What’s up
Wednesday is a blog meme that I’ve been interested in doing for a while. But I
haven’t quite gotten around to it. In the meantime here’s my What’s Up Friday.
What I’m Doing
Finishing a
resume. I haven’t written one of these in two decades. Ugh. It’s interesting
though—who knew there were fads in resume writing. I looked at resumes of
technical writers (that’s what a lot of my past jobs have been) and I
discovered some…creativity. One tech writer (currently with a very reputable
laboratory) had a resume with a “cowboy theme.” In fact, one phrase mentioned “wrangling
words and people.”
Why are there
fads in resumes? Why can’t we just list our past jobs, list our degrees, and
promise to work really hard? I mean, what else is there?
What I’m Writing
Editing. And
more editing. I’m two-thirds of the way through an edit of my latest
work-in-progress. The 2/3s mark is always writing/editing kryptonite for me. I’m
just starting to get burned out, but not quite burned out enough to say, “What
the heck.” So instead, I experience huge amounts of self-doubt. Do the themes
work? Is the character development arc legitimate? Just how underwritten is this puppy? Will
anyone want to read it? And, am I EVER going to hit the necessary word count?
What I’m Reading
Earlier this
week I got my next book to review for “Blogging for Books.” It’s A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by
Anthony Marra. I’m not far into it, but the words and phrases are so lovely. It’s
like entering a spell cast by a muse’s fairy godmother.
The setting is
interesting—Chechnya, the characters are sympathetic, and pacing is spot-on, so
I just hope, hope, hope that the author can pull off a wonderful plot. I’ll let
you know how it turns out.
If you missed
my review of the last B4B book I read, click here.
I love this, Connie! I hope you decide to join up on What's Up Wednesday. It's a great way for people to stay in touch.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your job hunt. This is something we can also do together!
A themed resume? OY. I'd think that sort of "cutesy" stuff would be very annoying. If I were looking to hire someone, I'd be more like Jack Webb: "Just the facts, ma'am." But with a wee bit of personality, of course...
ReplyDeleteLOTS of people will read your next book, so stop with the self-doubt. You've got a great thing going with your series. Honest.
Good luck with your resume. I've never heard of a themed resume, but I'll be the one you want to write, the one with all the important information and no cuteness to it, is more professional and will strike editors as such.
ReplyDeleteNot sure why resumes have to be fancy either. I guess maybe people think they're making themselves stand out?
ReplyDeleteAll of us experience what you're going through with your book. I have one I'm not sure will ever end, but I keep moving forward.
I've always heard that those themed ones don't do as well - but maybe they do?? I've haven't written one in ages either. I hope I never have to again. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm about at the 2/3 mark on one of my wips and feel just like you! :)