Friday, May 21, 2010

Literary doesn't work

It's been a solid week of Excel exams. And I still have another 22 to go before I get out of school on the 9th. Not fun, but if I disappear--I'll be back later when school gets out.

There's a workshop scheduled for the first week in June, my final business law project and a bunch of other things going on, so falling asleep the other day put a crimp in my schedule. I wish I could exist on less than two hours of sleep, but I must be getting older. These two hour nights are boomeranging on me. Last week I slept three nights in a row! I can't deal with it. I need more time.

I've finally, after...has it been seven months? Started the ball rolling on my youtube videos. Once I figure out how to add them, I'll archive them in a sidebar. I like to think I'm good at explaining, but up close and in person is probably better for my Running in the Dark workshop. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how and where, and finally settled on one of the empty classrooms at school.

I'm usually there and I don't think anyone would mind, although I'll probably feel weird later once I graduate. "Hi! My name is Jodi and I'll just co-opt this classroom, okay?" There's no way I can do all the videos I want in the two weeks I have left.

And, after serious thought--despite my nifty new look, I'm going back to my old voice, not that I ever left it. But I've changed a little. More...uh? Erudite? Nah, not a good word. More...textbook-y? I dunno, more something, like I'm not fumbling as much, but after trying to do that column for savvyauthors, and having a serious case of writerfail I finally gave up and just wrote a blog post. I have strong voice. Not as dirty-mouthed as some screenwriters, but definitely not in line with my chosen genre. I write like I talk, and that's probably because I feel comfortable blogging.

...writing non-fiction.

Hmmm....

Thoughts running around like a hamster.

But anyway, after kicking it for two weeks, I figured if people liked my voice, they'd come, if they didn't--I probably wouldn't have connected anyway. Some people really like that textbook voice, and I'm not a fan. Funny though. I look at my face and think, "getting old there." I look at my writing and think, "Jodi."

I wonder how much longer I can keep it up before I get hit with the "she's starting to like bingo" disease.

4 comments:

Eva Gale said...

*looksaround*

I must have landed at the wrong place? Last time 'twas green bamboo?

Not bad, not bad.

Unknown said...

lol, the white font on a black background was hurting my eyes and I like the industrial look. I finally got the text background light enough to use black font. *sigh* You'll see when you see the videos. I've put on some weight in the last two years and...okay, now I've got to blog about it. Damnit.

Unhinged said...

One of the most painful lessons I learned was that my writer's voice is much stronger than my verbal communication skills. "If only you could have matched your cover letter and resume in person, we'd have hired you on the spot," I was told.

Which made me suspect they thought I hadn't written my stuff.

And then! And then I realized that all the while I was growing up, I didn't DARE to showcase my writing ability. I didn't think I had any, I just knew I wanted to. But I was scared to show personality.

If I did youtubes, I'd do them few and far between. Or I'd come up with a nifty gimmick, like wearing Jed Clampett's hat and showing the back of my head to the camera. (Yeah, I know no one would take me seriously, which is why I'd have to come up with a good reason for the gimmick.)

Um.

Unknown said...

..see, I thought about doing "Ask an Author" (with a capital "A" and rolling "rrrr") Very tweed smoking jacket and leather patches.

As it is, I guess I'll just break out the big t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Although I did want to wimp out and just show a white board.

Might as well be upfront about it.

You have great voice! But...yeah, I know what you mean. I stutter a lot because that happens when you're tired, and it makes me look like an idjiot.

At least people aren't giving you that whole "There there, you specially-abled person" look. :(

btw (((hugs))) on surviving that meeting intact.