(no subject)

[spryng]

Whew. It's been a full two weeks (and change) of unemployment and agent-hood. I thought by the second week I'd be stir-crazy, but I've been keeping surprisingly busy! I doubled down and focused on getting my edits done and turned them into my agent yesterday (which is a phrase that I keep turning over and over in my head, btw). I managed to cut over 10k words - the novel went from 132k down to 120k and change. Apparently I am a lot wordier than I ever knew.

The thrill of being agented has worn off and self-doubt has settled in. Imposter syndrome has its claws in me big time. I keep expecting to find an email in my inbox from my agent apologizing profusely for the grave error she made in offering me rep. I keep wondering when she'll realize it was an awful mistake. It definitely doesn't help that I just had my nose to the page for over two weeks, analyzing every. single. word. That's one way to really see your flaws up close.

At least I recognize it's (probably) largely unfounded? :/

I haven't been able to find anything job-wise. No one has gotten back to any of my applications and my search for flexible, part-time jobs that pay more than minimum wage is coming up empty. I've decided to change tactics and just focus on developing a skill/business-ish that I can transfer anywhere, including overseas. I've settled on transcription for now, because my specific skill set aligns perfectly with it, and I'm going to try and get that going over the next few months. You have to have a little experience and be able to pass some tests before the bigger, better paying companies will hire you, so I plan to do a lot of small-fry, barely-paying stuff to get that exp, even though it really irks me that some of these people want to pay waaay less than minimum wage. Whatever. It's a stepping stone.

Um, French is progressing. I found a really great French book at the library and have been putting in at least 30min of work every day. I still need to figure out a way to practice writing French - I might do that here and you guys can just skip those posts. It's an accountability thing.

No, not pregnant. I've accepted that this may just not happen.

I think my biggest problem with (f)unemployment so far is that I feel like I have to constantly be productive. Like, when I worked I'd give myself a break and chill out in the evenings or the weekends, but now I can't. I mean - I have all this time! I should have so much to show for it!! But no matter how much I do, it's never enough. Using to-done lists instead of to-do lists have helped a bit, but honestly, I just need to calm down.

But overall, going pretty good.

Comments

[audesapere.livejournal.com]

Huh. I used to do transcription almost full-time. Frankly, it sucks. It's a real craft, it's very hard, and I personally found it so deathly dull that I wanted to rip my eyes out after just a few hours. However, it's a surprisingly in-demand skill. You need a good work set up (desk, ergo keyboard, high-quality headphones / speakers), which is a big outlay. And you need a really, really good ear for how people talk.

[spryng.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping I won't need to do it full-time. I can't imagine typing like that and paying that close attention for 8+ hours. 4, though, split up, I think I can do. Thankfully, I don't need to make much - my wife gets to be the primary breadwinner now. :)

[audesapere.livejournal.com]

even part-time it is incredibly hard on your hands, wrists, back, and occasionally hearing. and soul, depending on what you are transcribing.

[audesapere.livejournal.com]

And personally I would never touch with a 100 foot pole any of those companies that farm it out or indeed, any company. If I were you, and you really, really want to do this (carpal tunnel is AWESOME!), you should focus on making a modest website with decent SEO so you can get clients directly. Start with the local university too because a lot of those people will need transcription.