:

Well, need to be honest here, when I say I haven't even touched my novel, this week. I am supposed to be editing the whole story, but am having trouble getting into the gist of things. Don't know why. Just can't get my head around it. I have already edited it once, but need to make a big change and it has just taken me forever. I suppose if I focus and put my mind to it and well... Argh, I am procrastinating as I speak... Argh. Looks like a quiet day today, might just spend two hours on it... Argh, maybe.

'sigh'

I was attracted to this forum to learn, re-energize, and feed my creative processes after I realized how vain and trivial, for the most part, my efforts had heretofore been.

Having the luxury of not having to make a living off of my writing, I've taken a year off from writing poetry. Perhaps my muse has been bereft of inspiration as yet.

Perchance this week.

This week engaged me writing a variety of articles. I for instance write on a range of subjects from literary articles to economic ones. This week I wrote an article on the economic issue.

It is really hard to write something at times. There are so many familial things in point of fact that are likely to impede. While I get so much absorbed in writing things turn up impeding me. But life is a series of compromises and we cannot dispense with some important things in life. Family and friends I have to succumb to for without them what you achieve through writings will not hold any value. Man wants to share his pains and joys and joys expand and pains wanes by sharing in point of fact.

I therefore am parting with writing for that reason. My passions for writing is very intense but there are other values or things that passionately engage me.

I am not a writer by profession, but other than sports forums and an occasional attempt at poetry I haven't done much writing in the last 30 years, but just last month I took to writing letters to my 3 grandchildren ages, 11, 9 and 6. It seems they are having difficulty in their reading at school so I thought that this might help them. I've written 2 letters to each one and recieved 2 back none from my 11 year old, but I'm not giving up hope. In the meantime I am literally boring my grandkids to death with stories from my youth, and attempting to leave them some knowledge of their great grandparents. I'm hoping it will make inspire them to be become better writers and as well as becoming better readers, and in the process I am really enjoying doing it.

I wrote a check to the IRS for a little over a thousand dollars this week. They accused me of putting the wrong number in a column on my form 1040 from a couple of years ago - or some such libel. Anyhow, it wasn’t a very creative piece of writing, but it was a difficult piece of writing none-the-less.

Mmm, if I ever need to file a schedule C then I know who to turn to :rolleyes:. Once upon a time I did need to file a schedule C but my contractor went out of business, nine years ago, and I loved them.

When I had traditional employment, I almost could not write, and between 01 and 04 I suppose I was in a significant depression because I could not cope with a serious rupture between myself and a former supervisor, but I still earned. 05 through 08 I am not sure how I survived, but achieved one significant byline.

Now I am emotionally and physically worn out, and need money and know what my odds are, since I don't know any contractors that I am aware of who'd I feel an affinity with to approach for a contract, and I do not have enough really good bylines to aim for anything salaried. Still, for me I am pushing as best I can, although I fear The New Republic. They have the sole honor of being the one magazine where I applied for a job, and to my shock they treated me with respect, at the time, but because I am afraid of them I did not aim for the column I thought was my best shot, though I am angling for a blog slot. I just cannot work as fast as I want to anymore, but I am trying for one pitch a week, and slowly returning to the literary circuit.

But I can no longer dream. I know too much, how damn hard it is, and how little technical skill or access to sources I have. The one major mistake I made when I really got my break was not keeping a source list. Writers who are actually published don't live on the ether of their reputation, and most fans make that mistake about us, which is why I keep my distance when mine have sought attention.

I must still need therapy if I am laying all this out in this forum. I'll end with wondering if I should care.

Ah-hah! That’s a splendid summation of the writing life. Or at least I think it is. I wouldn’t really know because I’m not a writer, but it’s pretty-much how I imagined the writing life to be, which is why I have a regular job (if there is such a thing).

When did it go from being a passion to being just plain hard work? Or did it? Is some of the passion still there? Does the passion get pushed to the background? Do you have to sell your soul to the devil to make a living at it?

Jeez, I’m starting to sound like Macaulay Culkin in Uncle Buck: “I’m a kid; it’s my job to ask questions.”

Here's another quote that just popped into my head for some strange reason: "Why...does jury-duty... pay more...than my regular job?" --Steve Martin

As for therapy - P'tooey! I mean, you know, unless you really need it.

Well, I am not sure about most people, but for me writing is a passion. I have been writing now since I was 11 years old and have had quite a few rejections (to say the least) I can actually get downhearted at times, but I continue to write. I love it so much. I think in my case however, it allows me to escape the reality of life. It also allows me to say what I want, when I want and how I want. I'm not necessarily a good writer, but a story teller. My literary skills are to be desired. But that is not what I write for. I write for stories/tales. I have a story to tell and everyone move out of the way because I am going to tell it. Whether anyone can understand my average literary skills, is another story... (Get it - another story, ok, so comedy is not my forte.)

After reading the first four posts, I'm glad to find I'm not the only one vomiting on my computer and finishing the work only to find it a wreck of overly used words and senseless rantings about things we know nothing about!
That being said, my writing week has been the equivalent of a puppy running full-boar on the ice and deciding at the last minute I want to turn around.

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Originally Posted by Jozanny

Mmm, if I ever need to file a schedule C then I know who to turn to :rolleyes:. Once upon a time I did need to file a schedule C but my contractor went out of business, nine years ago, and I loved them.

When I had traditional employment, I almost could not write, and between 01 and 04 I suppose I was in a significant depression because I could not cope with a serious rupture between myself and a former supervisor, but I still earned. 05 through 08 I am not sure how I survived, but achieved one significant byline.

Now I am emotionally and physically worn out, and need money and know what my odds are, since I don't know any contractors that I am aware of who'd I feel an affinity with to approach for a contract, and I do not have enough really good bylines to aim for anything salaried. Still, for me I am pushing as best I can, although I fear The New Republic. They have the sole honor of being the one magazine where I applied for a job, and to my shock they treated me with respect, at the time, but because I am afraid of them I did not aim for the column I thought was my best shot, though I am angling for a blog slot. I just cannot work as fast as I want to anymore, but I am trying for one pitch a week, and slowly returning to the literary circuit.

But I can no longer dream. I know too much, how damn hard it is, and how little technical skill or access to sources I have. The one major mistake I made when I really got my break was not keeping a source list. Writers who are actually published don't live on the ether of their reputation, and most fans make that mistake about us, which is why I keep my distance when mine have sought attention.

I must still need therapy if I am laying all this out in this forum. I'll end with wondering if I should care.

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It sounds like you need a good break. I hope you can have one.

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Originally Posted by skib

After reading the first four posts, I'm glad to find I'm not the only one vomiting on my computer and finishing the work only to find it a wreck of overly used words and senseless rantings about things we know nothing about!
That being said, my writing week has been the equivalent of a puppy running full-boar on the ice and deciding at the last minute I want to turn around.

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Hey skib... By the sounds of this ^ post, looks like you write comedy.:nod:

I have tried to write something this week but all to no avail for the reason that I had hectic moments and so many other things occupied my mind. Office work is oftentimes is really occupying and tiresome and with hectic work schedule and lots of assignment it is really hard to kind of devote to writing at all.

And as such this week has been a week of un-productivity speaking through a creative standpoint. But I between tight schedules composed some verses and versification is really a very exciting job that kind of gives lots of excitement.
Creativity has been totally a thing of entertainment to me and cannot delight in other things so intensely compared with creativity in point of fact.

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Originally Posted by Maryd.

Hey skib... By the sounds of this ^ post, looks like you write comedy.:nod:

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hehe . . . I try, anyway! Sometimes it pays off having an awkward sense of humor.

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Originally Posted by Paulclem

It sounds like you need a good break. I hope you can have one.

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Poverty in England is treated much differently than it is here. Your prime minister John Major comes to mind as someone who benefited through how Britain constructed its safety net. In the US, poverty is punished, especially if disability is coupled with it. An example would be say a mother of three earns 100 dollars baking sweet potato pie. Her food stamps would be cut, so she learns taking any kind of initiative will hurt her.

I've dealt with this bipolar insanity inherent in US socialism all my life, and so no, I don't have the resources to stop and go see my brother for a few days. His house doesn't have the tools I would need, and I don't feel like paying for them since I gave him a loan when he lost his job.

