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October 27, 2003

On October 27, 2003   /   Business/Branding Advice   /   Comments Off

I just released a negative project and it feels absolutely wonderful.

I started the project several months ago for various reasons; it was something different, it didn’t take up a lot of time, it was easy, and it paid decently. At the time I signed up for it, I was in a summer lull with my writing and decided it would be a good time to take something new and something that I could do when I wasn’t writing yet wouldn’t interfere when I got busy again.

At first, it worked out well but lately, it’s been nothing but a negative pull. With my writing picking up again, one point five million creative to do ideas and the want to only do things which benefit emotionally, financially and publicly, I decided to stop doing this project and move on.

Sometimes, stopping something I don’t want to do is easy, but sometimes, when guilt and obligation come in, it becomes difficult. This is one of the difficult ones. I don’t want to be seen as a quitter or someone who just gives up because that’s not what this is. This is about there not being any value in what I’m doing anymore and I promised myself two years ago that if I ever lost value in something I did, I wouldn’t do it anymore.

I believe that everything we do must have value, whether it be writing articles that mean something to us, designing a web site that we enjoy or working in a job that supports us. If something doesn’t have a value or benefit, then we must not do it. I firmly believe that.

A value can be as basic as, ‘this is a job that provides rent, and right now, that’s a value’ or ‘this job provides a great learning opportunity, so that is a value’ or ‘this job is getting me contacts for my future and that is a value.’ If what someone does doesn’t have value, what is the benefit?

I’ve asked myself that question with regards to this project and there isn’t a value; not financial (I make more money with other writing), not emotional (the other people’s disorganization and bad commentary are not beneficial) and not publicly (there is no helping anyone or service that I can uniquely provide). In fact, the negative energy being created by this project has taken away from the energy I could be spending in a good way on my other writing and art and that’s just not right.

So, with that, I release the project. I’ve written up a letter to inform the people involved that I will no longer be participating. And it feels good, I feel like I can breathe again and focus my energy into projects that I value instead of projects that I don’t. And that’s always the goal.

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Dec. 02, 2002

On December 2, 2002   /   Business/Branding Advice, Inspirations   /   Comments Off

I gave up reading “writing self-help” books back in June when I realised that nothing gets done by reading and talking but only by doing what works for you.

However, a few months ago I snuck one in and for me, it blew all the others out of the water. The reason? It took all the romance and dream dust out of writing and made the whole process real. Something I’ve tried to do here.

With Stephen King’s On Writing, I found myself nodding as I read, laughing at parts and squishing my brow in others. There are no dreamy words, no mention magic boxes nor is there any talk of “morning pages.” Instead, he uses every day language and sentences with words like “fart” which, surprisingly, had more impact on me than any other book filled with wistful reminiscing ever did.

Reading this book reminded to keep things real; something I sometimes forget to do when I read some of the e-mail I receive. E-mail such as, “My life sucks right now, if only I could write full-time it would be perfect!” or “I could write a novel if only I had a cabin by the sea and an uninterrupted year.” Better yet, “I would be in a state of eternal bliss if only I could wear my boa, drink tea, and write all day, every day.”

I realise with e-mails like those that I perhaps ignore some of the reality of my life. Things such as the isolation is far too much for me to bear as I learned when I chatted up the UPS man for twenty minutes one day. I don’t like to write every day in fact, if I try to write every day I don’t want to write for a month. I work on a schedule – Tuesday through Friday with weekends off – although I don’t work on a consistent time base which throws my body off kilter a lot. Sometimes I work from 11PM until 10AM for days straight; sometimes I work for only two hours each day. I don’t drink that much tea. Money matters which makes me budget everything like mad and constantly check the balance in my Microsoft Money Program. Sometimes the pressure to make money at writing takes away any of the passion I had when I didn’t have to earn a living from it. I really enjoy my life and what I get to do, but writing isn’t what I want to do for the rest of my life – as I have other ambitions such as being a vagabond again and running a bed and breakfast in France.

Writing isn’t my only passion. I wrote more when I held a three week temporary Christmas job than I did the three months previous; having all the time to write I did anything but. I have days where I feel like useless crap and don’t write anything and then suffer great guilt because of it. That is when I wish I had some papers to staple just so I would feel productive. Writing in Pajamas makes me feel frumpy instead of lucky. Writing, and working on my own terms is bloody hard work. It’s a business, something I didn’t think about when I started.

It’s easy when you’re sitting in a grey cube with a boss who wants you in at seven and out at six and a headache that matches your stress level to assume that if only you could live your dream of writing/painting/singing twenty-four seven would life truly be good. But the reality is sometimes living your dream sucks. Sometimes it’s hard, frustrating, overwhelming. Sometimes you’ll hate it just as much as if you were sitting in a pantsuit with an eight o’clock meeting. If you keep your dream in a dream state, you’ll never get anywhere because you’ll be sinking in disappointment when you get it. I’ve learned through trial and error that being real with your wants, expectations and outcomes is what makes living a dream possible.

You have to get real to make it work whether that be by just doing what you want, understanding what really happens, or using words like “fart” in your sentences.

Dreams are good to have but reality, so much better.

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June 05, 2001

On June 5, 2001   /   Business/Branding Advice   /   Comments Off

One of the steps of making my writing real is making it legal.

I have been spending the morning trying to find out how to become a legal writer with regards to taxation, copyright and trademarks. I have been trying to learn my rights and my responsibilities.

This is a little more than I anticipated – having this form to fill out and file and this fee to pay. It’s completely overwhelming with all the paperwork and money involved. I’m not even sure what the right steps to take are, or if I’m looking in the right direction.

All I want to do is write – not file forms all day.

I wish there was a website called “getting published 101″ where it contained all that I needed to know. And when you clicked on a link, a little man would ring you on the phone and declare, “Everything had been taken care of for you. Feel free to just write now!”

I have to do this though, I have to start comprehending things. I remember when I was around 15, I had written a story and submitted it to a magazine. I never heard from them, but 8 months later my story was in their magazine. However, the main characters name was changed, the city was changed and the authors name was changed. Other than that, it was my story word for word. I didn’t know how to protect myself that time, and this time, I want to be prepared.

I have found the following links:

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