A to Z Challenge 2024: Day 5: Editing

 

Image by Chen from Pixabay

I won't bother counting the words in this post until I paste them into my rebellious catch-all Camp NaNoWriMo document. I already know this one will surpass the hundred-word limit.

So, what does editing have to do with anxiety, you may be asking. Does editing make you anxious?

Quite the opposite. My feelings on editing range from neutral to positive. However, I very recently made the decision to let editing do the heavy lifting when it comes to earning income from literary pursuits so my writing can become therapeutic again. In attempting to generate social currency through submitting stories to anthologies on a monthly basis, I was starting to feel like a content mill. 

I wasn't enjoying writing anymore. Since writing is an addiction that won't kill me as quickly as booze and drugs, falling out of love with it is catastrophic. I no longer had any place to channel my anxiety, and the fragile peace I'd formed with myself was falling apart fast. 

Editing is a skill I've become adept at rather than a craft that holds profound personal importance for me. The fact that editing does not have the same significance has allowed writing to return to being a healing force rather than a source of misery. 

And now for something completely different!

No, not a man with three buttocks. 

It's an act of shameless self-promotion.

If you're looking for a line and copy editor plus a very nitpicky (but never harsh) proofreader, check out the details here. 

https://ornerybookemporium.blogspot.com/p/ornery-literary-services.html

Mention that you saw the link here and take advantage of a fifty percent discount. 

I never thought that editing would be helpful in combating anxiety, but it is, at least for me.

Some people might find the reverse to be true.

~Ornery Owl Has Speaken Spoken~

Image by Çiğdem Onur from Pixabay

"Sorry to hear that He Who Must Not Be Named stole your broom, Harry, but I can keep you company on the way to the Mystical Library. Say, did I ever tell you about the time I reviewed this book that contained almost nothing but really bad dialogue? I joke you not! There were barely any setting or action descriptions. Just bad dialogue, terrible dialogue, and worse dialogue. Did I mention the dialogue was bad? It was really awful. The absolute worst!"

"Sort of like this conversation, then?"

"Yes, exactly! My brain hurt so much when I finally finished with that mess!"

https://odysee.com/@RetroSynthMusic:d/synthwave-retrosynth-kswv-radio-20:2?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

If He Who Must Not Be Named hadn't also stolen Harry's earbuds and super wizardy phone, he'd surely be listening to the Wacky Submission Wednesday Synthwave mix!

Ugly Fat Old Failure Intro

 

Image created by the author with free-use elements from Pixabay plus text art and enhancements from Pixlr. Base images by Dina Dee and John Hain from Pixabay. The woman depicted is an AI creation, not an actual person.

The reasons for the war I am about to wage date back decades, even centuries in some cases. I was not around in this form centuries ago, but I may have been there in a different one. However, this book is not about reincarnation. I will strive to remain on topic. Having ADHD means going off on unrelated tangents is a far from slim possibility.

I am a woman. A large woman. A woman who has been on the planet for close to six decades. A woman whom no-one would ever mistake for cute, hot, pretty, sexy, or any other such thing that all women are supposed to be in order to be judged momentarily worthy of attitudes other than outright disdain. This explains the presence of the unflattering adjective Ugly in the title. Personally, I feel both Old and Fat are neutral descriptors, but all too many people use these words as insults.

As for the descriptor Failure, my reason for choosing that word stems from an article I read several years ago. Sadly, I don’t remember the name of the person who wrote the article. I believe she was a doctor attending a conference. When she expressed the opinion that shaming larger patients did nothing to improve their well-being and, in fact, prompted them to avoid seeking medical care, many of her fellow physicians laughed at her. One even commented something along the lines of “do you think coddling these losers will do anything to improve their failed lives?”

This is exactly the way many doctors feel about their larger patients. It is an attitude encouraged by medical schools. I somehow survived nursing school without offing myself or anyone else. Fatphobic attitudes are prevalent AND encouraged in nursing schools. They were also prevalent in the hospitals where I did my clinicals. In fairness, the staff at one of these hospitals treated a very large woman suffering from depression severe enough that she had become nonverbal and unable to care for herself with great kindness, never shaming her for her size or for not responding. It is one of the few times I have seen a fat patient treated with real compassion.

Fatphobic attitudes were not encouraged in the EMS program I attended. We were trained that our goal was to help patients get the care they need, not to scold or belittle them. Even if they were chronic substance abusers (known in the business as Frequent Fliers.) Even if they were extremely heavy. Even if they lived in squalid surroundings. The reasoning for this (sensible) rule was a practical one. Shaming patients does not encourage them to get the care they need. We are there to help them get care.

Here are your three options for reading the rest of the chapter:

https://odysee.com/@crazycreativescheerleadingcamp:2/intro-ufof:e?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Purchase the PDF for 100 LBC (approximately $1) on Odysee. This is the preferred option for anyone who would like to support my work but doesn't want to commit to a monthly subscription.

https://reamstories.com/naughtynetherworldpress

Subscribe to the $5 tier (Sneak Peeks) on Ream. This gives you early access to chapters from all my independent works plus Lil DeVille's naughty one-off stories if that's your sort of thing. 

https://open.substack.com/pub/naughtynetherworldpress/p/ugly-fat-old-failure?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Subscribe to the official Naughty Netherworld Press Substack. There are only two options with this one, free and $5 per month. The Substack subscription gives you pretty much the same thing as the Sneak Peeks tier on Ream. 

Another Book Beginning: Don't Write a Novella In 24 Hours

 

The following is an excerpt from another of my nonfiction WIPs. This one is called Don't Write a Novella In 24 Hours. 