Had been having a crap week ever since losing all my work and I've only written one poem. I've been working on a screenplay though :D

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Originally Posted by DanielBenoit

Had been having a crap week ever since losing all my work and I've only written one poem. I've been working on a screenplay though :D

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Well kid, since I am sort of your unofficial litnet mentor:eek2:, learn something from an old fool. Prep yourself for a good career, seriously. It isn't that I didn't work, I did, but what I did wrong was not take career planning seriously. I should have listened to my father, but I was obstinate and passionate and going to be a great poet and all that.

I suppose, if I do not want to be too hard on myself, that when I am *on* or in the zone, I am a not bad confessional poet who knows her good points well enough, but I have never been financially secure, ever. I have been upper middle class; I've been destitute; I was a career professional who crashed and burned, and right now I am hanging on to my economic self-determination by my fingernails.

I cannot return to fieldwork, and trying to get accredited to teach would be unrealistic. So all I have right now is that I've been a competent journalist in conjunction with the literary publishing. You will not have my problems, I'm not saying that, but there is no glory in calling yourself a writer. Very few earn a decent living at it, and it also takes luck, and that is an unknown variable.

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Originally Posted by Jozanny

Well kid, since I am sort of your unofficial litnet mentor:eek2:,

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Lol
I am honored :D

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learn something from an old fool. Prep yourself for a good career, seriously. It isn't that I didn't work, I did, but what I did wrong was not take career planning seriously. I should have listened to my father, but I was obstinate and passionate and going to be a great poet and all that.

I suppose, if I do not want to be too hard on myself, that when I am *on* or in the zone, I am a not bad confessional poet who knows her good points well enough, but I have never been financially secure, ever. I have been upper middle class; I've been destitute; I was a career professional who crashed and burned, and right now I am hanging on to my economic self-determination by my fingernails.

I cannot return to fieldwork, and trying to get accredited to teach would be unrealistic. So all I have right now is that I've been a competent journalist in conjunction with the literary publishing. You will not have my problems, I'm not saying that, but there is no glory in calling yourself a writer. Very few earn a decent living at it, and it also takes luck, and that is an unknown variable.

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Yeah I know what you mean and I'll take your advice to heart. Since most writers live on scraps and do need a real source of income, I've decided that independent filmmaking is an appropriate choice; a means of some income, while not compromising my artistic endevors. Whatever my means of income, I just don't want to end up having a job which pays, but does not allow me to express my creative ends.

I haven't written anything except a couple of posts this week but I've thought about some things. I have been in hibernation for so long. But I've decided to try my hand at something again. Don't know what just yet. Maybe a short story or maybe expanding a short I already have. But I do vow to visit daily, well at least on my days off, and hopefully get some inspiration from the wonderful writers here.

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Originally Posted by DanielBenoit

Since most writers live on scraps and do need a real source of income, I've decided that independent filmmaking is an appropriate choice; a means of some income, while not compromising my artistic endevors.

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Isn't independent filmmaking and writing in the same predicament? How does one pay oneself a regular paycheck while filming all day without knowing if anyone will buy the film? Perhaps the production is backed by an angel investor, venture capitalist, or a big fat trust fund?

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Originally Posted by Haunted

Isn't independent filmmaking and writing in the same predicament? How does one pay oneself a regular paycheck while filming all day without knowing if anyone will buy the film? Perhaps the production is backed by an angel investor, venture capitalist, or a big fat trust fund?

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That is true, but filmmaking certainly pays more than writing would, even though there is plently of money to go into it. Of course all of this is in the long term, one does need a regular job to start off with, until filmmaking pays enough in which it does become the equivelent to a regular job. This is something that writing can almost never do, unless you're Dan Brown or something of the like.

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Originally Posted by DanielBenoit

That is true, but filmmaking certainly pays more than writing would, even though there is plently of money to go into it. Of course all of this is in the long term, one does need a regular job to start off with, until filmmaking pays enough in which it does become the equivelent to a regular job. This is something that writing can almost never do, unless you're Dan Brown or something of the like.

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Before selling 2 million copies of The Lost Symbol in the first week of release, before selling 80 million copies of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown had a day job — schoolteacher.

