annehart

Fiction and how-to books for writers by Anne Hart

I have a B.S. in English Education and an M.A. in English/creative writing. During the tech bubble of the 1990s, I had the part-time luxury of writing press releases (freelance) for an emerging software company until the bubble fizzled out. But for that short span of time, the degree in English was wanted for writing.

Thereafter, I resumed writing novels...but being a technical writer/technical editor/proofreader/grammar corrector was wonderful...while the temporary freelance jobs lasted...never was offered a permanent job though...but had plenty of temporary substitute teaching opportunities in a community college now and then...Just wish someone offered me one real, permanent job where I could become financially independent, though, independent enough to buy my own home.

I loved to read just about anything and could write a screenplay in a few weeks with pretty good dialogue...Oh, well. Those were the days. I enjoyed editing and proofreading also. Worked full time to pay for my college education by temporary typing....

Readers may wish to check out a Forbes article, "That 'Useless' Liberal Arts Degree Has Become Tech's Hottest Ticket" at http://www.forbes.com/sites/georgeanders/2015/07/29/liberal-arts-degree-tech/

Always dreamed of being promoted to editor, but never was offered permanent work... I first graduated college in the early mid-1960s, when getting a liberal arts degree was one way to get a foot in the door as a file clerk/typist...if one passed the typing speed and accuracy test. I loved working with data.

So far, nobody's offered me even close to minimum wage for any permanent 'paid' job, but plenty of 'senior' volunteer offers to write, edit, tutor, or proofread for free or for less than ten dollars per written item on speculation with no pay if the work is rejected (freelance). Empty pockets work...

The only way I survived through the decades was due to my 7th grade course in touch typing, used in a series of temporary jobs. Also would have loved to work in a library back then in the 1960s. No offers of teaching on a permanent, tenured contract, either.

I worked at temporary clerking/filing/typing jobs on and off and finally resigned to being a blue-collar low income housewife in a working class neighborhood....dreaming of publishing the novels I wrote....before the Internet gave me a voice of confidence and resilience to write online after 1995. Yet writing and publishing my own historical, time travel, humorous, and adventure novels in my spare time was wonderful.

Books I wrote for major publishers went out of print quickly. My print-on-demand published novels stayed in print, even if not bought. I can cherish the life experience of writing stories, novels, plays, scripts, poems and essays whether they sold or not, and most of the time they were unknown as the decades past. Of course, for me there was no money writing fiction full-time either. Few people buy novels from unknown self-published print on demand novelists without any promotion (way too costly)....

So what do I do now that I'm rapidly rushing through those golden age years--writing for no pay each day? I'm smiling. I've had a voice in what I wrote. That's all that counts...the experience of having written something tangible from an intangible dream or idea.
College for me began back in 1959. Now I write an unpaid daily blog on writing tips, nutrition, science journalism and short stories, poems, essays, plays, and creative enhancement articles, keep a Facebook Group on writing tips alive daily with writings and links to information, and am enjoying being a smiling senior in a cozy corner (as usual, no pay for work) at: http://anne-hart-writes.blogspot.com/

Join my Facebook Group Page to see articles and links on creativity enhancement, writing information, cultures, nutrition news, and science journalism links at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthresearchnews/