What's It Like To Be A Writer?

listen to a lot of podcasts about the entertainment business. From time to time, a interview will go to an area where they just sit and dwell on the thought that they're in show business. They want to feel it and they express it well, but only when they lift their head up from what they're doing.

I'm kind of in the same boat with this writing thing. Everyday, I cross over these hurdles in my life and in my writing, and I don't take the time to appreciate that I have hurdles to overcome. Just a few minutes ago, as I was thinking about some of the topics I was writing about, I had that thought. That today, I wouldn't be doing anything more than what I want to do without having to answer to anyone. And it made me super fucking happy.

Neglecting The Keyboard, Creative Business and Revenge

This is close to being a personal post about me and my life. But, it's also about this uphill battle because my attitude has a lot to do with my business. So with that in mind, let me lay it down with what I went through over the past three days.

Long Time No Write!

This image is under License: CC0 Public Domain / FAQ by jarmoluk

I think that most of the time, I really do enjoy writing. I recently got a tablet with a keyboard case that will let me go mobile, only to find that it had the wrong cable that lets me connect the tablet to the keyboard. So, I went out on the town and had my most non-productive three days of just getting shit housed and not writing at all. Even with a tablet, the thumb writing thing was just not going to work for me. So, I lost a lot of writing time, but now I'm slowing getting back to it. Kind of makes me feel like I dropped the ball. 

King Of My Own Late Night Show

"The kings of late-night, Leno and Letterman" is under License Some rights reserved by Jon Seidman 1988

But I didn't drop the ball on the business deals I was cutting, or at least trying to. Because over that three day period, I was brainstorming with some people about creating something new. You know how drunk talk starts getting deep sometimes, and in this case, we were getting deep into the creative aspect of things. So I did feel like I was doing something and now that I got a stage to put shows on, I have to get to work on that quickly and now. So yes, I was off the grid for three days but got back on it as soon as I could and started working out this angle with people I know. We'll definitely see what happens but then again, I want it to happen. So, it has to happen!

My Commitment To The Service Industry

Bartending in Chadron, Nebraska is under License Some rights reserved by Kables

Those places where I've been making my rounds are in my old stomping grounds. So, it only makes sense for me to bring up crap with these people in the service industry. We've got to talk about something, right? So I found some people who were interested, and while I do like to reminisce of  having some part in all of it, I kind of hate the service industry. Like, under my breath cause, maybe I don't own my own bar yet. Eventually, that should happen too, next to the late night show I was just talking about.  Yes, many people just treat it like a job, but I treat it as a way of life. 

Writing For Fun Versus Writing For Work

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Everyone can do what they want. I do however ask that people consider treating writing like more than just work. Sometimes, I'll read something on Hubpages or the Examiner and see nothing but formula from people who have been doing it like that for years. 

They're not interested in talking, it seems. They just talk like they're talking you down or something. Also, scheduling things are important but don't be all anal about it. If you have a good idea, jot it down when you're not working seems pretty natural to me. But some people just ignore that when they're off. I even wrote more now because I don't treat it like work. 

Also, I ran into a lot of people who were a lot like someone I knew who died this past week. Real pricks. We had new fights, new arguments about me and my character; but I'm just not going to let them win. I was very vocal about my pleasure that this dude passed away. Maybe I'll be more vocal about it today. I do kind of feel like I won on that one. I'll leave you hanging on that until I come back here and write some more. 

Facebook Gives-In, Under Pressure

Bubbles is under License Some rights reserved by pedrosek

So just what the fuck happened a few days ago? The people at the content site Bubblews are still trying to figure that out. According to the C.E.O's latest update, Facebook got such a response from Bubblews supporters that, not only did Facebook bring back the Bubblews page but they also put back all the links they had originally removed.

Here's an example where something gets put back right where it was as if nothing ever happened. That gives me a little bit of hope for better things in the world, but I'm not about ready to pack it in with the negativity yet. The world is still a shitty place and I'm fond of eating so much shit these days that drastic changes to my diet will probably kill me. 

The Content Site Killer Attacks!!!

