Studying... Any Help?

Lately, I’ve been using my free time to do stuff so I can go back to school.  I’ve always thought the worst part about college is the stuff that comes prior to taking classes.  I didn’t really mind sitting through class when I was attending college, or studying the subject matter, but applying for financial aid, getting letters of recommendation, and finding out exactly what I need to do is more confusing to me.

The most terrifying things:  1.  Something happens during my application process, and I’m not able to go when I’m planning to go;  2.  I don’t pass my Praxis test.  Both scenarios leave me without the money I’ve spent while trying to go back to school, and set me back in time with my goal to start a good career.

The Praxis test… It’s one of those tests that you don’t study for, but I’m required to make a certain score before I can start taking classes.  I’ve been out of college for over 6 years, and I might be a little rusty on a lot of things.  Mostly, I’m concerned about math.  To compensate, I’ve been looking over some flash cards.  It doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence, but it’s the only thing I can think of that might help.  I took a practice math exam online, and passed by a small margin, but it was the only free exam that I could find.  The worst part about it all is I’m not sure what’s going to be on the test.  I’ve studied A LOT of math, and wasn’t very good at most of it.  I passed, but it was because I was tenacious, and put the time and effort into knowing what I was supposed to know.  Now, I’m faced with an exam that’s going to test me on a variety of different math questions.

It’s just nerves.  I really want to go back to school.  I want to get the financial aid that I need, turn in all the right forms on time, and pass the required exams.  I’ve passed tests before, and I’ve been under pressure before.  Come to think of it, being under pressure probably puts me into a better, more productive, mindset.  It also drives me crazy with stress, and I want everything to be over.

If anyone knows how I can improve my skills on the Praxis Test (Praxis 1), please feel free to share the information.  More free practice tests would be great, and/or resources on likely test questions.

-Josh

Let's Take the Praxis Test

Now that I’m trying to focus on going back to school, I get to look forward to taking the Praxis test before I can start taking classes again.

The Praxis test is a skills test that includes math, reading, and writing.  For me, I’m worried about the math portion the most.  I’ve never been very good at math, but now that I’ve had some time away from school math seems more like a challenging game, rather than a dreadful enemy.  I’m scheduled to take the test on the eleventh of June.  Hopefully, I’ll be ready.

I’m not sure if the Praxis test is the only thing I need to be worrying about, or not.  I’ve already filled out my financial aid forms (not sure what I might be getting, yet), I’m in the process of getting my letters of recommendation filled out, I’m working with the University where I earned my degree so I can have my transcripts sent to my post-grad college, I’ve done my background check, and I’ve filled out my application, including the 250 word essay (easy as pie for anyone who enjoys writing) about why I would like to become a teacher.

This decision to continue my education isn’t without concern for the future.  After all, I’ve already earned one degree (B.S. in Social Science), and I didn’t exactly land a dream job.  I’ve made my own choices, but I have to admit that I thought there would be MORE options to choose from.

Recently, I gave up a life that I wasn’t satisfied with.  Some people would see it as a mistake, but I see it as another part of my personal journey through life.  I’ve been a person who plays it safe when it comes to life, but it landed me somewhere that caused me to feel lonely and cut off from the rest of the world.  Now, even though I’m a college grad who makes minimum wage, I feel like I’m, at least, part of the human experience again.

That being said, I’m not satisfied with minimum wage.  I want to be part of the world I live in AND have enough money to enjoy it.  I want to do something I enjoy, and be somewhere I fit in.  I want to continue my education, and earn a position in life where I can finally be comfortable and start concentrating on my friends and family.  Life might not lead me down the path I have planned, but there’s no reason not to set out on my journey.  Right now, I want to be a teacher, and I’m trying to find the right path.

Trying to Become a Teacher

As I stated last week, I’m thinking about going back to school to become a teacher.  Actually, I've made the decision; I’m going to try.

For a variety of different reasons, I chose not to pursue that path when I was in college the first time (2002-2006).  I earned a bachelor’s in social science, but I can’t say that it’s helped me very much.  At least, not yet.  I loved taking the classes that earned me the degree, but I haven’t had a job that fits the material I studied.  I’ve applied to jobs, but haven’t landed an interview for anything that relates to my degree.

