March

It's been a whirlwind first part of the year, hasn't it?  I need not discuss the state of our nation or the world here, but I assume you understand what I mean.  As for my Etsy shop, I've been receiving an increase in writing service inquiries.  This has been a blessing because, as you know, I'm an academically trained writer with an MA degree.  However, one thing that clients frequently ask for is editing done within 24 hours.  I unfortunately can't meet this requirement right now.  Firstly, writing and editing is a process that takes intense concentration and time to complete.  For me, at least.  I look over a piece many times before I am happy with the edits I've made.  Secondly, I contact the client with my questions on the piece, and don't start editing until I hear back from them - these questions can include tone, content, word choice, a need for more detail(s), etc.  And lastly, I have a busy home life that includes a very mobile toddler whose love for conversation and books takes precedent over all else in the moment.  I edit in the in-between moments, in the wee morning and twilight hours, during nap time.  And the wait is entirely worth it.

Visit my main website here.

A Burning Question

This might not be a burning question, but it's one that I've received lately about my writing services.  The question is: "Can you write blog entry content for me?"  I answer yes, but that I would need a rough draft, or at least an outline, of the content for direction.  (Static is then heard on the other end...)  The line of inquiry proceeds: "I need you to come up with the content.  I don't have time to write it."  My next email explains that I don't write content without an outline or rough draft because there's many ways in which the content could be written--and that my listing description clearly explains the type of writing I do, and why.

After that, I don't hear back from the potential client...

The thing is, I am a writer with an MA degree, but what I write is based solely on the information the client provides.  I do not pull ideas out of thin air, although I do add to ideas--nor do I allow them to materialize in front of me without the client's input: there are just so many directions in which the content can go.  Tone, for instance.  Upbeat and conversational, or professional and polished?  Word choice is another direction, as is content, organization, sentence structure, voice, etc.  Voice is especially important because it tells the reader who the writer is.  If there is a discrepancy between any of these elements in a written work, the reader will know.  Many times, we don't give the reader enough credit for noticing.  My academic training, as tough as it was for me, undoubtedly contributed to my detail-oriented writing style.  Academics taught me how to look critically at the writing process from all perspectives: brainstorming, organization, word choice, structure, clarity, and length.  Taught me that each word holds a different weight in a sentence.  That each statement matters.

Inadvertently, the high-brow culture of academics taught me something interesting: humility.  After six drafts of one chapter, you learn firsthand how to be humble and deft.  You learn new ways of writing and seeing the world, and you learn how to edit and write with relevance and a critical eye.  This is why I provide quality content writing services through my main site, theintrovertedwriter.com, in addition to my Etsy shop.  The writer, the written word, the content--it all matters.

Read my writer's FAQs: theintrovertedwriter.com/faqs.html

Brainstorming a New Year

Is is already one week into the new year?  People say that the years go by faster when you're older, and I think they're right.  As for the shop, I have to get moving on designing some new jewelry designs that I've, over the past few days, been diligently brainstorming.  Also on the to-do list is to take photos of an evocative interchangeable dangle set that I hadn't gotten around to photographing during the busy holidays.  If you're interested, the two-dangle set is garnet and smoky quartz (rustic, dark, and lovely!).  The weather here has been rainy and the sky a brilliant-though-muting gray, so a photo session will have to wait until there's some sunlight.  Natural light will make the photo angles and colors pop on this lush piece.  Been rewriting content on my blog pages for clarity and relevance, too.

Now that it's the new year, and I've been making jewelry for over five, one would think I'd have a handle on these shop-related tasks.  Ha!  It's almost as if each year follows the beat of its own drum--some years are more productive than others, and each has its own fine-tuned focus while should-be focuses blur into the background.  Only to find themselves at the forefront, once again, when the creative process shifts.  Same goes for my writing.  As the pendulum swings.

via Instagram

One thing that fortunately doesn't fit this go-with-the-flow mentality is my focus on custom orders.  Whether for writing services, jewelry, or wedding goods, I keep up with the momentum; I do not fall behind.  I stick to deadlines, give each order my all, and maintain an intense, sustained focus that I later wonder about and attempt to replicate with brainstorming and making new non-custom pieces.  Nothing builds determination more than a deadline.  I've learned that honing a craft takes much practice, and this practice comes in many forms--one just has to persevere through the creative process, find equal footing through it all.  Generating ideas is one form of practice; actually sitting down to create a piece is another.  I'm still learning about sentence structure and timing when I work on writing orders, still learning new jewelry-making techniques even after five years.  I'll take the daily grind of life over its grandeur any day.  

