Earning money by writing

This is something that comes up a lot. Writing is a business, and anyone who says different is lying to you or they're talking about writing only for themselves (which seems like the weirdest thing to me -I write so people will read and hopefully purchase what I write. If I'm going to write something that I don't want anyone to read but me, I'll either keep a journal [which I do] or sit around and pretend I'm Emily Dickinson [which I don't]). Writing for publication is a business whether an individual writer likes it or not, and it needs to be treated that way.

I'm not saying that you'll be getting a nice 401(k) unless you happen to be JK Rowling or Stephen King, and I'm not saying you need a business degree to be a writer.

What you do need is common sense and a little bit of human decency. Writers have a tendency to be weird -we revel in it as our birthright as writers. We're socially inept, awkward and often dress inappropriately. Caffeine junkies, winos, addicts and surfers of 4chan make up our numbers. But then again, so do mothers, teenagers, teachers, doctors, stock brokers and any number of other types of people some writers would be tempted to look down on as "ordinary."

Writers are everywhere, and that means competition is fierce. That means if you're eccentric, great! But don't let that be your entire personality. You still have to be able to connect with the rest of us if you're going to sell us your writing successfully.

So much for human decency, then: act like grownups when you need to. Save your super-weird and/or inappropriate behavior for a place where it won't cost you your career. Protip: This is not anywhere public.

As for common sense, this has been said before and it will be said a billion times in the next 5 seconds, but I'm going to say it anyway: play to your strengths. And don't.

Find what you're good at and do it. Do it a lot. Do it badly sometimes, and learn from that. What you're good at should make your blood boil and tingle and make you jump out of your chair with excitement. It should make you passionate in both good and bad ways. If you're good at research, do research. Write about research. Blog about research. Teach other people how to be good at researching.

Find what you're not good at and do that too. Do it frequently, because it's going to teach you what your limits are, and then allow you to look those limits in the eyes, shove them down and take their lunch money. Doing something you're bad will teach you how to be good at it or at least how to be good at something. It will force you to change and grow and reevaluate yourself. Doing something you're bad at will also help you be better at the things you're good at.

Experimenting with your strengths and weaknesses will teach you what portions of your writing you'll be able to sell. I'm a college student -I am, right now, very good at writing opinion and fact-based pieces. So I do. I do a lot of that (here and elsewhere). I am learning a huge amount of information about writing, so I write about that. I am very good at writing BS, so I do. I write a lot more BS than pretty much anything else...but it's the BS I spew that's making me the most money right now. It might be boring, meaningless or uninteresting to me, but someone out there wants it, and they'll give me money in the process of getting it.

Writing requires marketing. For example, if I include a link to my newly published literary journal, Leaves & Flowers, someone might click on it and buy it -they might not, too, but they could. Additionally, if I include a link to an article about why Twilight is an awful series of books, someone might click on that, too.

Twitter, Facebook, blogs, word of mouth, friends and family, Myspace, StumbleUpon, Digg...all of these things are becoming indispensable tools for marketing writing (well, maybe not Myspace, that's kind of died). The point is, in an age where almost all of your readers will be connected to the internet very, very frequently...you need to be marketing on the internet.



This post has been fueled by caffeine, and therefore may not make much sense. However! let's recap.

1. Don't act like bizarro-writer in situations where you'll lose writing opportunities. It's okay to be weird, but control yourself. Be weird in constructive ways.
2. Write what you know.
3. Write what you don't know.
4. Kick your limits in their most tender parts and move past them.
5. Market yourself as though your paycheck depends on it (because it does).
   

Seem simple? It kind of is...people just don't do it, for whatever reason.

Writing in the right atmosphere

This is what happens sometimes. I'm learning to be okay with that.


Today I set myself a goal -I wanted to write 5 articles and complete a useful blog entry. So I sat down at my desk with a cup of coffee, a bottle of water and the Intertubes...and absolutely nothing happened. Normally, sitting at my desk in my room is the absolute best way for me to write. There are no distractions that I can't control (although honestly, Tweetdeck is a little bit ridiculous sometimes), it's guaranteed to be quiet and I can get up to make more coffee any time I want to. My desk is also conveniently right next to my bed, in which I have spent an inordinate amount of time sleeping lately (I blame laryngitis. And laziness).

Ordinarily, my room is the best place for me to work.

And yet today, when I opened up all of my little research windows and the form in which I write my articles, nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. There was no speedy tapping of keys, and I was listlessly looking through the tabs of research I had open. My eyes had glazed over and I knew that I was absorbing less information than I normally do.

This is a rare occurrence for me (like I said, I really like working in my room. It's like the batcave, only less technological and filled with posters of Audrey Hepburn).

After about half an hour of sitting in front of my computer and accomplishing absolutely nothing, I finally gave up. Not on writing, just on writing in my room. I had to admit that I needed a change of pace, and some new scenery.

I came to the student center here on campus (despite the bomb threats that keep popping up here, I feel pretty comfortable coming to Baker. The dogs didn't find anything, so I'm okay with spending a couple hours here if it lets me get some work done). Things began looking up immediately -I have become aware of the fact that I will not be able to write unless I have ample access to caffeine. I got a hazelnut latte from the coffeeshop, and the girl accidentally put an extra shot of espresso in it. Woe is me.

So with that jolt of energy coursing through my veins, I came up to the 5th floor and sat back in a corner. Plopped down, plugged in and caffeinated, I pounded out 3 articles in about an hour (and the only reason it took that long was because of research for one of them). Bam, said the lady.

I'm trying to be more attentive to my writing needs -I think it's important to know what factors influence the Muse and get my energy up.

For instance, after some experimentation I know that:

• I write better and more quickly if I am listening to something like Antonin Dvorak or Andrew WK than something like Owl City or Jack's Mannequin
• I have to have adequate back support. If I can't lean back in the chair, I'm not going to get along with it.
• Putting my feet up is awesome (although my knees get stiff pretty quickly -does that mean I'm getting old?)
• Caffeine, obviously, is required for the writing process
• I work best in spurts -write one article, then catch up with Tweetdeck updates and read some other articles, check Facebook, then write another article. Lather, rinse, repeat
  
• If I don't feel my best, I don't write my best. I can't write before I've had a shower and eaten breakfast. I don't write well in pajamas or sweatpants -I have to feel like I'm presenting my best face to the world in order to present my best writing to the world. Sloppy me = sloppy writing.
  
• Other people are a distraction. Distractions are not always bad. Texting while writing does not break my focus (if it does, the text can wait). People-watching is fun (although I'm starting to think fashion-impaired androids are taking over the world. Put on some pants, please. Leggings + Ugg boots + short t-shirts = BAD. If I can see your cellulite or your lady bits, your outfit should never have left the house).
• Driving in a car with the windows down and the music up is usually the only inspiration I need.
  
• Sometimes, I just can't write as much as I want to, and I need to get over myself. I'm not all-powerful (but don't tell anyone else I said that). Sometimes I just need a break.
  

What atmosphere do you write in? How do you deal with changes in your writing space? What do you do to shake things up when you're feeling stagnant? Do you ever feel stagnant, and if not, how do you avoid it?

The best and strangest day

Shoes. This will all make sense soon.

I am having the best and strangest day, seriously. First off, I'm still a human as far as HvZ goes (well, and as far as being human goes, as well). No kills as of yet, but there are 430+ people playing and only 20+ zombies. I also feel like someone spent all last night trying to tear my legs off, because running around campus for all hours of the night makes me very sore. I'm out of shape. It's a beautiful fall day here, and I'm hoping it will be warm-ish again tonight.