I hope this doesn’t come off as me complaining, because I’m not trying to.  Everyone would love to land a great job based on their knowledge and skill set, but things are competitive out here.  I’m just thinking that I could try again, and this time I’ll have a clear goal in my mind.  Besides, it’s something that I was told I would be good at, something aptitude tests have suggested to me, and something I almost majored in to begin with.  At the time, I guess education just didn’t sound as exciting as psychology.  I wanted my four years of college to be interesting, and social science was very interesting.

Now that I've had time to reflect on my interest in social science, I think it would go hand in hand with my current interest in teaching.  I’m interested in people; how they learn, how they develop, how their thought processes work, what makes them who they are.  I’m interested in cultures, history, and the future of humanity.  I like watching the news.  I’m interested in space, and things we haven’t discovered yet.  I love to read, and my collection contains books from a wide range of genres, including science fiction, horror, thriller, fantasy, educational, mystery, and even westerns

I’m not giving up on writing.  If anything, I’m trying to enter a career that is conducive to writing.  I want to be learning, ALWAYS.  I want to feel the push to explore deeper, and understand better.  I want my characters to be knowledgeable, and my settings to reflect reality (even if the world’s are based in fantasy).

I’ll keep everyone posted.  Just to let you know, on a more casual note, my computers are still unreliable.  At this point I’m just waiting to see what kind of financial aid I might be getting, because I’ll bite the bullet and buy a new laptop if I can get the money.  I’m still looking forward to publishing The Dream Machine.  We were almost done with it.  I say “We” because I have to give credit to my wonderful girlfriend for her editing.  If it wasn't such a tedious task I might even ask her to edit these blog posts.  She keeps me humble when it comes to grammar and punctuation, and that’s a very important part of making my stories enjoyable… in the (hopefully) near future.

Thanks, Bek.

Love,

Josh

After a Long Break...

It’s been a while since my last blog post, so let me start off by thanking those of you who are continuing to follow me on my social networks.  We live in a time where people must continually be present online to market themselves to their audience.  Because of the nature of my desired goal (to publish books), it was especially disastrous when my computer overheated.  My information was saved, and moved to a jump drive, but I don’t have a reliable computer to continue working with.

Currently, I’m using a computer that was given to me by my sister, and it’s been very helpful when it comes to fulfilling basic tasks (browsing the internet).  Still, this computer has its own problems.  It has to be restarted several times before the screen will display images.  Often, when it does display images, they look smeared.  It’s almost like looking at abstract art, except I’m just trying to watch news videos.

The other computer (the one that overheated) is pixilated, and won’t function if I try to view web pages.  It would be impossible to accomplish anything on that computer at this point.

Bored yet?  I tend to get longwinded.

Anyway, I have thought about posting more blogs, but when my computer stopped, I stopped.  If I’m not currently making progress on a book, why would I continue to blog?

Good question.

Thanks.

The answer is this:  This blog started out as a place where I could share my journey.  This is just another part of my journey.  My stories didn’t disappear, they’re just not finished.  It’s going to take longer to complete them now that I need a new computer, but it’s actually giving me some time to think about my work and where I’d like to go with it.

On a very quick note (more to come on this topic), I’m thinking about going back to school to become a teacher.  I’ll talk about this more as I make progress (or if I fail to make progress).

My sister is graduating tomorrow.  She’s an incredibly smart person, and I’m proud of her.  I’m very thankful to have a family that I love.  My brother and sister are two very intelligent people, and I’ll be seeing both of them (along with my mom [Happy Mothers’s Day!], and my grandmother [also, Happy Mother’s Day], and my Dad [Happy Late Birthday!] tomorrow.

My sister studied education, and maybe she’ll be able to give me some pointers on becoming a teacher.  I’ll keep all of my readers informed, whether I fail or succeed.  It’s all about the journey, so let's see how it goes.

As always, thanks for following.

