On Saturday we arrived home from a weeklong
trip back to Pasadena. My boyfriend’s brother and his wife were awesome enough
to have us as their houseguests for our entire visit. While my boyfriend worked
on a conference paper, I gallivanted around town visiting friends and shopping.
It was weird going back to Pasadena because when we got there we had only been gone for three weeks. Going around town I felt like I still lived there. And now that we’re back in Oakland, I feel like I never left here. Perhaps I’m just losing it.
Anyway, it was a super fun trip. I got to meet my dear friend’s brand new baby daughter. Every day I met up with friends who I used to work with and I stuffed my face with frozen yogurt and lots of tasty food. I went bouldering with a friend and was happy that I’m still strong enough to make it up some slightly challenging climbs despite the fact that it’s been a month since I last climbed. I also got to have coffee with one of the friends I made at the SCBWI conference. We spent a few hours chatting about life and writing. It’s so nice to talk to someone who understands exactly how you feeling about the work you do.
My boyfriend started his new job today and I feel like I’m officially starting my new not-full-time-employed life. Last week, I got hired to sub in a local school district, so I went in today to pick up my new hire packet. I had to get fingerprinted (for the umpteenth time). It’s funny to me that districts aren’t allowed to share your fingerprints with each other because if I committed a crime, I’m sure they’d share them with law enforcement. I’m not quite sure when I get to start subbing, but maybe next week. I hope I like it as much as I did in the last district I subbed for.
Now that this new chapter in my life has officially begun, it’s time to buckle down and get serious about my writing. I’m currently looking for a critique group to join. I had avoided doing this in Pasadena because I didn’t want to make a commitment to a group and then move away. But it’s something that I think is invaluable for a writer.
In lieu of a critique group, I sent my most polished story to a few friends who write and/or work with books hoping for some good feedback. I also sent this story to a guy I met at the SCBWI conference. We were standing in line waiting for Judy Schachner’s autograph and somehow the topic of teaching came up. He was very excited that I taught first grade because he’s writing a book about first grade. While we waited in line, he picked my brain about all things first grade. When we were rudely interrupted by Judy Schachner wanting to sign our books, we exchanged email addresses. I sent him a bunch of information about the first grade experience. He was grateful for my input and offered to read something I had written.
After reading my story he responded with some really great ideas to improve it. Some of his recommendations were things I hadn’t thought about, while other things were ideas I had played with, but wasn’t sure how good they were. This is why I want to join a critique group. Writing is such a solitary occupation that it’s easy to forget that someday people will read what you write. Working with other writers helps you to clarify your ideas and tighten up your story. I hope I find a good group to work with soon.
What I’m reading: I finished reading The Bright Forever. Overall it was pretty good and I enjoyed how the story was told. It went back and forth between first person narratives from several characters and chapters written in the third person. I’m starting East of Eden by John Steinbeck and I’m supposed to be reading Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth with a friend, but I have failed to start reading it yet.
It was weird going back to Pasadena because when we got there we had only been gone for three weeks. Going around town I felt like I still lived there. And now that we’re back in Oakland, I feel like I never left here. Perhaps I’m just losing it.
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| Appropos of nothing, a random pic from an office door at Caltech... Three cheers for the X-Files! |
Anyway, it was a super fun trip. I got to meet my dear friend’s brand new baby daughter. Every day I met up with friends who I used to work with and I stuffed my face with frozen yogurt and lots of tasty food. I went bouldering with a friend and was happy that I’m still strong enough to make it up some slightly challenging climbs despite the fact that it’s been a month since I last climbed. I also got to have coffee with one of the friends I made at the SCBWI conference. We spent a few hours chatting about life and writing. It’s so nice to talk to someone who understands exactly how you feeling about the work you do.
My boyfriend started his new job today and I feel like I’m officially starting my new not-full-time-employed life. Last week, I got hired to sub in a local school district, so I went in today to pick up my new hire packet. I had to get fingerprinted (for the umpteenth time). It’s funny to me that districts aren’t allowed to share your fingerprints with each other because if I committed a crime, I’m sure they’d share them with law enforcement. I’m not quite sure when I get to start subbing, but maybe next week. I hope I like it as much as I did in the last district I subbed for.
Now that this new chapter in my life has officially begun, it’s time to buckle down and get serious about my writing. I’m currently looking for a critique group to join. I had avoided doing this in Pasadena because I didn’t want to make a commitment to a group and then move away. But it’s something that I think is invaluable for a writer.
In lieu of a critique group, I sent my most polished story to a few friends who write and/or work with books hoping for some good feedback. I also sent this story to a guy I met at the SCBWI conference. We were standing in line waiting for Judy Schachner’s autograph and somehow the topic of teaching came up. He was very excited that I taught first grade because he’s writing a book about first grade. While we waited in line, he picked my brain about all things first grade. When we were rudely interrupted by Judy Schachner wanting to sign our books, we exchanged email addresses. I sent him a bunch of information about the first grade experience. He was grateful for my input and offered to read something I had written.
After reading my story he responded with some really great ideas to improve it. Some of his recommendations were things I hadn’t thought about, while other things were ideas I had played with, but wasn’t sure how good they were. This is why I want to join a critique group. Writing is such a solitary occupation that it’s easy to forget that someday people will read what you write. Working with other writers helps you to clarify your ideas and tighten up your story. I hope I find a good group to work with soon.
What I’m reading: I finished reading The Bright Forever. Overall it was pretty good and I enjoyed how the story was told. It went back and forth between first person narratives from several characters and chapters written in the third person. I’m starting East of Eden by John Steinbeck and I’m supposed to be reading Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth with a friend, but I have failed to start reading it yet.
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