Free time, free writing, and the life of the unwillingly unemployed

Let's get this out of the way: I still don't have a job. I have tried, and I'm still trying. But, this nasty ol' job market has successfully kept me down and out of the paying, working world.

That said: I have officially completed all of my assignments from the fall semester classes! I'm ecstatic for the free space in my thoughts, not to mention my time, a precious interval I must not waste before the spring semester begins in January. So, today is a "do whatever I want" day, which really just means I email my advisor about details for my internship next semester, I clean the kitchen, and I sit on the couch and stare at the dreary rain that's held on for a third day straight. But, at least I can enjoy my Christmas decorations, and plug in the lights because it's so dark in my house.

Whether you like it or not, the lack of a job to get up for in the morning, and to serve as a grounding structure for your day, can test the self-discipline of even the most driven person. I, for instance, wrote in a post not too long ago about trying to give myself a list or schedule, but being unwilling because I feel tied down on a schedule. But, now that my semester is over I have whole, yawning days I must fill. Now, I say all of this to preface: I actually have a plan.

Lately, I've been trying to reinstate writing in my life. It's been two years now since I left the MFA creative writing program I was in for a couple semesters. I left that program because I felt I wasn't mature enough as a human or as a writer to produce the massive amount of life work an MFA requires of a writer. Shortly after I left, I began a stint as a temp Technical Writer for a large company, during which I started this blog. Although I had just left the creative program, I saw myself bloom as a writer, and I was conceptualizing and writing every day. During this time, however, I was also accepted into the Masters in Library and Information Science program at USC, and when I began to prepare for that program I put my writing life on hold. Now, I realize, that was a mistake. Thankfully, not much time has passed and I believe I won't have too long to be back where I was when I started this blog. Writing was breathing for me, and when I wasn't writing, I was reading new fiction and peeling my eyes to see and synthesize everything I could.

I am planning, and in the process, of working writing back into my life. The plan I spoke of is simple, but has not been easy at first. I am remembering, as I begin again, that trying to write after a too-long hiatus is akin to your first run after a season of little or no running. Here's what I have planned so I can get myself fit again:

1. Write, write, write...write...write...and write some more. Most things count. I have started keeping a freewriting journal in a Word doc. There are many websites that offer writing prompts and exercises, and they are just as good as anything else. Yesterday I was using some free (no cost) writing prompts at a site called The Journal. 
2. Remember that everything is practice, and don't try to expect everything you write to be perfect. Just write. In time, you will see your writing get better, but it can't do anything if you don't write.
3. Read a lot, and widely. Don't just read the kind of thing you want to write, but read in other genres, and read nonfiction, too. 

You will hear those pieces of advice from anyone who knows what the writing life is all about. I'm simply retweeting it. 

Blogging is included in writing, and I'm sure you've noticed the increasing number of my posts lately. But, it's only a component of the writing life, a type up stretch for that run I was talking about. 

So, I apologize in advance for clogging up your RSS feed in the next few weeks. (I flatter myself that someone actually has my blog on RSS feed). 

Now to put a hurting on that dirty kitchen...

Books make me happy

I want to read a really phenomenal, really absorbing, can't-put-down book. I need it right now, I think, to adventure a bit. And I want to sort of prove to myself that I'm just as good at and into reading as I was when I was a kid. It sounds silly, but growing up and becoming more experienced in life, I wonder if some of the - well - wonder will have gone out of the story world for me. Don't misunderstand, I still read. But I haven't had that pulled-down-into feeling with much I've recently read. Maybe I've just gotten really picky.

I've got a couple of leads on some really tasty reads, though. I've been recommended Cassandra Clare's City of Bones series by more than a couple of people. And I read a really alluring review of one called Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason.

I was the girl at my middle school who walked in the back of the lines to the lunchroom and DARE assemblies with my spriggy ponytail-head aimed down at a paperback. It was usually something like The Saddle Club , books by Beverly Cleary or any kind of mystery stories. Anything about horses for sure. Later in 8th grade I started getting into doctor's office waiting room lit like John Grisham and Nicholas Sparks. I thought they were things adults read, and I wanted to be seen as ahead for my age. Sorry, no Farenheit 451 for me yet. I did like a lot of the classics, but I was definitely never into reading things because I needed them "under my belt." I have a hard time thinking about reading or writing in a purely academic vein (even though I was an English major). Why take the fun out of everything?

You gain knowledge through reading, but that knowledge puts down its strongest roots when the reader really connects with the material.

There's my English major two-cents.