We never made it to the Georgia Department of Labor last week. Instead, we went first thing this morning… and when I say “first thing,” I mean we left for the place at 6:30 this morning. Mary was worried that she wouldn’t get a handicapped parking spot, and the last time we were there four years ago, it was insane. They’ve rearranged the office, though, and I guess there aren’t as many people applying for unemployment as there were four years ago. That’s not necessarily an indication that things are getting better: it’s possible that people have given up looking for work, or their unemployment benefits have run out. Georgia’s unemployment is at 8.8%, meaning that 8.8% of the population is unemployed and actively looking for work.
Some appropriate music, from BTO:
So, while I comb the job boards and brush up my resume, I continue to write, and ROW80 is a good place to keep track of what I’m doing.
- Write 1,000 words every day: Going quite well, actually. Still hitting the minimum every day, and in some cases, such as yesterday, exceeding it. I’m playing with the idea I had a couple of months ago, and it’s become nothing short of an obsession with me. When I’m not writing, I’m thinking about what to write next, how to adjust the story, what might be a better direction for the story, etc.
- Learning and using Scrivener: I’ve managed to get the first portion of said story into Scrivener, and had fun yesterday breaking it into scenes. After that, I added another thousand words and another using Scrivener’s text editor. I can see why people like it so much. If there’s a scene I know I need to add somewhere, I can set up a placeholder for it and write it at some other time, or if a scene is out of place I can shuffle it wherever I need it, ot take scenes out and put them back in where they make more sense. In short, I’m having fun.
- Writing with my left hand: It’s coming along. I am doing all right with the printed capital letters and numbers. They still look like my worst efforts in first grade, and I’m having nightmares about Miss Disselhorst, my first grade teacher. I guess that means that I’ll be having nightmares about Mother Amadeus (second grade, when I learned cursive) and Mother Juanita (third grade, when I used a fountain pen for the first time). Hey! Maybe I should get one of those real thick first-grade pencils. Remember them?
- Producing an article for publication every week: Eh, not so good. I might need to do more research on that.
So, that’s the scoop here. Hope everyoine has a good week.
The Sound of One Hand Typing 
Sending loads of work and writing vibes your way. Scrivener changed the way I write forever!
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Thanks! It’s starting to do the same for me as well.
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Wishing you all the best in the job search. Great job on keeping up with your writing goal. Isn’t it nice to have an idea that won’t let you go?
I’ve been talking about learning Scrivener to a long time… I need to do it. Do you like it?
Hope you continue to pound out the words.
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Now that I know a little more about how Scrivener works, I really like it. I like the idea that you can get the scenes out there and move them around, add new ones and delete ones that aren’t working, and put placeholders in for yourself if you have an idea for a scene but you’re not ready to write it yet. I’m using maybe five percent of all that the program can do, but I’m satisfied and happy with it. Thanks!
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Good luck with the job situation. I’m lucky that I’ve been in my current job for 32 years, but my husband has had some bad luck through the years. I hope everything works out well for you. It’s good that you’re writing and staying on goal!
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In my case, staying at the same job for almost twenty years seemed to work against me. That was a couple of jobs ago, but I find that it still seems to have an effect. I hope that things go differently for me this time around. It doesn’t help that I’m handicapped and have worked from home since my stroke six years ago, but I’m going to keep trying. Thanks!
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I tried getting something “out there” and submitted every week. It is a great goal, but I could only do it for a month. But the attempt made me realize how bad I am at finishing my projects. That’s a new goal for next time.
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Getting a piece ready for publication each week is probably more of a long-term goal than a short-term one for me, but I wanted to get the goal out there. Next quarter it will likely become a more important focus for me. Thanks!
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You’re still making progress, John. Even without that article for publication piece, you’re writing, and that’s a skill that will grow with practice.
Yeah, unemployment… I can’t speak for Georgia, but here in the Capital District of NY, there’s a lot of resignation about getting work. I really hope that the polishing gets you somewhere. Being broke isn’t pleasant either…
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Getting a publication piece ready every week was an aggressive goal, mostly because I hadn’t really given much thought to what I would write about. Meanwhile, the stuff I am writing makes it easier to crank the words out.
One of the things that I have noticed around here is that a lot of the job seekers’ groups seem to have rolled up the tents and given up. If that’s the case, writing will become an ever-more-important part of my life. Doesn’t mean that I’m giving up on finding employment, it just means that my expectations are considerably lower than they had been.
Thanks!
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Just keep in mind that making money as a writer is more challenging than it used to be… :-( (Or as I tell my husband, “I’ll starve happy.”)
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