editing – Page 6 – Eileen Troemel

NO MORE HOMEWORK!!!

March 17, 2012 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

I wish this was a cry of completion but it isn’t. I’m just tired of working on homework. For Fiction Writing, I’ve read, done the critique and written a letter for each of the three stories we had to read. I realized that the letters we have to write are very similar to the letters in Book Editing we have to write – only in Book editing it is only one (thankfully).

I helped a class mate out by editing her paper, a sister out by discussing her paper, and I’ve played on Facebook – had to or go insane. I still have an assignment for Book editing to do, read the rest of Chapter 9 which was due last week, and edit my two stories for Fiction Writing that I have to turn in for the final. One of them is nearly there I think. The other one is not.

Today while it is a beautiful record high temperature outside with beautiful blue skies with puffy white clouds, I’ve been sitting at my laptop in my office working on homework. I have transcribing to do and numbers to work on for budget stuff. All I really want to do is take a nap.

I got a rejection and an acceptance this week for my writing. It is nice that it balanced out. Usually it’s just rejections. I have to get those noted on my spreadsheet.

Ken has been VERY busy in the kitchen working on a project. I can’t wait till it is done as I think it will improve the storage in the kitchen / dining room. Vicki has been busy too. Sasha has been napping and I just punished her by waking her up and rubbing her belly. She didn’t seem overly punished though as she grabbed on to my hand and licked it while I rubbed…

Good Things!

February 22, 2012 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

The transcription job went well and I’ve been asked to do more. This is wonderful. I also got a new inquiry for what sounds like a very interesting job. I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get that job as well. It might be longer term and a good bit of money.

I did have one concern because it is for the university I work for. I asked my boss about it but she said it isn’t in my job description to do what they are asking so I can do it as a consulting job with no qualms about crossing any lines.

In other news – (that sounds so official) I got two of the required classes waived. After talking to one of my professors, I realized two of my classes I’d already done the work for them in my work, education, and writing life. I sent along a professional, detailed letter to the chair of our department. I got notified today that she will be waiving the two classes I wanted waived! This means I can either finish a semester earlier or I can take two additional classes that might get me further in my goals.

My new blog got published today again. Check it out. There are some great pictures there. I’m really proud of this blog and the pictures. Okay I know they aren’t professional looking pictures but I took them and for the most part they look really good. http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/green-gardening/gardening-with-a-black-thumb-how-to-arrange-silk-flowers.aspx

It has been a bonus day!

Shout out to all my international readers – Germany beat out even my US readers so guten Abend and danke (that is probably the most I remember from my failed attempt at learning German – i.e. 1 semester of college German)

More Lists

September 24, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

It’s the weekend and I’d love to just kick back and relax. That isn’t going to happen. I’ve decided to start doing editing on the side. This weekend is my time to get the paperwork in place that I feel I need. I’ve a bunch of decisions to make like naming my company and how I want my stuff to look.

After I get that done, I have a list of homework to do including a quiz I’m pretty sure I am not sure I understand the information for plus several chapters to read, a poem to edit, a story to edit and submit.

We have a housewarming party to go to. That will be fun. I’m looking forward to that. It will be my down time for the weekend. Plus Vicki got from the library our favorite BBC series. It is the last season they made of this series so that has to be watched before it goes back to the library. She also found the Ellery Queen series. Ken loved that show. It was quite good and I’d really like to see those but this is sadly low on my priority list.

I did watch Monarch on the Glen last night with Vicki. For part of the time I crocheted but then a cat invaded me and decided I was kitty bed.

We are going to Georgia next weekend so I have to get my stuff organized for that. Clothes, bags, and what I’m taking with and what I can leave behind. On top of all of these things it is a pay week with all the pay week errands.

Looks like I need to make a to-do list so I can stay on track of what needs to get done and by when…

Rejection

June 8, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

By the time I was done on Sunday I’d submitted over thirty poems and articles. So far one short story has been rejected and five poems have been rejected. About a sixth of them total have been blown up.

I’m bummed sort of but not in a “oh my I have to stop writing” bummed. I’m just bummed that I wasn’t able to fulfill the needs of those publishers. I know the story and poems are good. It is just a matter of finding a home for them.

Still I have thirty babies out there being perused and critiqued. It feels good to put them out there. Even if they are all rejected, I can at least say I tried. What more can I do? I don’t have the funds to start my own publishing company so that all my stuff gets published. Therefore, I have to try to get published based on the whims and needs of editors and publishers.

I’ve spoken with other writers who are brilliant but fearful of trying to publish their work. My advice to them (for what it’s worth) is to do it. All the publisher can do is say no. You have to trust in yourself enough to believe that your work is good enough to be published.