On another note, a more footwear related I note, I won a beautiful pair of shoes! I'm not sure how many of you read A Cup of Jo, but I suggest you start reading her stuff yesterday. She's awesome -I do most of my blog reading in the morning before I go to class, and ACoJ is always a nice way to start out the day (generally with a cup of Joe in hand as well). Every Wednesday she does a giveaway of some really nice products, too, and I just so happened to win this Wednesday's. Since I'm a Shoemaker by name and a shoe lover by nature, I fell in love with the shoes on sight and I'm unbelievably excited to wear them around campus once they get here!

----------

Book time.

I wanted to write a little bit about the act of writing. Why I do it, why you do it, why it matters, etc.

In all honesty, the best piece of writing advice I've ever received was pretty simple: "You want to write? Shut up and write." I couldn't tell you who said it, but that statement hits me over the head like a frying pan every time I start thinking I have writer's block, or I'm too busy to write, or blah blah blah excuses. None of that -you want to write? Sit down, shut up and put words on a page.

Granted, there is so much more to writing than the actual act of it -the more I learn about writing both as an industry and as a craft (which requires patience, work and training) the more I realize I have been charging into the writing world with blinders on. It's a very, very intricate place to be in, and I love it.

Why do you write? Tell me in the comments if you do, in fact, write. If you don't, tell me why not.

I write because I cannot not write. If I didn't write, I would wither up and blow away- a useless and uninteresting husk of a person. Books and words and writing are more vital to me than caffeine. Writing is my center. It also keeps me caffeinated and in school so I can continue learning about writing. (And I should probably just shut up and write.)

Writing is awesome, in whatever form it takes -bad, good, transcendent, puerile -it all has its value. Right now, for Leaves & Flowers, I'm typing up the writing of a group of seventh and eighth grade competitive writers. And I'll be honest, some of it's not that great. It's at or about what I would expect, as a professional writer and creative writing major, but it's nonetheless surprising to me in that I don't remember my writing being bad in the ways this writing is bad (and I mean no disrespect to these kids; they've poured their hearts into these pieces for me, and I love it -as bad as the writing is, it has so much potential).

What I mean is that I don't remember using "feeled" when I meant "felt," and I don't remember starting every sentence but 3 in a two-page story with the word "I." The writing is rough beyond what I expected, but it's also candid in a way that I like. There's not a lot of coy wordplay going on; everything is on the surface. After one or two paragraphs I'm craving some subterfuge on the part of the writer, but there's something nicely disarming about young writers.

It was amazing to me, last night as I sat editing a few pieces (before I went to run around campus carrying a bright orange plastic gun and hunt zombies -take everything I saw with the requisite salt here) that my own writing could have, at one point, very closely resembled the pieces I had before me. I forget sometimes just how much we have to grow as writers -as our vocabularies mature, so does our writing. As we mature, so does our writing. Granted, much of that maturation needs to be self-made, but look at where it can take go once that is done.

One of these kids might write the next great American novel, or one of them might write something in Sharpie on a bathroom wall that gives someone pause and makes them think for a moment, but whatever it is that's done with writing, it's more important than we know.

This turned into more of a paean to writing than I had intended, but hey -it's true. Writing is culturally significant no matter who you are or what you do; language and words will infiltrate every part of your life. Is that positive or negative? Does it matter? It is what it is. Make it what you want. What better reason could there be to write?

/philosophical rant ;)

Back to business

I stole this hilarious picture from Angie the Anti-Theist, whose writings I find fascinating and insightful. Go check her out! The caption for this picture makes me laugh more each time I read it.

I have been gone for a while. It's Wednesday, I know it, and I haven't updated once since last week. For shame. :( I am hanging my head (over my cup of coffee so the delicious hazelnut smell wipes out any feelings of guilt I may be experiencing). I'm back, we're good. Coffee = the solution to 99% of my problems (the other 1% just take a lot more work).

