Application Life is Hard

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

We had a death in the family and I'm currently out-of-state. In the interest of privacy, it was a sibling's spouse who passed away.

I have also been making changes to certain writing goals and choices. I've decided to make the most recent fellowship I applied for my last and just focus on residencies, grants, and the occasional writers contests.

What's a fellowship*? It usually involves a deeply personal packaging of information that may contain: a resume/CV, a bibliography of one's publications/credits/clips, (often) letter(s) of recommendation, and the work sample (in whatever shape the stringent requirements/submission guidelines state it must be).

Why apply to a fellowship? Well, it's as deeply individual and unique to each person. What I can tell you is that being awarded one, the newly 'minted' fellow has the ability to travel, to teach at a number of institutions, to take part in government programs and grassroots organizations. Now you might ask: but can't you do that WITHOUT ACTUALLY APPLYING for a FELLOWSHIP? Well, it depends on what goals one has in mind. Some of mine are to get funding for specific kinds of research, to travel broadly according to particular projects, and for me to promote myself as a scholar in certain pop culture circles.

I have been applying to these fellowships for almost 3 years, before and after graduate school, and now I think it's time to take a break and concentrate on another aspect of my writing career. So there is that.

In the meantime, take care of yourselves, Dear Readers, and continue to 'watch this space...'

*I'm speaking on writing/creative arts fellowships ONLY.

Fellowships** are as complex and diverse as the people who need and/or desire them. And depending on its industry, a fellowship will follow those particular requirements, rules, and guidelines for applying.

**To learn more about what fellowships are and what they can do for you, check out https://www.profellow.com

Writing Opportunities, galore! Just Take the Time!

What many of my readers may not know is that I have been working on several applications for work, grants, and opportunities with writing.

*The following is for the writers among the readers regardless of experience level. There may be terms and jargons used that are particular to the freelance writing world.*

**DISCLAIMER - Remember to often take what you read from columns, essays, and articles with a grain of salt but always exercise common sense and good judgement. Writing is a business after all. Also, what I've learned over the years is if more than one publication has said the same thing on the same matter, it's probably best to follow that instruction!**

For over three years, I've scoured and researched what's out there, either internationally, nationally, and state-side, and for almost two years, I've actively pursued these in order to jump-start projects, travel to different residencies/retreats, and interact with more writing communities outside my comfort zone. I even attended a fellowship workshop last year 2017.

I've taken more chances, more risks, and knocked on more doors than I have ever done in my entire adult life.

When I decided to begin this journey during my community college Creative Writing course, there were clear Do's/Don'ts.

Have also been given tons of advice over time, often from many well-meaning folks. Advice from writer magazines, online articles, and blogs. I've also attended workshops, conferences, seminars, and residencies, and there have been advice from those too.

I've seen on at least five applications (for the following: fellowships, grants, scholarships, residencies, workshops, retreats, contests, and seminars) what I'm seeing is a pattern.

**Certain items that would render many a writer into the ineligibility category:
1. Publication in a vanity press
2. Self-published
3. Book reviews
4. School publications (college/university)
5. Scholarly/Instructional writing

**Another DISCLAIMER remember that writing is personal for each individual, which means we can make our own choices.
However, there are CLEAR NO-NOs in Writing: Do Not Ever Pay to Publish Your Work. Not even in Self-publishing does one do that.
No upfront payment to an editor. No upfront payment for someone to publish one's work. No payments to edit. No payments to proofread. No payments to put someone's work into print.**

Anything new happens, I'll be sure to announce it here on In Pretty Print and my bibliography blog, The Angry Goblin (please check this for any info on my latest publications), and as always, my official website Tabber the Red is where it's at! 

Updated every few months while the blogs are updated every few weeks, the website is my be-all to finding out everything about me as an author and artist. 

Hyperlinks are above and remember, to SUBSCRIBE to this blog is FREE!

Take care, dear readers, and again, Happy 2018!

I've been shortlisted!

Just learned that the writing-related humor contest I entered, though I'm not the winner, I did end up on the shortlist! Not only that, despite the contest asking for comics and essays, I was given special mention for being the only comic entry! What a wonderful surprise and honor!
Newsletter Archive - Debora's Pen - Come into my parlour

Camp NaNoWriMo - Day 29 - And I am a WINNER! *PARTY!*

I WON CAMP NANOWRIMO 2016! I can't believe it!

Thought I had two more days, but, beat my pre-set word count when I was struggling with a chapter, and realized I could rewrite the revised scene from a journal of five years ago. It was a difficult scene, the middle of an easy chapter. However, that singular moment consisted of several literary and grammatical devices I would have to use. It consisted of flashbacks, inner monologue, thoughts, inferences, personal history, and epiphany. While this sounds like an absolute mess, thanks to the training, feedback, and constructive criticism I received from MFA mentors and classmates, I didn't even look at the scene's previous typed draft but pulled from the journal to rewrite an entirely new scene.
No matter what, this April is not only special because it is my mom's and a brother's birthday month, but this contest is synonymous with the writer's life. We must be persistent, consistent, diligent, and persevere in this business. When we do that as writers, we learn and open other opportunities for ourselves and others.

Made a goof

Just realized that concentrating on a writing contest may have cost me a story elsewhere. Now I have to remember and redeem myself by making concerted efforts in all the right places.