The first step is scary. I remember my first steps in getting published and they were terrifying but the reality is if you want to be a writer this is the avenue you have to go. A rejection is just one company’s comment that your work doesn’t fit that particular issue they are publishing. It’s like a say my poetry is a snapshot of a moment in my life. The rejection is a snapshot of the moment in which the publisher / editor read your work. It didn’t fit the needs of that moment.

If you get a rejection say okay and move forward. Put that piece back in your pile of work and look for a new home for it. Keep trying. Eventually you will find a home for it. If your message, your writing is engaging then keep at it. Eventually someone will see the value in it and publish it.

Editing…

May 7, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

For a long while I’ve been working on editing a manuscript. I’ve spent a lot of time just rereading and tightening up the story. Tonight (or should I say this morning really) I spent an hour putting those edits into the file. I got four chapters done.

It felt like no time passed at all. How can something so simple be so enjoyable? I know this makes me a geek. I’m embracing my geek.

When I finished off the editing part, I said now I just have to put it in the electronic version and make a chapter summary. Well I’m doing both at once. I have my spreadsheet open to summarize the chapters, including keeping a word count.

The romance genre publishers look for manuscripts about 50,000 – 75,000 words long. Mine manuscript was at 100,000 plus. I’ve got it below 94,000. I have a long way to go. However, I decided I wasn’t going to dump large chunks before I did the chapter summary.

I’ve only worked through 4 chapters but there may be a whole chapter I can get rid of. This will be about 650 words. If I’m looking for big chunks than this might be one place to do it. I’m hoping this weekend I can get a lot of this editing and summarizing done.

The next step – at least in my mind – is to save the longer version. With a copy of it take and hack the heck out of it. When I’m done, see how the story tells itself. If it still makes sense then get rid of it and hope I’m more in the range for the genre. I’ll have to see how it goes….

Three Day Weekend!!!

April 22, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

Three days off in a row! This means I get to enjoy the weekend right? Nope. Tomorrow is errand day as it is pay week. Now mostly I just do the driving and Vicki runs the errands but still it takes time. I also have my second round of shots tomorrow. This is good and not so good. Hurts like the dickens but helps so much it is worth the pain.

I have to say that I had my first shot last Friday and I’m already noticing an improvement. This is a huge encouragement to going forward with the next two shots. My knees haven’t locked up at night once this past week. They still hurt and the weather still bothers them a lot but I can SLEEP without pain.

After the shots I’ll be pretty much recliner bound. I am hoping to talk the hubby into doing a rotisserie chicken on Saturday. That will be really nice because we can have one meal on the whole bird fresh off the grill and a second meal off the left over chicken in a wrap or quesadilla.

I have 45 pages left in a manuscript to edit. After I get the changes in the computer I want to see how large it is. I want to pair it down a lot so the next step is to look at each chapter and determine how vital it is to the entire story. This is where I am bad because I want to tell a well-rounded story and everything seems vital. I’m going to have to shift my mindset though and work hard at it.

There is a point in this particular story that I really like the book but there are parts in the beginning that I just think are rough – even though I’ve edited it LOTS. That is where my red pen will be used a LOT (well okay it is a pink pen but still…)

Vicki mentioned something about baking this weekend and wanting help. I keep telling her I don’t know how to bake but she doesn’t believe me. I guess I’ll help her with the baking. I think my faculty will be the ones benefiting from it.

Seems like a full weekend. I wonder if it will all get done….

School… very possibly…

April 21, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

This has been on my mind for a while now. I’ve actually filled out a lot of paperwork and am moving forward with going back to school. I have sent in my financial aid forms and my application. I don’t know if I will get enough to go or get accepted to the college. I don’t know if I really want to be the old lady in the classes. I’ll be looking at a second and possibly a third bachelor’s degree in English Writing and English Book Publishing and Editing.

Here’s what I do know. I want to learn more. I want to fine tune my writing and editing skills. I’d like to be a better writer. Will it help me to get published? I haven’t a clue. I’ll have to take at least two classes (6 credits) to be considered part time. When I look at the schedule of classes though, I want to take eight or ten of them. This of course would be WAY more than a full load.

Here I am 47 years old and considering going back to school. This almost seems foolish. I’m not getting a degree that will further my ability to make money in my day job. It might help with my writing business but there is no certainty about it.

There are tax advantages to going to school. I’ll get a tax credit for being a part time student. If I wanted to I could defer my student loans (not going to happen I don’t think).

I think between the two degrees there are about 14 – 18 classes I would have to take. If I take two classes a semester, it will take 7-9 semesters which is about four years. If I get student loans I could put money aside and take summer classes which would decrease the amount of time I would be in school.