I had a fabulous weekend at home -Jonah and I went to a wedding where I met the rest of his awesome family, watched his mom shake it on the dance floor. And I saw her give a man titty twisters (not even kidding -Jonah's family is beyond cool). Jonah and I busted out some dancing as well -while we certainly weren't Dancing with the Stars quality, I had a lot of fun (and I don't like dancing, as a rule). I also got to hang out with my family and surprise my mom, who didn't know I was coming home on Saturday. :)

The downside to the weekend was that, in order to get back in time to hand in a paper for my business law class, Jonah and I had to leave Findlay at 4:30 in the morning. I consider myself to be something approaching a morning person...I might stand corrected. Getting up at 3:30 is hell. I spent the rest of the day in a good-natured haze, not really understanding anything that was said to me or accomplishing much of worth (except writing 4 articles). It wasn't pretty. Today is much better.

As far as books go, oh boy oh boy!
Jonah brought me a bunch, and I gave him one too (more proof of his good taste: We've both read "The Lives of Christopher Chant" and neither of us know anyone else who has read that book. I gave him my copy of "The Chronicles of Chrestomanci," which contains "The Lives of CC" so he can re-read it and read "Charmed Life" for the first time. Has anyone else heard of these books?). I'm already 170+ pages into "A Swiftly Tilting Planet" -a book I've not read before. I've read "A Wrinkle in Time" but I'd forgotten how much I liked L'Engle.

As much as I dislike being preached to, "ASTP" is doing a good job of not irritating me with its semi-religious undertones (or overtones, depending on how you read it). I like the message of the book, and it's not overly pedantic in nature. It's just a good story.

I also read the book "Weslandia." 3 times. It's a children's book, but it is fabulous. In fact, I'll be writing an Examiner article about it in the next few days, so you'll have to wait and read about it there (and here, again).

I'm still working on getting submissions for Leaves & Flowers. So far I've received 3, and I'm loving them. It's such a fun process. Maddeningly exciting. However, I've gotten about 20 queries and only 3 people have actually sent work so far...I wish I was getting more! I also wish more people were asking for information, but that's just me getting gluttonous. ;) I am quite thoroughly enjoying this process, and if anyone wants to contribute, I'd be more than happy to work with them... spread the word! Bring me work. I'll love you forever and ever, even though I can't pay you.

Books and coffee

I live on those things. Coffee especially. It's kind of a symbiotic thing...without coffee, I can't concentrate long enough to read or write, and without reading and writing I wouldn't exist so I wouldn't need any coffee. Not the best example, maybe, but it's true.

So this morning, when I got to my usual coffee spot to find that the line was out the door (and it was 35 degrees out), I wasn't happy. I was even less happy when I found out that they had no espresso left, and only decaf coffee.

I'm sorry, what? Blasphemers. I went elsewhere.

Then I came home and wrote about dental veneers...super exciting stuff, no? No, I guess not. At any rate, it's up there, along with several other articles about everything from Thanksgiving crafts for kids to literary and nerd tattoos. Cool stuff.

As far as books go, I'm still reading Clive Barker's Incarnations...it's fantastic, and I'm delaying over every page because I don't want it to end. It's dark and spooky and sad and beautiful -very much like Barker. Fantastic stuff. :)

What are you reading?

Writing, reading, music and coffee

The trouble with not having to go to any classes on Wednesdays (or Mondays, or most of Fridays) is that I hole up in my room like the hermit I am and generally refuse to leave it unless forcibly dragged out with the promise of being fed or caffeinated. Even though I can feed and caffeinate myself perfectly well within the confines of my room -I'm already on my second cup of coffee for today, and I'm starting to run out of my little Keurig cups...time to order some more!

The benefit of not having classes on Wednesdays (etc.) is that it allows me ample time to get all of my homework done. For instance, today: I got up shortly after 8 and showered (and almost got walked in on by the maintenance guy again). It's now 10:30 and I'm done with all of my homework except a bit of reading.