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Originally Posted by Haunted

Before selling 2 million copies of The Lost Symbol in the first week of release, before selling 80 million copies of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown had a day job — schoolteacher.

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I wasn't talking about that. I meant that if you are willing to sell out by writing cheap mystery novels, then yeah, you are going to make some money.

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Originally Posted by DanielBenoit

I wasn't talking about that. I meant that if you are willing to sell out by writing cheap mystery novels, then yeah, you are going to make some money.

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Take it easy. There's no need to attack another writer just because he is successful and writes something outside of your genre. Such an attack is also an attack on the readers, which includes some fellow Litnetters and myself.

My take is, aspiring and frustrated writers could possibly study and learn from ANY bestselling authors how they captivated millions of people. One reader can be wrong. One hundred readers can be wrong. One million readers can be wrong. But not 80 million readers.

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Originally Posted by Haunted

Take it easy. There's no need to attack another writer just because he is successful and writes something outside of your genre. Such an attack is also an attack on the readers, which includes some fellow Litnetters and myself.

My take is, aspiring and frustrated writers could possibly study and learn from ANY bestselling authors how they captivated millions of people. One reader can be wrong. One hundred readers can be wrong. One million readers can be wrong. But not 80 million readers.

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Even though this is besides the point, and getting quite off-topic; I didn't mean to offend anyone who enjoyed his novels, just not me. . . . . .

Sorry :)

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Originally Posted by Granny5

I haven't written anything except a couple of posts this week but I've thought about some things. I have been in hibernation for so long. But I've decided to try my hand at something again. Don't know what just yet. Maybe a short story or maybe expanding a short I already have. But I do vow to visit daily, well at least on my days off, and hopefully get some inspiration from the wonderful writers here.

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I can help if you like. I am not famous but do have a consistent track record and I know a great deal, and there are markets that cater to people over 50.

If it seems that I go into a mood sometimes, I am sorry that I let that come out. It is only that I have been very poor, sometimes struggling for meals, long before the 08 crash and the steep recession scarring us now, and if I become that poor again I have real problems with returning to what some of us used to know as the traditional day job; this is not just Jozanny being a lazy spastic. My state has taken away support resources I used to take for granted in order to hold a job, and I now have chronic symptoms tied to my underlying condition, so it is ironic now that I have to be the writer I always wanted to be able to call myself, and I am, but I don't know when I will find my next assignment, or my next sale, and I'm stressed.

In the online writing community I used to be in I felt excluded at times and that led to problems, but that won't happen here, as I've felt accepted pretty much in this forum, but I still have down moments now and again.:nod:

I would like to add one other thing: In terms of writing as a business model, arguing about Brown's qualities as a writer isn't what you should be looking at, but what he did to actually make himself financially successful. He no doubt had to pitch himself and his projects to more than one literary agency, secure his royalty for the sale of his copyright, and make sure his agent got him the best possible deal on the film and the screen play.

These are not easy things to do, and they need to be learned. I know this is a literature network, but as I have stressed from time to time, publishing is a business, despite Ursula K. LeGuin's protests to Poets & Writers. Your truth to your own vision has to be weighed against your ability to sell. James Joyce nearly drove his publisher for Ulysses out of business. She survived, but without her we might have been absent one Irish modernist.

Back on topic: my week has been a little hit or miss, but I am close to menopause, and have to ride this horse without estrogen therapy :rolleyes:.

Menopause! Hey, is it hot in here?

Ya ever have one of those days when everybody else on the road has decided, independently, to get in your way? I call them, ‘pull out in front of Sancho days.’ So there I am, driving along, minding my own business, cranking some Zeppelin, and enjoying a Mickey-D’s Fillet-O-Fish sandwich. The guy behind me has a small hat size and a huge diesel pickup and is visibly annoyed at my technique of driving the posted speed limit. I know this because his bumper is only inches from mine and I can see him gesticulating wildly and shouting something at me. Although he’s close enough for me to hear him, I couldn’t really make out what he was saying because, as I think I mentioned, I had some Zep going at a glorious volume. Anyway, he finds an opening, stomps the diesel, passes me, pulls in front of me (barely), and slams on his brakes. My lightning-quick reflexes, along with my Japanese antilock braking system, saved the day. Small-hat-size man checks his handy work in his rearview mirror, and so I smile and flash a peace sign – I find that works better than the other sign.

