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Yes, it's true. This is my personal blog, so I honestly don't care if telling you about my monetary situation is in bad taste. I'm not even an adult on my own yet and bills are already killing me. This whole starving artist crap is really starting to get to me, that's for sure. I can't afford my phone bill. I can barely afford to see a CPA for my business and pay my monthly Aweber newsletter bill. I would love to buy a printer/fax machine/copier/scanner, but I know I won't be able to buy it for a while. Hell, more importantly, I need to find out how I'm supposed to pay for college and a car.
I'm trying to be a trooper about this, but it is so very hard to get a part-time job (and I'm applying everywhere. I used to have 'standards,' like I thought I would never apply to McDonald's, but now I don't care) and a stready stream of clients.
What I like the least about this starving artist thing, beside not having any money, is just that it's starting to feel like I'm doing things more and more out of a desperation for money.
Now, now, I'm not saying that I do things for money. In the business of writing and editing, that sounds greedy and like I'm undervaluing the services, but I'm not. I promise. I love editing and writing and reading and promoting. I do those things because I do them best and because they make me happy. But I really do need to start making some more money soon, somewhere, someway (legally).
On another note, my mind is still a story factory. It sucks all around that I haven't been writing fiction. I've been writing plenty of self-help nonfiction, yes, and I do enjoy it because I enjoy the idea of helping other fellow writers, but fiction is a totally different game. From the minute I wake up to the minute I sleep, stories play out in my head. Characters, new and old, talk to me. I smile at scenes as though they were memories. I zone out and cease to exist as nothing but a storyteller.
So, basically, right now I'm a 'poser' writer, but I at least wanted to make it clear that I have NOT given up. Here's a hilarious song and a depressing song. Enjoy!
I'm trying to be a trooper about this, but it is so very hard to get a part-time job (and I'm applying everywhere. I used to have 'standards,' like I thought I would never apply to McDonald's, but now I don't care) and a stready stream of clients.
What I like the least about this starving artist thing, beside not having any money, is just that it's starting to feel like I'm doing things more and more out of a desperation for money.
Now, now, I'm not saying that I do things for money. In the business of writing and editing, that sounds greedy and like I'm undervaluing the services, but I'm not. I promise. I love editing and writing and reading and promoting. I do those things because I do them best and because they make me happy. But I really do need to start making some more money soon, somewhere, someway (legally).
On another note, my mind is still a story factory. It sucks all around that I haven't been writing fiction. I've been writing plenty of self-help nonfiction, yes, and I do enjoy it because I enjoy the idea of helping other fellow writers, but fiction is a totally different game. From the minute I wake up to the minute I sleep, stories play out in my head. Characters, new and old, talk to me. I smile at scenes as though they were memories. I zone out and cease to exist as nothing but a storyteller.
So, basically, right now I'm a 'poser' writer, but I at least wanted to make it clear that I have NOT given up. Here's a hilarious song and a depressing song. Enjoy!
Yeah, I hear you on the money thing. We still struggle no matter how hard we work! I've had to get to the point sometimes just to say no to things that are too much work and don't bring in enough compensation so I can focus on other things.
I hope things look up! I've had a lot of jobs in my life ot bring in money and survive. One of them was a janitor at a school. The most important thing is to not ever, ever be ashamed of work!
Hey! I remember this layout! Seems like a really long time ago, though. :| Haha.
Whenever I hear you talk about money, I feel so bad because I feel like I should be donating. (That reminds me--I submitted to Honest Crits for revisions to The Soul. I don't know if you;ve gotten that notification or not yet, but it's been like a week, and I was wondering if I did it right.) But right when I was at the perfect position to hand out like 100 bucks without harming me funds, I went and bought a fucking car (and insurance and took out a loan) so that got kinda nixed. Haha I suck.
But anyway I hope things'll get better for you. I know it takes time (before I joined the Army, I tried applying EVERYWHERE and I even applied to some places multiple times--that whole "persistence" thing--and NOTHING worked). Sometimes, it takes just plain old good luck. I really don't know how some people did it. -.-'
Michelle: Yeah, I remember when I'd do loads of free things, but now? Not so much. I actually don't think I'd mind being a janitor somewhere. Stephen King had the job too, and I bet loads of other writers. It somehow seems like a good job to think about other things while working. When I'm cleaning, I'm always thinking about a story. Thanks for commenting!
Sierra: Yeeep, I went back to this old one. That old one, while really cool, was slow to load on some computers and sometimes hard to read for people. So I just decided, "What the hell, might as well regress to the old design. I liked that one."
Thanks for telling me you sent in the notification! Yeah, you used the form right. This was an error on either my e-mail or the form's part. I went hunting for your notification and found yours, and someone else's, in the data tab on the form's site. And all this time I thought no one would ever fill that editing form out! I'll get to both this week.
Anyway, no, I'm actually really happy that you were finally able to get your car. I'm still working on the license. Got about 45 more hours of practice to go, but I drive on my own all the time these days. The fact that you've bought an edit from me in the past and will be getting another edit soon is pretty much the same as donating in my eyes anyway.
Yeah, I had to use money from my business to pay for my phone bill, a total no-no in my eyes. I can't afford to get my phone turned off. This is hiring season around here. If someone calls me while my phone is off, I will lose it. But I've applied everywhere around here. Did some follow-up calls. Now it's just the waiting game. I'll keep trying, but I'm honestly starting to feel like this getting a job thing is hopeless.