Then there is the social factor. I’m not all that interested in the socializing or even the group work of going to school. I think this is the part that worries me the most. It is hard for me to think about being in classes with a lot of other people. I have to try to remember names and get along with everyone. I’m not sure at this stage in my life I want to play nice with others.

I have a lot to think about before I make my decision. There is still information I need. I have to finish off my application process. I have to see about financial aid. There is a lot to do and what if after all this work I don’t get accepted or get the money needed? Will I be disappointed? Am I crazy?

Night Words

March 29, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

Last night I made a point of going to bed early (for me) because I have a cold and feel pretty lousy. I lay in bed trying to sleep. Words tumbled through my head with a repetitiveness that I knew would mean I would not get to sleep early. I lay there listening to my thoughts hoping that the words would leave and I could sleep.

You would think after all these years of writing I would know when to just give in and get up. The repetitiveness of them should have been a clue because I couldn’t stop repeating certain phrases. I know other writers tell me they keep a pad of paper by the bed but that doesn’t work for me. For one thing, it would disturb my husband if I were to sit up and turn on a light to write this down.

I tossed and turned for quite some time before I finally got out of bed annoyed with myself for not being able to turn my brain off. It is funny how I can lay in the dark with my eyes closed, trying to relax and empty my mind enough to sleep but I won’t sleep.

The interesting thing is I got up and wrote a long poem about a true moment and didn’t think it particularly good. I zipped it off to one of the people who reads for me, as she usually gives me objective feedback. So did I then go to bed? No, because for some odd reason the words excite me and rev me up. I have to go through my shut down routine all over again. This involves checking email and a whole odd nightly routine that I must do. By the time I was done, it was nearly 11:30. Not early anymore and I’m not getting extra rest like I need.

The good thing though, now the words were out and written. I fell into bed and almost immediately fell asleep. Somehow getting those words on paper allowed me to settle the chaos in my head enough so I could sleep.

This morning I get up to read an email from my friend. I am slightly concerned it will be a commentary on how completely awful my poem was. Yes even I have doubts about my work sometimes. There is an email and she loved it. It is a relief that the forceful words weren’t just a jumble of twaddle and make sense to someone other than my warped mind.

Creative vs Business

February 19, 2011 by eileentroemel, posted in Uncategorized

And now for a slight break from the drama and stress of politics…

Writing is a dual process. You have to be creative to create the product but you also have to be business minded to market your work. The creative side sort of takes care of itself in my mind. There are times I sit down and say – let’s try something new. I’ll pull out my poetry book and try a new type of poem. Or I’ll go to a publication I don’t normally write for and try their style. Flash writing for me is quite the challenge. I LOVE words so I’m not likely to tell you there is a blue sky. I’m going to tell you about the clear cerulean endless expanse dotted with puffy billowy white clouds. Flash writing is typically a very small number of words – 500 or less is very common.

Marketing and the business side of writing is a bit more difficult. You have to find the places that publish the work you produce. Then you have to follow their guidelines (don’t bother sending if you aren’t following them). After an interminable amount of time you find out whether they accept your work or not.

You also have to put your creative self away when you get the notice because most of the time it is NO. They don’t tell you why – they just say no. You have to have a thick skin here because I’ve had rejections from sweet and kind to completely bitchy. One of the things you have to realize is that in a magazine there is a limited number of spaces they fill. If it is a big publication maybe ten, for these ten slots, they get hundreds (perhaps even thousands) of submissions. You are one very small submission. Your article, story, poem – whatever – may have been perfectly lovely but there were a lot of other ones that were just as lovely. The lesson here is “do not take it personally”. It is just a business decision. Move to the next publication that fits the item. Keep trying – even if it seems hopeless.

The problem here is there are only a finite number of hours in the day. If you are like me – you have a day job, family and other obligations. Sleep is important… I guess. You have to find a balance between your writing tasks. For me this is one of the hardest things to do. Sometimes I’m just in the mood to write and to hell with everything else. I just want to work on what I want to work on. I don’t want to deal with the editing, marketing, etc.

This means time management is a key skill to employ. It is one I’m still working on. One thing I do is when I have very limited time, rather than start writing when I’m not going to want to stop, I’ll work on those marketing tasks, editing tasks and so on. If I’ve only got an hour, I’ll look at my submission guidelines and try to find a piece that will fit without me having to write. If there is one then I work to make it fit the guidelines. If there isn’t one – I put it in my to do pile (which is WAY too big).

I have a day job so my breaks / lunch time activities sometimes include editing and other writing activities. Because it is a shared break room I often end up doing more of the business side of the writing during this time. I try to make the most of my time but really there are just times I want to be a veggie and hit my recliner…