The next person to pull out in front of me was a Georgia State Trooper; I only had to brake lightly for him. So there I am, me and the fuzz, rolling down a rural two-lane. He gets to a four-way intersection and rolls through it just like everybody else does there, and so – so do I. Now I’ve got a blue light flashing in my rear view mirror and I’m thinking: ‘Hey look, I’m the meat in a cop sandwich.’ I’m also thinking: ‘I wonder if the one behind me is planning on pulling me and the one in front of me over.’ I mean, we both rolled through the same stop-sign after all.

As it turned out, he only wanted me to pull over. So my writing project for the day was writing my name on the bottom of a Georgia State Traffic Citation. Fascists!

Before my life got shot to hell, I tracked my submissions in college ruled notebooks. Name of publication, genre, date. This became harder to do as the Internet started to dominate traditional literary presses and journals, but I still use this method for submissions with traditional response times. I use red ink to write out the full submission, black ink for notations, like SS (simultaneous submission).

Before I came online I had two pages back to back of poetry, fiction and non-fiction submissions. As of this wet Sunday morning, I have all of three, and my visceral fury @ my landlord would frighten the lot of you if this forum wasn't so heavily moderated, given the extent to which they disrupted my life from point A to point B.

I have, however, been spending a good deal of time pitching to publishers who pay freelancers, so I cannot be too furious, even though I am. (I have actually decided to seek legal counsel over the conduct of this, mmm, incorporated entity which treats low income people like chattel, and reminding myself of this eases my blood pressure, ever so slightly).

Anyway, for those who are babes in the woods, a query, or pitch, is an informal term for proposing ideas to your editor or publisher. I used to do it as a contracted freelancer, and now independently. The difference between a contract freelancer and an independent one isn't much; it is sort of a way for the company which "employs" you not to have any legal obligations toward you as a salaried writer. Those of you in a salaried profession understand your employer contract provides for certain contingencies. A consultant is a different cup of tea, and that is a contract freelancer.

If I could relax, find a plateau of tranquil space, I can get back in the zone. Getting the witches that run this building fired would be an immense restorative, but one can only dream ;).

I'm having an excellent morning otherwise.

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Originally Posted by Sancho

As it turned out, he only wanted me to pull over. So my writing project for the day was writing my name on the bottom of a Georgia State Traffic Citation. Fascists!

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That's one piece of sheer entertainment right there! Totally unexpected. Thanks for a good chuckle :)

Submitting poems and fiction to the American Literary Review as well as some other smaller journals from around the country :D

Thanks again Jozanny for the links :D

Having a bad few days at the moment. 'Tis Melbourne Cup here on Tuesday, (public holiday, for a 3 minute horse race... Blah!) but as it is on a Tuesday all the schools and some employers allow everyone to have Monday off. Any excuse for a long weekend. So have had visitors and the computer has been used by everyone except me... I shouldn't complain, I do get most of the use with it, but I haven't edited any of my book for 3 days and I have itchy fingers...

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Originally Posted by Maryd.

Having a bad few days at the moment. 'Tis Melbourne Cup here on Tuesday, (public holiday, for a 3 minute horse race... Blah!) but as it is on a Tuesday all the schools and some employers allow everyone to have Monday off. Any excuse for a long weekend. So have had visitors and the computer has been used by everyone except me... I shouldn't complain, I do get most of the use with it, but I haven't edited any of my book for 3 days and I have itchy fingers...

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Maryd: Novelists most benefit from hiring a good mid-press literary agent, though I don't know of any from memory who serve Australian authors; it would be a good idea for you to think about hiring one though, if you believe in your abilities with the novel. SE Hinton was near my age 30 years ago when The Outsiders made her the beloved sensation of my upper track English teachers.

I don't know if I prefer her fate (a flash in the pan) or mine as the interminable flat foot, but hiring an agent is like much else: you research, pitch, and make sure you do your best to understand their commission, the percentage you will get off your sales, and what you are giving to the publisher. It is a good idea to reserve film rights, etc.

