I have a possible lead on some volunteer work for kids with cerebral palsy. A lady who has a son with CP has been asked to write a book about the challenges of her life, and she needs a ghost writer. My girlfriend whose little boy also has CP has mentioned me, and the woman said she is going to get in touch with me. Fingers crossed.
NaNoWriMo: Less Than Two Weeks Away
I finally wrote the synopsis for my novel I'm going to write for NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. It took me a while to decide to do it. I guess because it's up there and so many people will see it! Oh Lord! What a thought (sarcasm). It's very easy to write a blog or write stories or write anything, for that matter, including a novel, when no one will see it but you. It's a lot harder when it's something a lot of people are probably going to see. That makes it more important, more essential, especially in the eloquence department.
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| Image courtesy sxc.hu/svilen2_theauthor2 http://efffective.com |
When I post my synopsis on NaNo, it's there, for all the world to see, and that means it's official. The novel is being born. It's in the conception stage, but soon we will be a beaming mama-to-be of a bright, shiny new novel. It's terrifying. It's not so scary when you're sitting on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night so you won't disturb your husband who has to be at work in a couple of hours, and you're scribbling hurried notes in your metallic yellow reporters' pad, using your super-special University of Alabama pen.
It's not so scary when you're picking out this year's super-duper new 'Notebook for NaNo' and your pen that will be the ticket to fame and fortune. It's not so scary when you're getting together all the stuff you'll surely be able to put to use this year until you eventually throw all that crap back in your office and use a Bic pen and a legal pad and your laptop. When it gets to be Bic pen and legal pad and laptop time, it starts getting scary.
Scary is when the count-down clock on the NaNo site tells you there are less than two weeks to make your final plans for notes. Scary is when the die on 'Dice City Roller' keep screaming at you it's time to get off your butt and start that outline, that the notes you've written won't put themselves in order. Scary is your office whispering every time you walk by, "You've been nesting for three weeks now, and I'm all cleaned out, and straightened up, and set to your liking, and now you have to admit you're avoiding me." (Of course now that the husband has discovered a new civilization game and is taking up his own corner of the office and yells every five seconds, "Look, baby, look at the smoke coming out of the smoke stack of my level 9 houses!", it's very hard to concentrate, so there's a good excuse.)
The news will have to be turned off, children turned away, dinner turned over to the husband and the phone turned to silent. It must happen. I have done it three years in a row now, and I've never won, and this on my BUCKET LIST. It must happen. There must be no fear, there must be no hesitation. I cannot continue to ask my husband if it is a month-long waste of time, knowing he's only going to tell me, "No, this year you are going to finish, all fifty-thousand words, and you're going to write a novel, and people are going to want to read it." So I have to quit fishing for encouragement, and just repeat the same things to myself I do every year at this time, that, "...it's almost time, it's almost time, it's almost here..." and get ready. That's it.
She's Baaa-ack. Again. Yeah, again.
Well, for those of you reading this who have been hammering away at this writing life as I have, you know I have just made the understatment of the century. The work it took to get here should not be diminished by my nonchanlance, I suppose. It's just very hard not to sit back and grin. I am by no means the next Jackie Collins, or on my way to work for the Post, but it's nice to be able to sit back and say, "I'm a writer."
I love to tell people I have not seen in some time I am a freelance writer. Most people give me this look that says, "Wow. I wasn't aware you can read." I love to then say, "Yes, a real one. That gets paid. Money. For writing," which is usually how far I get before they stop looking astounded. Let's hope I have enough time to stick with the blog for a while. I get tired of disappointing myself.
And, as always, I like to make muhself laugh with the song.
Later.
Freelance Writers: Photo, Logo or Gravatar?
I have recently been asked several times whether or not it's best to use your personal photo, a gravatar or a logo on professional profiles and such. When I first began freelancing online, I used a head shot of myself, and not a very good one, for that matter. When I established myself as a business entity, I had a logo designed and now I use it as exclusively as possible. There are pros and cons for either side.
The pros for using your personal photo:
It makes your business dealings and writing more personal. Readers have a face to put with the work, and it gives an added insight into the essence of your writing.
It could possibly distinguish you, especially if you have a Image courtsey sxc.hu/saivann common name.
I guess if you're hot, life will go about like it does for pretty people, and you'll probably at least get extra views.
If you become a famous writer, someone might come up to you on the street and rip your clothes off and cry in your face.
The cons:
If you become a famous writer, someone might come up to you on the street and rip your clothes off and cry in your face.
It totally removes your privacy. If you get a crazy client they might come after you.
If you're ugly people might not want to hire you. We all hope anyone would have enough integrity not to even give such a notion any credence, however we all know they're out there, especially when it comes to on-site work.
The pros for a logo or gravatar:
You maintain more of your privacy.
It looks more professional. Check out my logo. It is the same logo I use anytime I can, no matter what I'm doing, if I'm promoting my business. It is my hope the world over will come to know 'The Quill'.
You don't have to update your logo as you would a picture, to keep up with the times or your age. You can't very well have your high school graduation picture going around as your professional photo if you are thirty. You have to keep changing your personal photo if you publicize your age.
If you do keep your publicity photo current, you advertise your age. Whether you like it or not, your age is going to work against you from time to time, whether young or old. Depending on what genre you are writing for, or what type of business, you may run into age discrimination. This could possibly be avoided by a logo.
The cons:
You lose some measure of the intimacy you wish to build with your readers. Some readers won't see an actual person behind the piece of writing, rather a company or corporate presence.
Unless you are into graphic design or at least fairly handy with some photo shop type program, you may have to have a logo designed, for which you will most likely have to pay. When you purchase a logo, it's yours.
A gravatar can be so generic that it literally is like that belonging to someone else. As in, the actual gravatar other use. Many sites that offer gravatars for commentators use the same one unless a specific image is specified. Even the sites that allow you to choose your gravatar usually have a bare minimum of choices, so you will no doubt have the same gravatar as many of the other members. Not exactly the best way make your work stand out.
So, what is your preferred method? Do you use a personal photo or a logo or gravatar? Do you use a gravatar in some places and your photo in others? Join in the conversation and tell us your chosen method for representing your presence online.