I can now devote the rest of my day to writing, listening to Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys, drinking obscene amounts of coffee and trying to find recipes for all of the wonderful produce my even more wonderful boyfriend brought me on Monday! I'm not much of a cook.

As for books, I'm currently preparing myself to dive into the Norton Anthology of English Literature Volume 2, which I need to start reading for tomorrow. The book is massive, with thin, Bible-like pages and teeny, tiny font (which led me to think about the intellectual assumptions that come with font size; I read a book directed at adults that had font about this big throughout it, and it seemed somehow insulting, as though the author/editor/designer assumed the target audience for the book wasn't smart enough to work through a smaller font).

What's everyone reading right now? For me it's mostly been things for school and research for writing (which, oddly enough, is quite interesting. Right now I'm off to work on writing about craft projects for old guitar strings. As though I know anything about guitar strings. Or crafts, for that matter!)

What day is it again?

I keep getting my days mixed up. Ever since my part-time gig at Spectrum ended, I really have no bearing on when it is. The only fixed date I've been able to keep in mind is, of course, this Saturday when I head back to Athens for my junior year as a creative writing major. Woo! But yeah. Today so far (at 11 a.m.) I have thought it was Friday, Tuesday and Monday (not necessarily in that order). I don't know what that says about me as a person, but I'm sure it can't be good.

No matter. I have coffee and Flogging Molly and articles to bullshit.... I mean write. I've already written one so far today (no guarantees on quality -this was done before I had coffee. Bad idea. Very, very bad idea) and my goal is to finish between 2 and 4 more. We'll see. I might be willing to settle for 1, depending on how the day goes.

I love old Disney movies. New ones are pretty decent as well, but it's the old ones -the ones I grew up with -that I just can't get enough of. I am very partial to Beauty and the Beast. The scene with the library? Oooh baby. That's my favorite. That right there would sell me on pretty much any movie. You let me loose in a place that has a library like that one and I will curl up like a kitten and refuse to leave. Probably ever.

Libraries -good libraries -are the bomb. Dark libraries, like OU's, where the lights are at semi-creepy levels of low and the shelves are tall and full and make big shadows... mmm. Yes please. I'd like it better if instead of those laminate-wood chairs and tables they had big oak writing desks and leather armchairs, but let's be real. Most college students cannot be trusted to maintain really nice things, especially over many many years. But still. From an aesthetic standpoint, dark green leather armchairs and oak. Still, it's an amazing library. Seven floors, tons and tons and tons of books, maps, presentations, quiet people (astonishingly enough -the only floor that's ever loud is really the 2nd one, because all of the computers and printers are there. It's also really warm)... definitely one of my favorite libraries.

I need more books to read. I'll be honest. I've still got a couple I'm working on (so, so slowly), and I think once I get back to school I'll have a jump-start on ideas and whatnot, but right now with the preparations for moving and all, I'm just kind of coasting. Which isn't a bad thing.

Where do you like to go to read? Just out of curiosity.

Generic Crunk Rap

It's stuck in my head. Thanks a lot, MC Lars. (No, seriously. Thanks. I like the song).

Yesterday was coffee night. Oh, wait -that's every night. Last night I had coffee with my friend Carolyn, which made it a different sort of coffee night. :) Very fun though. It's always nice to catch up and talk to a fellow English department-er.

Reading-wise I've done nothing lately. Well, that's a lie. I read "Morris the Moose Goes to School" before I fell asleep last night. Otherwise I've done nothing. I'm packing for school and trying to cram in as much time as I can with my family and Jonah. Reading has taken a backseat to that. Tonight I'm planning on starting the Hard SF Renaissance anthology I snatched up last time I was at the library.

I need a good dose of science fiction in my life.

Who knows? Maybe it'll jump-start something for me.

Any ideas on what else I should be reading? I'm leaving for Athens to go back to school, so I'll have a much bigger library to muck around in and find things to read.

Another thing I'll be working on is setting up a reading corner in my dorm room -which, fortunately, will be a single. I'll have a room of my own! (Blatant Virginia Woolf reference. Please somebody catch it.)

