writing career Archives - Jessica Ferguson

My previous post was called Racing the Clock. For those of you wondering, the clock won. No problem. Deadlines are plentiful, aren’t they? We can always find another and another and another. Remember the song, I fought the law but the law won. That song keeps rolling through my mind. Here’s my version of it:

Writing deadline–thought it was fun.
I raced the clock but the clock won.

I raced the clock but the clock won.
I needed motivation ‘cause I had none
I raced the clock but the clock won.
I raced the clock but the clock won.

I left my story, now it feels so bad
Guess my race is run
It was the best story I think I ever had
I raced the clock but the clock won
I raced the clock but the clock won.

Sometimes I’m just a time-waster. How long do you think it took me to write that little ditty? And what was the point?

I’m over my head in online classes. I’m taking Self-Publishing taught by DebraHolland, Ph.D. Very informative with guest ‘speakers’ sharing their self-publishing journey too. Interesting thing is that no one’s self-publishing journey is the same. I guess there’s no way to truly prepare for self-publishing. We can expect anything and everything, right down to the good and bad reviews. Both will come.

I’m also taking a course called COVERING YOUR BASES: PROMOTIONAL AND PERSONAL USES FOR POD and KINDLE by Beth Daniels who currently writes as Beth Henderson and J.B. Dane. Beth has worked with editors at Berkley, Zebra, Leisure, Harlequin/Silhouette, and Simon and Schuster’s Aladdin Paperbacks. She ventured into self-publishing to keep her out-of-print backlist in print and leaped into the non-fiction book realm with WRITING STEAMPUNK. Visit her HERE.

Another course I’m taking is called In and Out: Putting Characters in Conflict, taught through RWA by Sherry Lewis. I always thought conflict was my weakness. Lately, I’ve been identifying more writing weaknesses. Makes me wonder how anyone ever comes to the conclusion that they’re good enough to self-publish. Any thoughts on that question?

Every time I sign up for online classes, I hear my friend and writing professor say (as he said so long ago), “It’s time to stop taking classes and write.” I guess I’m a perpetual student but I wonder if I’m really learning anything. How can I be if I’m still making the same mistakes over and over again? Not enough description. Too much dialogue. Talking heads. Not enough conflict. Unlikeable heroine. Unlikeable hero. Heroine too passive. Tense problems. POV problems. What’s their goal? What’s your point?

And that’s where I am today — in a What’s the Point frame of mind? Anyone have an answer?

Zig zag

Noun	1.	zigzag – an angular shape characterized by sharp turns in alternating directions a shape having one or more sharp angles
Verb	1.	zigzag – travel along a zigzag path; “The river zigzags through the countryside”

I’ve zig zaggedthrough my entire writing career. The first thing I ever got published was a prayer in True Story magazine. It was called A Prayer from a Divorced Woman. I was paid $25.00 for it. That prayer was the first thing I’d ever mailed out so naturally I thought, “Getting published is easy!” We all know it is not easy.

Sometimes (in my life and in my writing) I feel as though I’ve zigged when I should have zagged. I’ve wandered off on little trails that have taken me to odd places. In 1976 I started the Longview Writers Association which is in Northeast Texas. When I started the group, I wrote short stories and poetry. I submitted faithfully. My writing goals have changed a lot since then. Through the years I’ve zig zagged my way into teaching leisure learning and/or continuing education writing classes, being an editor/writer/photographer of a regional publication, co-editing a literary magazine, writing for newspapers, being president of a writer’s group in Louisiana, writing (and selling) a novel, blogging, being a staff writer for a magazine, encouraging, proofing, editing others and …

I’m still zig zaggingmy way to a writing career. Doing it all. No, trying to do it all. Every now and then I stop and ask, “Have I accomplished those writing dreams?” Truth is–I have and I haven’t because my dreams are ever changing. When I try to pinpoint why I zig zag, the only thing that pops into my head is that I’ve never taken my dreams too seriously. I stop way too often to smell (and pick) roses along the way, running wildly in other directions when a fresh crop of wild flowers pop up.

This year in Oklahoma is supposed to be a year of focus for me–a year for some serious accomplishments. There will be: No zig zagging allowed.

So What’s the Point?

Z is for Zig Zag