A new gig and other things July 13, 2008

Last week I started a new job.  Well, more like a new old job.  I’ve taken a position as a survey coordinator with a former employer.  I have the distinct pleasure of working again with a group of people that I respect and like.  There are some new faces, of course, but overall it’s a great group and I’m happy to be back with them.  The downside is I haven’t written for my blog since starting my new job until now.  I have been writing, however.  Check out The Writer’s Resource Center and see all my long comments to John Hewitt’s latest series on becoming a technical writer.  He’s using a new style that I think is working very well.  He ends his post with a few questions, and that’s what does me in.  Although I’m not a technical writer, John and I apparently have enough work experience in common that I can’t help but write essays in responding to his questions.  I hope he doesn’t get tired of hearing from me

John’s new series and my new job are leading to me rethink this blog.  I want to stay focused on writing, but I don’t want to just rehash what everyone else in the blogosphere is saying about writing.  My new old job is in the field of public health, and I think there’s a lot to say about that field.  In particular, how to write about public health:

• how to write reports that may have a widely diverse audience (general public as well as public health professionals)
• how to integrate public health statistics in a way meaningful to the lay person
• when and how to use graphics, figures, and tables
• how to decide on what public health topics to write about

If you work in the public health field, or have an interest in public health, please leave a comment or email me directly with any suggestions you might have for my blog.

And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Guest bloggers at the Writer’s Resource Center June 2, 2008

John Hewitt of the Writer’s Resource Center is on hiatus for a few weeks and has engaged a great group of bloggers to fill in for him. One of that great group is . . . yours truly I am thrilled to be listed among some phenomenal bloggers. For a full list, click here. John has also challenged us to see who will generate the most comments, so please visit his blog every day and participate in our discussions about writing! (Of course, you should already be visiting his blog every day, but think of our challenge as giving you extra incentive.)

The month of guest bloggers is off to a great start with writer and editor Lillie Ammann’s post Get Rid of Ugly Wordiness: How to Cut Your Novel Down to Size. She provides five critical editing steps that apply to short stories as well as to novels.

Blogging is fun! May 22, 2008

My most favorite blogger, John Hewitt, has a delightful post about why he loves blogging more than freelancing. He gives five reasons: (1) he doesn’t have to send out query letters; (2) he can write about whatever he wants; (3) he doesn’t have to answer to an editor; (4) he can get published when he wants to be; and (5) he gets to connect with readers. Read his full post here or click on the RSS feed at the right-hand sidebar and keep up on his posts.

For me, the freedom of blogging is a double-edged sword: it does free me to write whatever I want, but it also takes time away from working on my stories and novel. I have a day job which definitely limits the amount of time I have to write. I often feel guilty (in fact, I feel guilty right now) when I spend time working on a post that no one may read or comment on, time that I could be spending on revising a short story, editing my novel, or brainstorming another story idea.

But I keep blogging because it is fun. Like John, I enjoy seeing my words published without having to go through gatekeepers. And it is still writing. No matter what, I am still writing.

How do you all feel about blogging, if you have your own blog? What drives you to blog? What keeps you blogging? How many of you have day jobs that leave you with precious little time to write? How do you persevere?