I'm thinking (wishfully perhaps) that I'll have enough room for my papasan to come with me, since I don't really have that much stuff. I'm not going to take it with me when I first move in, but if I think I have room for it, it'll come down eventually and become my reading corner. It's the most comfortable chair on the face of the planet.

What's your reading corner like?

Trying to read over the noise of my little brother's Speed Racer Sky Jump toy is impossible, even for me. It sounds like a cement mixer. As much as I love explosions, car crashes and death-defying stunts, sometimes the desire for silence (or at least quiet) takes precedence.

Reading The Library at Night is not an experience to be had when noises abound. The book takes on the feel of a library and its many silent tomes, and it demands to be read when the reader is able to sit peacefully, still and soak up the stories. At least that's how it seems to me, book-obsessed as I am (this book proving to be no exception to the rule; in fact in many ways the desire for this book is greater than for others, this being a book about libraries -a book about books -a book written by a man who has a gorgeous library that, when I see pictures of it, fills me with envy).

The Library at Night is a book I read with coffee in mind or at hand, and with nothing else going on. It's spoiled otherwise. Stringent demands for a reader like me; I read anywhere: in class, in the car, in bed, outside, inside, in restaurants, while driving (okay, just kidding) -you get the idea.

The book is great. Habent sua fata libelli -my new favorite phrase. Books have their own fate.

Go buy a copy of TLaN. I haven't reviewed it yet, but I'm telling you now -you don't want to miss out on this.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Review's up! Go read it!

Additionally, I checked out White Teeth from the library yesterday (or was it Saturday?) and borrowed Field Notes from the Compassionate Life from my grandma yesterday and received instructions from my dad that I am to use part of my birthday present (amazon gift card) to buy a book called Libraries at Night. So all of these things will lead to further awesomeness in the realm of reviewing.

I'm also buying my textbooks today. I won't review most of those (unless they're just that awesome), but one of them is Frankenstein, so we'll see what happens with this. I'm pretty pumped. I love getting books.

And coffee makers. I totally got a baby Keurig for my birthday as a joint present from parents/grandparents and if I was the type to descend into girls acronyms this post would be filled with omglolwtf-type writing. Keurigs a) make the best coffee, b) make it one cup at a time and c) are absolutely gorgeous pieces of tech. I made my excited face when I got it. It's not as excited as Bubby's excited face, which we were witness to when he realized he got an Indiana Jones Lego set. I can't wait to see what happens when Jonah gives him the Force Unleashed Wii game he got... :)

August is birthday month. My uncle's is the 7th, mine is the 14th, my cousin's is the 15th, my dad's (Braden, not biological) is the 16th, my brother's is the 19th and my grandpa is somewhere else in the middle of all of that. And I think my other cousin might be in here somewhere soon, too, maybe early September? I don't know. That's too many people for me to keep track of -suffice it to say, there are a lot of birthdays going on right now. And it's always fun. :) Lots of cake and ice cream and hyperactivity.

I'm excited to buy me some books today. Look for more reviews soon. Also this week will be my piece on what Literature is!

Part 2

It's up! WOO party party. Everybody DANCE. Just kidding, you only need to go and check out the review. It'll make more sense if you refer to part 1 and then go to part 2 (especially if you haven't yet read part 1).

In other book news, I went to the library yesterday and, as expected, they had 1 of the 10 books I went in specifically looking for. Let that sink in. I went in looking for 10 books (which is a lot, admittedly) -none of them are rare books. None of them are particularly obscure. You know which one they had? Walden Two. My public library does not even possess a copy of Ender's Game. It wasn't checked out (or missing, a la Generation X, thanks to a certain someone I know), they just don't have it. How they get away with not having one of the most influential sci-fi books around, I don't know. They have plenty of copies of awful books that no one will ever read ever in a million years (not even me for the sake of a review. Okay maybe me), but not Ender's Game. They don't have Population Bomb -or On The Road by Jack Kerouac.

