Ernge looks ecstatic standing on the little table on the front porch. Totally thrilled kitteh! "I can has exuberance?" The look of disappointment rivals even that of Martha Ann, aka Little Miss Disappointment.
Sorry I haven't posted very often lately. So much has been going on, and I've been hesitant to write just a super-busy, half-ass post. But in an e-mail conversation yesterday with longtime E&P reader Rethoryke, I realized that even a super-busy, half-ass post is better than none at all.
So here we go!
You'll recall that I left Division II University back in May and planned to start my own business. Yes, all that happened, and thank goodness I had some tax refund money saved up. However, two clients does not an income make, and I worried that my savings wouldn't last past a few months. And all the technical writing/editing jobs I'd applied for didn't seem to take into account my 14 years of writing, editing, and communication experience. Okay, I got one e-mail from Wetumpka, Alabama—that's almost three hours away, near Montgomery. Thanks, but that's just a little out of my commuting range. These days, I can't afford to move down the street, much less 150 miles away.
On a whim, I sent my vita to Somewhat Larger University (SLU). The chair of the English Department there is good friends with my thesis adviser at the University of Georgia, and I thought, "Well, they've probably got their fall part-time staff in place, but maybe they need someone for Spring. And I'm not ready to teach again, anyway." Ten days later, I get a phone call from the First-Year Writing director at SLU: "Are you still interested in fall teaching? Because we've got a bunch of extra classes added on..." Thank goodness for unexpected enrollment increases! I visited a few days later for an interview, and was hired to teach three sections of English 1101.
SLU is a great place with great people. It's a forward-thinking university with much tougher English Department standards than most colleges (and that includes large state "flagship" universities). SLU pays its part-timers 2/3 more than D2U pays part-timers; I'm not making a lot, but it's more than many other places. For example: At D2U, adjunct instructors make, after taxes and mandatory retirement contributions, about $120/week teaching two 25-student sections of 1000-level English.
So it's great to have a little money coming in. But I'm still very, VERY burned out on teaching. I'd like to leave it behind for three or four years, find another job that pays the bills and doesn't completely kill my soul. I don't yet know whether SLU will need my services in the spring, so job stuff is up in the air. So while I'm still tired of teaching, I know that I can do it part-time for a little while. I don't have to give my all, which is a good thing, because I don't have "all" to give. Emotionally, adjunct teaching's a little easier. I'm on campus just two days a week; I teach, have office hours, and go home. I do my professional best and don't get to know students too well, which preserves my sanity. (Although there's one young woman who's driving me nuts...you'll hear about her in an upcoming post.)
I've also gone back to school for a graduate-level Technical Communication certificate. The 100% online program is kicking my butt like my first round of graduate school never dreamed of doing. This semester, I'm taking "Practices of Professional Communication" and "Intro to Graphics." I'd originally planned just to take one 3-credit-hour course per semester, but Financial Aid requires grad students to take at least six hours (two classes) minimum. Sounds easy, this half-time enrollment thing, but it's killing me. And I mean "70-80 total hours a week" killing me. I have NO life.
Don't get me wrong—I'm learning a lot. My writing's taking shape for new purposes and audiences. I'm reading hundreds of pages of fascinating stuff about technical writing, typesetting, graphic design, and classical rhetoric. I'm learning PhotoShop, which has been on my list for years, as well as InDesign, Adobe's publishing/page layout software. But Adobe products, although they're powerful, are NOT intuitive. At all. Ever. There's not so much of a learning curve as a "learning cliff," as a friend says.
The projects in both courses are very demanding, but already I'm coming up with good material for my portfolio. If the Graduate Certificate—18 credit hours, or six classes—works out, I may apply to continue in the Master of Science in Technical Communication program. That would be 18 more hours, or six more classes, and would add another two years or so to my studies. But I'll just have to see how things are going come Fall 2012, when I'm nearly done with the certificate requirements.
I had some funny job-hunting hijinks a couple months ago. I sent my (very qualified, exactly-what-their-job-ad-was-looking-for!) resume to a small local newspaper that, from its near-complete lack of copyediting and writing skills, clearly needed me. But I heard nothing from them. Until I was unavailable, that is—already working at SLU and going to school. The editor of this small paper has continued to call even though I've told her, "Ma'am, I wish I could help you, but I'm working 70 hours a week with school and teaching. I didn't hear from you for three months, so I looked elsewhere. No, I can't just tell SLU that I'm quitting halfway through the semester! I signed a contract with them, for pity's sake!" But I'll post on that later.
My novel? Oh, umm, yeah. My novel! Yes! [clears throat]
Okay. I haven't worked on it in months. I've been very discouraged that I can't move the plot forward without sounding contrived, cliched, or old-hat. I've given up on it 20 times, and come back to it 20 times—while it's driving me bonkers, I still can't walk away from such a compelling story. Since late May, I've been telling and re-telling the story in my head, hoping for a breakthrough. And I've straightened out a few things, but not the main character's reasons for getting involved in the scandal propelling the story. Dammit! And to think that my slim manuscript garnered a lot of praise and encouragement back in 2008. It's been extremely disheartening.
But last weekend, at a writers' conference, I pitched my book to the editor of a small, well-respected regional press and two literary agents. While all three liked the idea and gave me excellent guidance to move forward with an interesting and believable plot, one agent was fascinated. She gave me her card and asked me to finish half a dozen chapters to send her. I'm encouraged, and have renewed faith in my novel—though still not a lot of free time to work on it. But I'll figure something out.
Thanks for reading, everyone! And please stay tuned. I'm still here and still posting. Hopefully, E&P will return to normal once I get the hang of balancing graduate school and nearly-full-time teaching.
