Now, before anyone starts jumping on my case, let me clarify. I DO believe writing is a real job . . . but only when it starts paying some of the bills.
Until it helps cover part of the rent - or at least lets me afford a quick vacation to some place tropical - I consider it a passion.
Today, I had an interview for a position I'm really hoping to land, and believe it or not, I think my recent manuscript drama may have helped further my cause.
One of the big responsibilities of the new position is to have a good eye for proof reading. In fact, before my interview I had to go to a temporary agency to have my skills efficiency tests done. This time Excel & Word brought a friend along with them. Proof Reading.
I had to go through a "letter" fraught with errors, fix it up and make it purty. 68 errors to be found, I was told - though I forgot to count *slaps forehead*.
So all those months of reading over my manuscript with tireless detail paid off. (Would consider it an even better pay off if I get agent representation, but I'm working on that)
The only DRAWBACK, was fighting the urge to re-word things to make the letter sound better. The directions implicitly stated not to do that, and it was sooooo hard to resist. I'd spent months learning how to make things sound more fluid, it was torture to leave bad writing in the letter.
I guess when you train a monkey, you have to take the good with the bad. ;o)
