writerdude

Author bio:

Freelance editor/proofreader/writer, NaNoWriMo participant and ML for 11 years. I love the written word and chose to make the world of words into my career. I've done much less writing lately because of the perverse effect of technology on dissemination of writing. It's become much easier to put words into potential markets and potential readers' hands, but because it's become easier to get that far, it's become much harder to get noticed. I'm a writer, not a salesperson or marketing expert, and I don't like spending time on those activities. Without a feeling that my work would get read, I find myself with less impetus to write. It's fun, but I can get paid to work with words, and that satisfies much of my wordlust. (Sure, it's a word . . . trust me!) I enjoy coming up with new ideas and working on those that have been rattling around in my brain and in my notebooks every November, but that's by far my most active writing time in the year.

My most productive writing time was my late high school years (I first submitted a story for publication when I was in eighth grade, I think) through about age 27; I dabbled a bit after that. I found minor success in the small press (circulation usually numbered in the low triple digits) and got a story into a paperback anthology; I also got an honorable mention in a "year's best" collection published by St. Martin's. Each acceptance notice was a huge thrill, of course, but I found that I didn't love the process of writing enough for it to be "worth my time."

Once in a while, that changes--I got the urge to enter a contest recently, requiring participants to write a short story on a topic, and length, chosen by the contest's organizer, within 24 hours of being notified of those rules. I thought I did pretty well and enjoyed the process of creation and talking over ideas with a few friends and family members, but I didn't place within the top 25 of the 500 or so participants. I also don't think the story is good enough to submit elsewhere; the topic was somewhat constricting, and I don't think my story would have general appeal. I may try that one again; it's a quarterly contest.

I'd love to look at YOUR work and see if I can help you with it! I enjoy chatting with my clients, by e-mail or telephone, and helping them make their work shine. Hearing of their successes with their work gives me a thrill comparable (but of course much reduced) to hearing of my own personal successes. I love NaNoWriMo because it puts me into this fabulous community of writers! Talking and posting with all of you gives me a fabulous feeling that I'm "home" and "in my tribe." Thank you all for being there!