Sparseness of Space

via Pinterest

This may seem a little austere, but I'd love to partake in some serious writing and thinking in this workspace of writer E.B. White.  Some may see an empty space, sparse and rudimentary, but in it I see a readymade canvas ripe with possibilities--a space for thought and imagination, for developing and molding ideas to fulfill a creative, spirited slant.  A site for daydreaming plots and character flaws, a room where one can pace back and forth in, amble around while lost in thought: hearing the floorboards creak underfoot, seeing the cobwebs dangle and the spiders weave, and feeling a bold thrill when the wind breezes through the wide-open window--the smell of outside air a welcome revival for the weary senses.  Ambient light mirroring the body's circadian rhythms, as if whispering the time constraints (dawn and dusk, only); a rigid wooden bench urging movement of body and mind.  Solace and continuity.

But most of all, this desolate-seeming workspace is a fitting reprieve from everyday distractions: the cellphone and the Internet; and on occasion, people.  Writing is hard work--it's a temperamental business, especially with distractions everywhere that masquerade as modern daily conveniences.  Sometimes another's voice can be the breaking point between concentration and the loss of thought; a text message can be an aberration; the Internet so loud that the mind clogs with an endless barrage of others' wordiness, in particular, rampant self-promotion over quality and content.  It's an overstimulating technicolor gleam.  Not all the time, but sometimes.  I myself feel the pull, down the dark rabbit hole of it all.  Not every day, but on some days.  Distracted, the writer sighs; she grumbles and drags herself, heavy-footed, back to the drawing board...

Perhaps writing is one task where I'd love to be completely alone: solitary and lost in thought, a laptop sans Internet, my imagination flitting through cracks in the floor, encompassing the sparse accommodations, the senses alight.

The Literary Class

Came across this thoughtful article, by Lorraine Berry, about the economics behind writing-class privilege.  Thought I'd share an except here (emphases are my own):

If literature is to mean something in the lives of those who read it, it has to do more than open up a new world of possibilities. Many of us have been the child (and adult) who was mesmerized by dreaming about doing the things that a book’s characters are doing. But, as I teach my students, reading is also about resonance, that moment of connection when what the writer is feeling in the words is being felt by the reader, that strum in the chest that signals that someone “gets” it. And while I might feel emotional resonance, I find myself longing to know that someone else understands what it feels like to know that the plain breakfast cereal in the cupboard is all there is until a parent gets paid. Literature should not function as a dividing line between the haves and the have-nots, just as the expansion of the literary world to more fairly represent a world in which people are more than white or male or straight has added untold riches to the canon, so too would the stories of working-class folk go a long way toward improving our representation of and understanding of the greater world. Most important, at least for me, knowing that it’s not class or money that determines whose writing is worth publishing would make me feel less like a fraud when I encourage my students to pursue a career in a publishing field where they’re already steps behind those whose economic privilege has already opened doors.

I have been hesitant to write this essay, lest it come across as mere personal complaint—if there’s one thing most working-class folks have little tolerance for, it’s complaining when there’s nothing that’s really wrong. At the same time, the creation of literature demands a certain honesty about one’s experiences, that we might narrow the gaps between our fellow human beings. In making art, writing about my experiences gives me a space in which to create resonance, and be truthful. There have been times in my life I’ve wished I had the money or the connections that would allow me to travel around the world for a year, to write a book about everything I’d seen and felt. And then I remind myself that I come from a long line of men and women who have survived being poor peasants, and then survived working down in the mines, and on the floors of the factories of Manchester. My father was a little boy when his family moved out of the Manchester slums and into a semi-detached house away from the urban-industrial grime. That’s a legacy to be proud of. And so, as I go forward, I choose to keep writing about that kind of working-class experience, to continue carving out a place for that kind of story in what we think of as literature.

Read the entire article here.

Getting the Hang of It

How are you all doing?  I feel like it's been awhile (again...) since I've touched bases with you beyond the holiday hubbub and the showcasing of new shop items.  So here I am, shifting the subject to more humanlike thoughts--because humanity is what really matters when it comes down to it.  On the EC | TIW front, I actively started utilizing my Twitter account, while also writing here and posting on Instagram (see this blog entry for my dilemma about this).  First, I was confused about what to post on each site: the same information, but condensed?  Different information?  Have each social media account reflect different aspects of my shop?  Unnervingly, a cacophony of thoughts stormed my mind; I felt like I was in over my head.  Overstimulated to the max.  Finally, I decided to post what I wanted to, which has become fun for the following reasons:

1. Twitter's word-count limit lets me play around with words: those with varying weight, illustrative potential, and wit--to include as I see fit.  