Sorozatgyilkos fehér cápa is under License Some rights reserved by lwpkommunikacio

Yep. A few weeks ago I wrote a post about some potential set backs with changes to the way social networking services are making things a bit difficult for content sites. Well, there was another mild set back this last week, which is determined by who you ask. It's more of a set back for the content site service than for us writers. (The Truth About Why Bubblews Why Removed By Facebook)

After some extra clicking here and there, I finally found what looked like the reason for why Facebook went after them. It's manageable because I can still get around the problem by going through pinterest or twitter. The only issue is that I can't really set my sites on using the page I created for it, since pinterest and twitter automatically post. I would have to create a new post in tumblr or some other blog and post the link there. (Facebook Considers Bubblews A Spam Distributor)

All of this is disheartening because the powers behind the internet are obviously shifting to push or squash the little guy and everything is going to be bottle-necked so they can monetize traffic they consider relevant or irrelevant and that's scary. But it's happening.

It made me also think about how there's a gap between what the mega social networking services do and the smaller ones do. The other day there was a TedTalk video shown to us at school about how Starkbuck's business model is all about customer service. That's it. It's not about coffee, it's about the customer.

So imagine is that were also the case with this? Imagine that a revenue-sharing service were generous enough to think in terms of more for the people who do the work, like writers, instead of for their stock holders? There's nothing wrong with the little guy but suddenly, content isn't quality to those who make the rules and everyone has to play their game or suffer being left out. (Bubblews Invests In People, Facebook Invests In Algorithm)

But we all have these little digital social bubbles now, where we can start our own Facebook if we want to. It's something I've thought about more and more, because it's times like these I wish there was a better plan than to bend to the will of Facebook, like create my own Facebook. (I Would Create My Own 'Facebook' Site To Help, But I Can't)

If I were in Bubblews' shoes, I would feel like Saverin when Zuckerberg fucks him over in the end. That's pretty much what just happened here. 

Shifting Gears Around Content Site Killer

I didn't have to put off writing the about section for this blog, but for now, I'll just write what I have to say and throw in what this blog is supposed to be about.

This blog is about the difficulty of writing and getting paid for it. More to the point, it's about my uphill battle with making it a success. For now, things seem to have improved. At the same time, there have been drastic changes and me being forced to switch gears, feels like I'm eating shit again, but I'm going to keep trying.

Online Content Services

Alright so here's the deal. In one of the revenue-sharing services I use most, there was a post that said both Hubpages and Squidoo were merging together in the next few weeks. This comes just when I'm starting to get into using either service. The layout is great and the demand for quality posts is very high. What better way to cut my teeth on the thing? I need the discipline along with the money.

Which also brings the Amazon associates program I just rejoined. There's some extra effort that has to be made with the integration of a plug in to get the html for the widget embedded in the text, but otherwise I could just use a hyperlink. It doesn't look as good nor is it a guarantee that it will drive traffic to the area. I'm still very green on this, but taking the time to learn it and use it as much as I can.

Here in the next few days, another service that I use called allvoices is switching to a new layout but also deleting content and yet, another service Yahoo contributor is doing the same during the first week of September. I already knew about these services before I knew about Hubpages and Squidoo. That shit just dropped on me during the last few days. 

If that's not enough, Teckler is a shitty service that hasn't even had activity from it's admins as they seem to have completely abandon it in April. Their twitter account, the site is now only full of spam with every post. The thing is that at all of these sites, I have posts and I haven't made the decision whether to recycle them or not.

Abandon My Posts?

Last year and well into this year, I kept track of my posts in a separate file. I was doing pretty good, but for only one of the services. The other ones I figured I would catch up with later. That's a mistake to go along with another one I make which was to delete the file I had before. 

This is where I'm supposed to just take the time to do what I set myself to do but I don't have that discipline and never got around to it. So, I have too much work in front of me and I kind of feel like there's no point to recovering any of them. At this point it would be stupid for me to try and so I need to just cut my losses and move on. 

Let them disappear. I can improve on them in a different way later. Of course, I still need to find some way to keep track of these things so I'm doing round-up posts for all of them in my many blogs. Let me explain how this is going to work.

As I write throughout the day, each post will go into it's own category which will be:

• writing
• personal
• current events
• ideas

At the very least, this is what I'll have and at the end of every day, I will take each of those posts and link them in a new blog post for their matching sites. For instance, the writing related stuff will come here and I will write a description for each image associated with the hyperlink. It would be my hope to write a post specifically for each link, but that might not be necessary because of the Rebel Mouse site I also have, where every post goes to. 