The Connection Between Book and Writer

When I write, no matter what I'm writing, I think about the connection readers might make between the words I write, and my personality.  There's no doubt that certain elements of my stories represent parts of my own personality, but not all of them.

Right now I'm writing a science fiction novel, and that carries a stereotype.  I must like Star Trek and Dr. Who, right?  Eh, I guess Star trek is okay, and I've only tried watching Dr. Who once, but I'm actually more into conspiracy theories.  Sure, Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies, but I don't think that defines me.

 I also like to write horror stories.  As a matter of fact, that's probably more of my preferred genre.  I prefer reader horror, and always have.  Does that carry its own stereotypes?  I would think so.

 What if I decide to write a fantasy series one day?  Does that say something about me?  Will people who read my science fiction and horror stories be likely to read my fantasy series?  Will they tell me to pick a genre and stick to it?

 It seems that a lot of times writers DO stick to certain genres, and I've heard that's good for business.

 If you want to build an audience, you need to build a fan base.  I agree with that statement.  On the other hand, I want to write whatever I want to write, and I want my fan base to stick with me because of my personality and writing style, not because I fall into their preferred genre.

 I would think that it's almost inescapable:  people are going to make assumptions about writers based on the content writers produce.  Of course.  It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd like to think that the relationship between writer and reader could grow over time.  I want my collection of work, and not just a single story, to shed light on who I am as a writer.

 I'm not sure if anyone else feels the same way I do.  I know that some people just want to writer thrillers and others just want to writer mystery novels, but one of the reasons I like to write is my broad array of interests.  I want to explore those interests, and learn about my own personality through writing.

 Let me know what you think.

Leave feedback at: jdh112683@yahoo.com

What do Writers Want?

What do writers want?

The appropriate response is:  I just want to write.

Okay, of course you want to write.  But really, what do you WANT?

I've had a great time writing fiction that I've never showed a single person.  I've deleted files that were probably 30-40,000 words long, and not a single friend or family member ever knew the difference.  That must mean I just want to write for the sake of writing, right?

Wrong.

Take a few seconds to absorb that information, and calm yourself down.  Surely, there must be a traitor in your midst.  A writer who doesn't write simply for the sake of writing?  There MUST be more to this story.

And there is.

It's true that I love to write.  When I was a kid, and I'm talking six or seven years old, I would fill up entire notebooks with scribbles.  I was pretending to transcribe the storylines from television shows, pretending to convert the stories into a book format.

Why?  I don't know, but I was doing it for free and I was doing it for fun... Yes, it was fun for me.  I was doing it, just because I wanted to.

Now that I'm older I don't get a lot of entertainment from filling up notebooks with someone else's ideas.  I've found my own ideas, and I want to share them.  Mostly, I want to create my own storylines.  I want to take strange and unique ideas, and turn them into things that feel real.

Would I do it for free?  Well, I haven't exactly been raking in the cash from my first two short stories, but I'm probably not going to keep putting forth a lot of effort in the future if it doesn't pay off eventually.

Blasphemy!  I know, I know.  I'm not supposed to want money for what I do.  I'm a writer.  This is supposed to be fun, not profitable.  If I wanted to make money, I should have invested in the stock market... or something.

But that's just it, I WANT this to be my job.  I want to make enough money from writing books to quit my day job.  I want to be able to justify having a nice, quiet spot in my apartment where I can write in relative peace (which I don't have, but sounds so wonderful, doesn't it?).  I want money, not for the love of money, but for the love of writing!  I want THIS to be WHAT I DO!

That, I think, is what a lot of writers are looking for.  They want to be able to wake up in the morning and know that "going to work" means working on their stories.  When people ask, "What do you do for a living?" they want to be able to say "I write."

And what's wrong with that?  When a doctor claims that s/he wants to save peoples' lives, nobody expects him to do it for free.  The same goes for teachers.  We want teachers who enjoy teaching, but we wouldn't ask them to do it for free.

Ah, but writing is ART.  Artists are expected to make art for the love of the art.  That's fine.  You can create art for the love of art, and hopefully you have a significant other who supports your habit, or a second job that doesn't take up too much of your personal time.  Otherwise, your art is more like a hobby.

There are people who really are satisfied with writing as a hobby, and I don't begrudge them one bit.  Writing is a GREAT hobby.  I'd rather write than collect stamps any day.  Still, I would guess that these hobby writers wouldn't mind getting some spending money from their work.

Getting paid for what you like to do is gratifying.  It's a sign that people are responding positive ways.  It's an incentive to keep up the good work (or improve).  Competition exists because of money, and money motivates writers to create quality content.  Without it, we'd all be downloading a lot of free, mediocre, poorly edited ebooks.

Why do I write?  I write because I love to write, AND I WANT TO MAKE A LIVING WRITING.  I write because it's my idea of a dream job.  I want to do work that's creative, easy on my back, and allows me to have a lot of freedom in my life.

I want the same things for my friends and fellow writers.  Thanks to independent publishing, we all have the potential to reach an audience, and hopefully earn an income doing what we love.  Good luck to all of you, and I hope you achieve your goals, whatever they may be.

To contact me directly:  jdh112683@yahoo.com

My Experiences with Social Networking - So Far

Last week I touched briefly on the topic of social networking.  This week, I want to go into a little more detail.

Blogging, as I mentioned last week, is my way of communicating with my potential fan base.  Although I'm always willing to communicate directly with readers (and would very much like to do so), I usually write these posts without feedback, hoping to gain momentum as I go.  I don't really know what people are getting from my content (if anything), but as a writer it doesn't really hinder me to keep writing, regardless of feedback.

Maybe I should leave an email address:  jdh112683@yahoo.com

You can contact me directly through my email.  Let me know what you think about my blog, my reviews, my experiences, my upcoming book, or whatever you want to talk about.  I'd be happy to hear from you.

Blogging is the best forum to leave a lot of raw information.  Sure, I clean it up a little, but this is basically like writing in a journal.  I get to write about what's going on in my life, with my work, or whatever I feel like writing about.  It's an outlet for me, and a window into my life for readers.  I love it.

Twitter:  I haven't been very successful with Twitter, but at least it's not hard to use.  All I have to do is log on whenever something significant happens (or if I feel like shouting something into the digital realm).  The truth is, I'm not really sure what makes good Twitter content.  I know it has to be short, it shouldn't be spam, and it should invite communication between the tweeter and the followers.  Beyond that, I'm not sure.  I do my best, but I just haven't picked up steam yet.

Then, of course, there's Facebook.  I use Facebook, and have an author page, but I tend to use Facebook as a tool to communicate with other writers.  I talk to them, find out about their work, learn from them, network with them, and my life is better because of them.  It really does help to know other people with similar interests, especially if you're a writer.  The art of writing is often overlooked by those who aren't directly involved with it.

That's pretty much the extent of my social media presence.  I do have articles on Yahoo! Contributor Network, but I haven't been active on that site in a while.  I prefer writing fiction, although my YCN articles have brought home more money at this point.  It should be noted that I only have two short stories available at the moment, and I haven't really broke out of my stable when it comes to my independent publishing potential.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

So, what is good content for social media?  That's hard to say.  I would guess that there are as many opinions as there are people who use the sites.  With so many opinions, how does anyone know how to catch the attention of potential readers?

That's something I'd like feedback on, because I'm still not sure.  My plan has always been, to write.  I will write the fiction I feel inspired to write.  I will blog about what I think is relevant and interesting.  I will tweet the more significant moments of my writing career.  I will update Facebook in ways that inform my friends about what I'm doing, and what to expect.  I will do these things to the best of my ability, and learn more as I go.

Although tedious at times, I view social networking as an overall positive experience.  I would have never been able to network with the writers I've met without Facebook, and I cherish being able to share my thoughts by blogging about them.

I always want more feedback than I get, but I think that's probably true for anyone in my position.  Therefore, I sit back, continue to write, continue to connect, continue to learn, and invite the opinions of others to share in my personal journey as a writer.

Once again, to contact me directly:  jdh112683@yahoo.com