Accepting Submissions, Theory of Blogging (seriously), and Squirrel Patrol

Three things (which is huge because lately I've had exactly nothing).

1. The amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh posted information about the submission guidelines for the Licking River Review today. I am the new fiction editor. If you are interested in submitting some work to get published, the link to the guidelines is here: Licking River Review Submission Guidelines. If you do submit, please leave a comment so I know to expect it.

2. I am finishing up a graduate level Composition Theory class. Stay with me here because this is all about us. I am reading an article on blogging as a genre. I'm sure there are lots of articles out there about blogging, but this is a complex, theoretical, and very long and exhaustive paper on blogging from a theoretical perspective. If you're into that sort of thing, you will find it hilarious that Foucault and Elbow were brought into the discussion. Some of it is enlightening, some is out of date (written in 2002), and some is essentialistic in the way it tries to sum up categories of blogs and experiences of bloggers and reasons why we do it. The funny thing is they are accusing us of being just like those people that put themselves on reality shows - apparently we are a bunch of exhibitionists. I think they got it wrong - even in 2002.

3. I am working on my back porch because I am on squirrel patrol. My handyman took off my back door and went to the hardware store with my house wide open. If a squirrel (or worse - one of those crazed suburban possums that have been seen walking around my neighborhood like zombies during the day) gets in my house, I'm going to need to live in a hotel until someone catches it. My hands are freezing, but it's really nice out here. I should buy myself some gloves and work outside more often.

Error on Blogger Dashboard

Wow. Blogger isn't working right now that my computer decided to update itself to IE11.  I get an error every time I open the dashboard, and it's working oddly (i.e., not working) at other times as well.  That's not the Wow part - that happens, right? - no big deal to set compatibility mode. When I did that, I got a blank white screen, which was somewhat worse....

When I checked the error reports for Blogger it turns out they know it's a problem and don't care. They recommend using a different browser. I recommend using different blogging software. I used to be a web developer, and I have to tell you it's just not that difficult to make a web page work for all browsers.

I am super annoyed.  And I just don't love Wordpress. Any other suggestions?

Tonja

IWSG - July, 2013

I definitely have lost my energy to keep blogging.  When my alarm went off this morning, I asked myself if it mattered if I write this post.  I heard a few of your voices hollering out, "Of course it matters!"  I thought I should just email Alex and ask him to take me off the list.

The fact is I've been exhausted lately and have had a hard time finding the time energy to work on my current WIP. 

I took some time off from blogging to work on my novel and lost most of you, which makes me question whether the time I've spent on this was worth it at all. 

If I have to choose one thing to do, writing my novel or blogging, it has to be writing.

If I have to choose spending time with my kids over writing, my kids will always win.

But my kids know I need to finish my novel (this one and the others) and get it just right.  They get my compulsion to do it. 

Today, I will find some time to work on my WIP, but that's all I can do today.

Writing About Your Passions

Alex at http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/ gave me some great advice in a comment he left on one of my posts where I mused about whether I should have a set format for my blog.  He said to write what I'm passionate about.  If you write about your passions, people will want to read. 

For the new year, I have lots of goals, not resolutions exactly, more like a project plan for the next year.  I definitely want to revamp my blog and create more of a set format while keeping Alex's advice in mind.

Another idea that entered my mind while I was cleaning my desk and organizing the two-foot high stack of partially written manuscripts was: 

I'd like to make some money this year. 

Yikes.  The idea of writing for money instead of writing because I love it changes everything...and it put me into a state of anxiety that lasted about 24 hours.  The anxiety is gone (well, mostly), but the decision to write professionally now instead of in the distant future - years maybe, whenever it happens, if it happens, eventually - is a deal changer.  If we want to make money at this, it needs to be a business venture, not a hobby or simply a wish.

In business, sometimes luck and people we know help us achieve our goals (even goals we never imagined for ourselves) much more quickly.  In my prior career, I found myself in the right place sitting next to the right person many times over.  Part of my success was luck for running into someone that would take me farther than I intended, but the larger part was hard work.  If I was a slacker sitting next to someone that could catapult my career, I would still be where I was.  The fact is my hard work benefited them too, although I didn't see it at the time.

Back to my starting point.... For the new year, I am going to take Alex's advice and blog about my passions, but on a schedule.  On Mondays I am going to blog about being a mommy - Mommy Mondays maybe.  On Wednesdays, I plan to blog about writing, and Friday is for whatever I feel like. 

My idea for Wednesday is this:  Writing is (like) Work.  I see so many analogies to writing and 'normal' work.  For me normal work was software and database design and development that ranged from project management to end user testing and everything in the middle.  When I apply the business processes that made me successful in my past career to my writing, I am much more productive and profoundly less stressed about writing as a career.  Writing isn't magic after all, it's just hard work - and it's more than just putting words on paper. 

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year's Eve!  My tradition is to make incredibly fattening appetizers in lieu of dinner and play board games with my older kids until midnight. Unfortunately, my little guy is not fun to play games with yet; his passion is stealing the game pieces.  So he's going to bed on time...but will greet me at 2 A.M. after he has his nightly bad dream. It's hard being three.