1. Introduction

First of all, it is necessary for me to state that I’m not trying to start a war with Andrew Mayne, the author of How to Write a Novella in 24 Hours. In fact, I recommend reading his book. It contains lots of useful advice in a small package. I particularly appreciated the building your author empire and book cover sections. However, I found attempting to do what the title suggests soul-crushing.

https://amzn.to/3Yu1sgU

I bought the book back in April while attempting to complete multiple creative projects. I am generally capable of creating the first draft of a 20,000-word story in ten days.

Let me introduce my writing personas. Lil DeVille is my pen name for erotica and C. L. Hart is my pen name for pretty much everything else. My poetry persona is Ornery Owl, but I publish the works under my real name. I write on mental health and recovery topics as Cara H in keeping with the ideals of recovery programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

When writing works such as this one, I am not Cara Hartley, Aspiring Poet and Hack Writer. I’m just Cara H, a fatally flawed fuckup who would love to change the world but doesn’t know what to do. I’m no better or worse than anyone else.

Truthfully, I don’t have problems with thinking I’m superior to others. Believing I’m inferior comes naturally. Toning down the acid-tongued diatribe of my inner critic, whom I call Ayce Hole, is an uphill battle. Ayce Hole is pretty much every mean girl from every teen movie combined with every abusive headmistress. She’s flat-out awful. She and Rick Springfield’s inner critic, Mr. Darkness, would probably get on like a house on fire. They both want to watch the world burn.

If you’d like to read Rick’s autobiography, you can find it here.

https://amzn.to/3qq5Dh8

I never would have guessed Rick Springfield was a kindred spirit. He seemed like someone who had it all. He’s good-looking and talented. However, looks and talent can’t heal deep emotional wounds.

Back to the April breakdown that inspired me to write this book.

I was working on a story called The Quest for Captain Sammy’s Treasure under the C. L. Hart pen name for potential inclusion in the Pirate Gold anthology from Dragon Soul Press. I’m happy to report that the story was accepted. You can follow this link to grab your copy of the anthology.

http://books2read.com/PirateGold

I was also doing a poem a day for potential inclusion in the Soul Ink anthology from Dragon Soul Press. I’m pleased to report that all 25 of the poems I submitted were accepted. You can purchase Soul Ink through the following link. I’m a poet, and I know it!

https://amzn.to/3CL4fs5

There are three options available to read the rest of the chapter.

https://odysee.com/@crazycreativescheerleadingcamp:2/dwanin24intro:a?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Purchase the PDF for 100 LBC (approximately $1) on Odysee. This is the preferred option for anyone who would like to support my work but doesn't want to commit to a monthly subscription.

https://reamstories.com/naughtynetherworldpress

Subscribe to the $5 tier (Sneak Peeks) on Ream. This gives you early access to chapters from all my independent works plus Lil DeVille's naughty one-off stories if that's your sort of thing. 

https://open.substack.com/pub/naughtynetherworldpress/p/dont-write-a-novella-in-24-hours?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Subscribe to the official Naughty Netherworld Press Substack. There are only two options with this one, free and $5 per month. The Substack subscription gives you pretty much the same thing as the Sneak Peeks tier on Ream. 

https://odysee.com/@LastScoutRadio:1/video1894846070:a?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

When I want to hear radio done right, I head for Last Scout Radio on Odysee. It's like old-school FM radio before it went to crap. 

Stick it to YouTube and subscribe to Odysee. It's free and you can find all sorts of cool and unique stuff. You can even create your own channel or channels and potentially make a coin or two. 

Dreamers, lovers, and Star Voyagers: WeWriWa: EU50

Dreamers, lovers, and Star Voyagers: WeWriWa: EU50:                                                             

Note: This is a comment that I left on Teresa Cypher's promotional post for her story, Emmily Unbound. Please click the link to check out her work.

Shock can make a person behave strangely and focus on things that seem unimportant. In 2013, there was a flood in the Boulder area. I was working in Boulder at the time. The area I lived in Lafayette was getting a hard rain but I didn't know how serious things were in Boulder. As I approached work, it became obvious that I should have called off, but I couldn't turn around. As I went over a bridge where there was normally no water underneath, a large wave rolled across the bridge and slammed into the side of my car. I managed to stay on the road, but I was terrified that I was going to be washed into the huge, choppy lake to the right of me; a lake that normally didn't exist.

The logical thing to do when I got to work would have been to change into my work clothes and start helping, as the place was in chaos. I did not do that. I walked like a zombie to the locker room, put on my swimsuit, and went to work out in the therapy pool, as I did most nights before work. As I was doing water aerobics, I heard the transformer blow outside and the lights went out. I made my way back to the locker room and was showering in the dark before the generator kicked in.

To go to the therapy pool was a bizarre choice on my part and many people would probably say "what a selfish bitch, only thinking of herself and not the chaos around her." But I was in shock.

I tell this long-winded tale to illustrate the way that shock can make a person focus on a mundane thing in order not to break down.

I had a very difficult time writing for about a month after the flood happened. I believe I was experiencing survivor guilt because many people lost everything they owned and some lost their lives. I survived my car being slammed into by that wave, and I couldn't understand why me. I did not suffer any significant loss. I felt like I did not deserve to indulge myself in writing when so many people had lost so much.

I am finally starting to understand, nearly 56 years into this life, that for me writing is not an indulgence or a hobby. It is a survival tool.

~Ornery Owl Hath Spoken~

Ornery Owl

Free use image by Open Clipart Vectors on Pixabay