2.  Instagram has been helpful to pull together photography and writing into shortened posts, with an emphasis on photos.

3. My blog, which remains my favorite mode of communication, allows me the space to write freely, and creatively, without word-count limits and ergonomic annoyances (i.e.:smartphone keyboard).  Although my mind goes a-mile-a-minute, I type very slowly; I think too fast and my hands can't keep up unless I use a regular keyboard.

Content varies per site depending on what works better for me: quick, pulsing writing for Twitter; evocative photos and their accompanying words for IG; chronicling the thought process via in-depth writing for this blog.  Together, it's a fun, exhilarating challenge that forces me to learn and use new words in the process.  (And you know how I love a good word...)

Bottom line:
What at first felt overwhelming and scary--the balancing of, and posting on, three social media accounts--is now something I look forward to on a weekly basis.  (Pinterest doesn't count because pinning visual inspiration is easy.)  I love playing around with words and ideas to fit these very different social-media platforms because it keeps my writer's brain happy.  It's only then that I can concentrate fully, without interruption from my ever-roving mind, on making jewelry and book page goods, plus crafting quality writing services, during this busy holiday season.  With practice, things have become more manageable.

On Writing More

This blog entry was increasingly difficult to write, so bear with me.  Creativity is a potent drink for magical thinking, but it can also be the source of all-encompassing agony.  It makes one person cry, while another buzzes with inspiration, and yet another metaphorically tears out her hair in frustration.  Over the process and its tumultuous fits and starts, the (in)ability to surmount an artistic blockage.  For the difficulty is always this: the process.  By making art, sometimes more of our imperfect inner selves is revealed than we can handle, and as a result, leaves us emotionally and mentally drained (and feeling vulnerable...).  Yet, when we can harness our artistic natures and surmount that creative block, oh, is it crafty magic.  If I could somehow distill creativity and inspiration into a bottle...

Sometimes I forget to draw a line between work and life, between obsessing over the details and just fully living each day.  It is a decision that can be difficult to make.  This is why I write and make jewelry and book page goods: tedium is released, the once-academic in me gets some mental exercise, and new jewelry ideas again surge with productive energy.  Writing tends to center me, while jewelry making is an energetic task.  Basically, I love them for different reasons.  It would be easy to concentrate only on jewelry making (and wedding goods), but I continue writing because it keeps me sane, endlessly inspired, and still.

Stillness is particularly important for those like me with ever-roving minds.  With stillness comes the ability to concentrate fully on the task at hand; this is especially helpful when it comes to writing.  Through personal writing, for instance, deeply held words are dripped onto paper out of my subconscious--I am often left wondering, after jotting them down, where the words had come from.  And with my writing services, a bit of myself is poured into this work, whether it is a well-turned phrase, a particular word choice, or even a stylistic lilt in sentence structure.  Every writer leaves her mark in subtle ways; I can tell when my writing has been modified by others for their own gain--but that is (kind of) not the point being made here.  The point is: by occasionally changing up my shop goals, the energy and mental clarity that is tapped into positively shifts my perspective on both work and life.  As a refreshing result, there is less obsessing over the creative block, and more constructive assessment of the direction of things.  I know that I am not alone in experiencing this.

Also, I know that balance is needed in all aspects of life if we are to function as the complex human beings we are.  After an intensive flurry of jewelry making, I am, humbly, writing more (present tense).  If all goes well, I will share some of that writing here.  Unlike my grad school days, writing more is no longer a chore; I no longer liken writing to the pulling of teeth without anesthesia.

Instead, writing is catharsis: it is the lifeblood of my existence.

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I've also written about the writing process here and here.  

The Story Behind EC | TIW

If you're a long-time reader of this blog, or even a new follower, it's likely you've picked up on the fact that I am a private person, meaning that a public persona is not something that I strive to maintain.  To build a readership or cultivate a "brand" is not my goal (although my Instagram and Pinterest accounts sort of serve that purpose).  Instead, I've written here about subjects that matter to me, whether or not they coalesce with current social trends.  Specifically, I am more interested in the development, inspiration, and growth of ideas over time, the careful crafting of an ideological spark rather than the instant gratification of a broadly defined idea.  To me, the grist of ideas is not bound by trend, although it is certainly influenced by this societal undertow.

The story behind EC | TIW is simple, resulting from the spark of an unbounded idea.  This blog started shortly after I opened my shop back in 2010; the maintenance of shop and blog occurred simultaneously as I juggled the difficult task of, and learned how to, market my items while staying true to my goal of professionalism, non-pushy promotion, and yes, privacy.  This public-private split is something I still grapple with.