Because when I create the round-up post, they will be posted to the Rebel Mouse site for viewing. For whatever reason that seems to be the right thing to do and I haven't stopped to really think about it to make sure, but I'm almost certain it's right. Because it's all about sharing to the social networks and directing traffic to the right destinations. 

I have to check the analytics for these things and this is the best way how. It's also because each of these services: wordpress, tumblr, blogger have html coding that will let me embed Amazon code, and I can sure as shit try to push that stuff the best I can.

A Second Chance

Right now Bubblews doesn't let me plug in things like Hubpages and Squidoo did, but I do have a chance to try and do that here because I get it now. It's constantly being said that the content has to be engaging so now that I know that, I'll be more flexible with my posts. I've already started getting into the habit of making that happen and it's a better experience for me as it makes me feel like I'm finally getting some shit done.

Unless blogger, tumblr and wordpress go the way of the dodo, I still have a place to post my content with no problem and keep trying.

Picking up the slack on neglected accounts

"cmw3_d40_dsc_446_cropped-300" is a morgueFile free photo By snowbear

As soon as I wake up, I'm back on this thing called the computer to keep grinding out some more text. I've got a "big" return for another dew-dew to my blog that I let go of a few months ago. Tomorrow, there should be new stories posted so I have to make it back to that point.

But what I want to talk about right now are some of the services I've neglected, which is another reason why I started last night's project The Live Write-Now Experiment where I write for hours and hours straight through until I collapse. Four hours of sleep is a good number since I last remember that it had just been five o'clock on my watch and I woke up close to nine. 

According to one service I use the most, I've already reached my posting limit so I'm forced to move onto the other ones, one of them is not a blog posting service but does pay for reviewing music and I'm about due to listen to some. This service is called slicethepie. It pays the minimum of ten dollars at twice a week. I could use that about now, so it's at the top of my to-do list.

Uh oh, I just had to do a password reset and confirm my email again because it seems that a few things might have changed. The last time I was on here which was already a year ago, they made some changes with playlists, for now it looks the same. 

While that's going on, I thought more about chasing the SEO dragon today. It's already taking me a long time to get everything written, posted and shared and SEO is going to take longer, but I'll try to do it as quickly as possible, which is yet, another reason why I'm going for the experiment so that I can get used to completing those tasks. 

All of this so that I can try a shot at achieving my one goal.

UPDATE 9:50 am: slicethepie Doesn't seem to either have any tracks to review or there's something wrong with my browser. Moving on.

Mark, J. (2014, June 7). The First Saturday Morning Dew-Dew. Thee Incendiary Witchboard. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from https://snakehorse.wordpress.com/2014/06/07/snake-nuts/

Mark, J. (2014, August 1). “Eat Shit or Die Trying: Anger Studies & The Conflict Network”. : [Shared Post] "The Live Write-Now Experiment!" (House of card-board). Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://angerstudies.blogspot.com/2014/08/shared-post-live-write-now-experiment.html

Mark, J. (2014, July 31). "Internet writing is what I need to do". Bubblews. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.bubblews.com/news/5125320-internet-writing-is-what-i-need-to-do

Mark, J. (2014, August 1). "Moving write along". Bubblews. Retrieved August 1, 2014, from http://www.bubblews.com/news/5118721-moving-write-along

[Shared Post] "The Live Write-Now Experiment!" (House of card-board)

Jon Mark posted: " Okay. I don't feel like sleeping right now. As a matter of fact, just to piss off the folks at home, I've decided to stay up and try a little experiment. This experiment will have me writing and posting as quickly as I can about anything and everythin" Jon Mark (rotgod@gmail.com) shared a post from Thee Incendiary Witchboard “The Live Write-Now Experiment!” (House of card-board) by Jon Mark Okay. I don't feel like sleeping right now. As a matter of fact, just to piss off the folks at home, I've decided to stay up and try a little experiment. This experiment will have me writing and posting as quickly as I can about anything and everything that's on my mind. Nothing is wasted […] Read more of this post Jon Mark | 2014/08/01 at 2:31 am | Tags: keep writing, productive, stay up, write-now experiment | Categories: writer's block | URL: http://wp.me/p1TXoo-GU Comment    See all comments Change your email settings at Manage Notifications. Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://snakehorse.wordpress.com/2014/08/01/the-live-write-now-experiment-house-of-card-board/ Thanks for flying with WordPress.com