Keeping it Tea-gether

My sister came down with tonsillitis last week and my immune system is doing everything it can to stop me from coming down with it too. I've been coughing and waking up with a sore throat since the weekend and producing more snot and phlegm than usual, but I have not let it knock me down. Hopefully I'm past the thick of it and will start feeling better soon.

I had a stroke of luck over the weekend and scored an interview for a content writing position. But in the end, I decided it wasn't for me—the recruiter was a self-publishing platform, and the deal-breaker for me was that there was no editing process. As an editor, I didn't feel comfortable signing up for that, so after a 45 minutes Skype interview I decided to withdraw.

I also decided to start writing a review of all the tea in my cupboard. Incredibly pretentious, I know, but I needed to write about something and thought it would be good for a bit of fun. I own 10 different types of tea at the moment and am constantly looking for more. I have a problem. Don't judge me.

Otherwise, this week has been mostly dedicated to working. Lots of working. I think it's dangerous for a writer to work in an academic library, especially at a university with a good writing and literature course. Even though my studies are over (for now), I still managed to come home with four library books about editing and literature in the past fortnight. Oh well.

How are your writerly lives going? 

Bonnee.

Out of Touch

In the past year, I've done a whole lot less creative writing than I'd like to admit. Between writing my Honours thesis, staying on top of the coursework, moving houses, editing for the student magazine, and working, I've barely had spare time to write. Not to mention enough energy. I have legitimately been wishing for days to have more than 24 hours in them over the past year. 

I'm hoping this lack of time to write will be alleviated now that uni is over. I've now handed in my thesis and my final essay, so the coursework is done. I'm tying up loose ends with the student magazine before I part ways with it (so emotional), which means I'm not going to have anything to do in the way of editing, except where my own work is concerned. 

My job at the library is continuing on a casual basis, which is nice. I enjoy working there. My dilemma at the moment is whether to look for some casual/part-time editing work to fit around it, or to spend that extra time on my own projects, at least for a little while. Both, would be nice, but perhaps not with immediacy. It would be nice to relax and have a little time for myself, though I definitely don't want to be away from the editing scene for too long. Let's face it—that's where my heart is on the professional side of the coin.

Most of the writing I've produced this year has been academic, and I am damn proud of the thesis I produced. I'm not done with academia just yet, but I'll elaborate on that in another post. Aside from essays and a thesis, most of the rest of my writing this year has been articles and nonfiction. Most of it is also under a pseudonym. There was one exception to all the non-creative writing very early in the year, where I stayed up til 3AM to crank out a short story that wouldn't get out of my head. I was proud of it, redrafted it a couple of times and submitted it to a lit journal who rejected it and got back to me with some really good constructive feedback that I'm hoping to use to redraft again. But I miss working on long-form fiction. I want to get back to revising WALLS or one of the other manuscripts I finished back in high school. Maybe my head is clear enough now.

How do you get back into the swing of things? 

Bonnee. 

So let's try this blogging thing again

I have been a very bad blogger since ~2014. I am sorry, but uni/work had to come first. 

The thing is, I have now finished uni. Almost. On Friday, I handed in my Honours thesis, and I'm one essay away from complete freedom. It's exciting and daunting. I'm glad it's over, but I'm going to miss it. And most saddening of all, I am in the handover process for the student magazine and writers club, saying goodbye to my role in a community I've grown so incredibly attached to. 

I've got a steady casual job at the Deakin Library, and I wouldn't mind a little editing gig somewhere. But most of all, I want to take a bit of time to focus on my own writing now that I'm not nose-deep in thesis and other assignments, or completely over-committed with other extra-curricular activities. 

I don't know where this road is going to take me, but I'm excited to find out. To quote one of my dad's favourite bands, 'Life's a journey, not a destination', and I can't wait to see where I end up next. (That was Aerosmith, btw.)

So here I am, looking into the blogosphere once more. I want to start writing one post a week and reconnecting with the amazing people I used to follow. Maybe make some new friends along the way.

Hi. How are you? 

Bonnee.