In 2013, I added the "TIW" acronym to my shop name and started my main site, but only after obtaining a hard-earned Master's degree.  My thesis, a literary, theoretically driven five-chapter work, took over three years to write--revision after revision, reworked chapter after chapter.  I've likened this academic process to "pulling teeth," which I've documented in this blog.  Although a difficult process, the experience gave me the tools to draft a quality written work; added palpable substance to the existing writer in me.  Humbled me when I felt I had exhausted all possibilities.

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My writing explores the depth right below the surface, the purposeful meaning behind a subject, without resorting to overly romanticized language or cliches (unless the client prefers this).  Let's face it: anyone can write using flowery language, but it takes a hard-scrabble writer to introduce, build on, and deliver a clearly organized idea while being mindful of the entire work's aim.

The deeper current behind "TIW": Over the past few years, I became increasingly concerned over the proliferation of online writing, since this writing tends to lack quality and a clear voice (amid spelling, punctuation, and grammatical blunders).  I know that I am not alone in this observation.  So you can imagine how seeing punctuation and spelling errors, gaps in logic and organization, and other English-language mistakes online, and in print, endlessly frustrate me.  If we can speak correct English, then we can certainly take the time to write it--or at least have a writer/editor help out in this regard.  With my writing and editing services, I will work on your writing from the bottom up--depending on your goals--to edit, clarify, and polish your words without hype, gimmicks, and cliches.

It is important to state that not all writers are equal in terms of the quality of their craft.  This quality-versus-quantity divide is most observable in pricing and marketing strategy.  For my writing services, I strongly abide by quality rather than by quantity, which is reflected in my pricing.  For instance, I recently edited a 1.5-page single-spaced eulogy that took me four hours to complete, which included fine tuning the cadences of speech to give the words a poetic, memorial-worthy feel.  This type of editing is not cheap, but the heirloom-quality writing will last a lifetime.  When a writer/editor emphasizes value and precision in their work, the physical acts of editing and writing are not as easy or simple as they seem: the process is much like pulling teeth.  By hand and without anesthesia.  However, in my experience, one never arrives at the finish line without first overcoming struggle.  This journey may take days or weeks to complete, but is worth it--good solid writing in itself is worth it.

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In the role of writer/editor, I add readability and value to your writing by polishing, tightening up, and organizing your words with quality tools gained from experience.  I will delete sentences, rearrange them, and clarify their intended meaning to the best of my ability while working within your price range.  With purpose and the utmost care, I simply (via an all-but-simple process) edit and write.  This is my ongoing journey into the public realm--and I do not take it lightly.

I have previously written about the writing process here and here.

Tentative Steps

Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. 
- Gandhi

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I've been working on a short story for the past five months or longer; the exact span of time has since been forgotten, tucked away somewhere between the anonymity of fall and the chaotic frenzy of winter.  It was my goal to be brave and post snippets of this story in this here humble blog.  But then I decided, last minute, to shutter this idea away into the back of my mind after my writing was plagiarized for profit by someone else.  (If you don't know this story and wish to find out more, read my January 2015 blog entries.)  The Internet is truly a complex space, mixed with those who want to make a quick buck and those who want to earn an honest dollar.

I fall into the latter category, if you had any question about it.

Interestingly enough, the holding off on publishing my story here allowed for me to revisit and further develop this writing, delve into specific areas that left gaps in the narrative, and fiercely work on a consistent tone and voice that was inconsistent in the previous draft.  I deleted entire paragraphs, even the ones I loved writing and did not want to part with; danced around vulnerability and depth of emotion before realizing that those very elements were integral parts that were missing in the story; added vulnerability and emotional depth to the tune of heartbreaking melancholy meets hopeful reality.  A difficult task, indeed, when all around you buds are blossoming and the sun is shining.

I've always been a consistent editor; I edit until I am out of breath.  Writing comes intuitively to me.  Occasionally, imperfections and fleeting moments of critical self-assessment surface, for I am only human, but I continue onward.  I edit until my eyes cross; work and work until the words break my heart in the most poetic way possible.  A literary turn of phrase; a burning image that stays in one's mind for days on end; a single word in a sentence that holds such a powerful meaning that it is merely reflex to pause for a moment on its significance.  Of course I am talking here about the literary greats, but I am still learning, working my way through it all.

My yet-to-be-posted story is a shining example of this full-fledged determination to fight for not only my words, but also for my strength of character, and it feels right.  I will post the story in snippets here--but only when it feels right to do so.