This stuff is daunting, even for me, but for a novelist especially. I keep up now and again about agent deals. You should start reading up too :rolleyes:.

Agents are good for novels, some non-fiction deals, and scripts, especially. You can't get anywhere near a studio without a reputable agent representing you. For journalists, poets, most freelancing situations, agents aren't really necessary.

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Originally Posted by Jozanny

Maryd: Novelists most benefit from hiring a good mid-press literary agent, though I don't know of any from memory who serve Australian authors; it would be a good idea for you to think about hiring one though, if you believe in your abilities with the novel. SE Hinton was near my age 30 years ago when The Outsiders made her the beloved sensation of my upper track English teachers.

I don't know if I prefer her fate (a flash in the pan) or mine as the interminable flat foot, but hiring an agent is like much else: you research, pitch, and make sure you do your best to understand their commission, the percentage you will get off your sales, and what you are giving to the publisher. It is a good idea to reserve film rights, etc.

This stuff is daunting, even for me, but for a novelist especially. I keep up now and again about agent deals. You should start reading up too :rolleyes:.

Agents are good for novels, some non-fiction deals, and scripts, especially. You can't get anywhere near a studio without a reputable agent representing you. For journalists, poets, most freelancing situations, agents aren't really necessary.

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Thanks for your advice Jozanny. Will keep it in mind when I am completely finished... It won't be for a while yet... Need to get the novel looked at for spelling, grammar and continuity. But am nearing the end of all that and am very excited so may have to do some research on Agents... Was seriously thinking about it anyway. So thanks once again.:nod:

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Originally Posted by Haunted

Thanks for a good chuckle :)

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Thank you for the shout-out, Haunted. How ‘bout them Yankees?

Jozanny, you paint a depressing picture. I guess I hope that the publishing business is still run mostly by lovers of literature, unlike the music business which seems to be populated mostly with lovers of money. Here’s a fun quote about that business by Gonzo:

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The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side. --Hunter S. Thompson

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Why is it that the finest things in life - art, literature, drama, and music - are also some of the hardest ways to make a living? And why is it that artists, writers, actors, and musicians - those people who see things more clearly and feel things more intensely than the rest of us – are also among the most viscous at making a buck?

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Originally Posted by Sancho

Thank you for the shout-out, Haunted. How ‘bout them Yankees?

Jozanny, you paint a depressing picture. I guess I hope that the publishing business is still run mostly by lovers of literature, unlike the music business which seems to be populated mostly with lovers of money.

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I don't mean to make it seem like an entirely joyless process. It is not, but it really isn't the way to become economically secure. If I had to live on the money I actually earned, I'd be dead, and since I am almost dead anyway that raises some interesting questions:brow:.

But I don't want to turn this into another narcissistic exercise, as I have work to do.

I will not be "leaving" litnet again, but I will be posting much less than I have been, and will begin to stay with particular reading commitments. I am too advanced for the GW forum and need to find another Speakeasy even though Speakeasy is still here (it now functions much closer to what these forums are here, young people policed by super moderator, and for an entity devoted to writing that is a shame).

A place where professional writers can talk, and WM moved theirs to WD, which is fine, but I only just started posting when they moved, so I am still trying on my boots, and staying on the lookout for others.

TC peoples!

This week has really been a very bad week, to start with. I got so much engaged in my official works and went home late night. Workload has fatigued me all the while. Of course I have some imaginations raised within me but they settled down when I could not make any use of them. I am a professional and write as my pastime. I can not finance myself by writing in my part of the globe. Here writing gives you entertainment not money. Writing cannot a profession here but a luxury and of course a kind of leisurely pursuit. I cannot be a fulltime writer. I write at weekends, on holidays only. When I write I do it passionately and intensely and I get totally lost in the world of writing and nothing on earth can distract me from writing, but the problem with me is I have little time and the amount of time at my disposals is also divided between reading and writing. I have a list of books awaiting my attention. I have started two bulky books simultaneously but am unable to complete them. In fact I do not have specific writing weeks the rest of others may have.

My writing week has been totally exceptional. I have completed editing my novel, but would still like to spend next week adding in a few fancy words here and there. Then it is off to some family for some good old fashioned, constructive criticism. Wahoo!