I speak sincerely when I ask with great gusto and much shaking of hands, what the fuck?!

I go to my local library a lot. No, really. I'm there about 2x a week on average, and that's 2x checking out new things (or trying to), not taking stuff back. It's not a bad looking library. It's got nice big windows and it's well-lit. The books and shelves are getting a bit worn, but they disguise that by constantly moving sections around so that if you don't go for a couple of months, when you come back nothing makes any sense whatsoever. There will be Christian Fiction where the Anne Rice used to be (Christian Fiction, by the way, is something that confuses me. Is it just overtly preachy? Why can't it just be moral fiction? Where's the Hindu Fiction?), and that's a little bit trippy. Speaking of Anne Rice, I finally, finally, on my umpteenth attempt, managed to snag one of the two copies of Interview With The Vampire that the library has. I've been trying, 2x/week since June 12 to get one.

Yeah.

My library is not good. It's never been good, although I may at some point have been under the impression that it was, since when I was about 12 I used to check out pretty much the same 5 or 6 books every time I went and I would just buy everything else from B. Dalton (another rant for another day. I do have to go to work at some point this morning). This is even before funding got shafted.

I really don't know what can be done about a shit-tastic library. Anyone have ideas? I'm considering trying Paperback Swap, despite it costing me in postage. It'll save on gas and (possibly) time and frustration. Does anyone have experience with it? Good? Bad? Some in between or extreme? Are there other sources you've found besides the library for inexpensive books? My income is small and quickly exhausted, despite me only buying coffee and books and occasionally a necessary item of clothing.

The used bookstores in Findlay aren't really calling to me at this point (although I have reviewed them) since the people I know who frequent them do so to get a new stash of trashy romance novels. While I have nothing personally against trashy romance novels -aside from their being trashy romance novels- I don't particularly want to read them.

So! Today went up the review of TTTM + Frankenstein. Maybe Friday will be something new, if you're lucky. Like The Great Gatsby. We'll see!

The price of being a bookworm

I have a bad back. I'm 19 (although not for much longer) and I wake up in the mornings and walk around with my hand pressing against the small of my back, rolling my neck to get the kinks out and it sounds like a smattering of gunfire erupts from my spine. Actually, that sounds kind of cool...and it would be, but it usually hurts. It's just not fun. In addition to that, my neck itself is beyond wrecked. A normal person's neck curves like this: ) Mine curves like this (
Know why? Because I spend all of my time with my head bent over books. I have actually changed the shape of my own spine by reading a lot. A lot is an understatement. We all know this. My neck's been like that since the seventh grade, when I started studying seriously for the spelling bee. By the time I was in eighth grade, I was spending 40 hours/week studying. I would get up at 5 in the morning and stay up late. That's 40 hours every week with my head bent over books.

I have a bad back.
It's totally worth it, though. I wouldn't change a thing. Okay, maybe if I could I'd go back into my eighth grade self standing in front of that microphone, staring at Dr. Bailly (my BFF) and scream that I know how to spell theodicy. But I can't. I loved the spelling bee, though. It's a good experience, even if I did wreck my back over it.

Today I woke up and my back is cackling to itself. I sat up to the sound of fireworks, only they were coming from me instead of the fields behind my neighborhood. It feels like someone picked me up and threw me into a brick wall several times while I was sleeping. Not fun. Fortunately, coffee fixes everything. I have already had one cup, and I'm planning on having many more throughout the course of the day. If I can't fix the way my spine is, I'll at least replace pain with caffeine jitters. WOO.

I'm going to work soon...I think it's going to be a backroom day for me, just re-filing things. It's nice. I can have my iPod and rock out, and people very rarely walk in on that. Generally.

In other news, I finally finished reading The Things That Matter last night. It took me a ridiculously long time to get through it, but I'm glad I read it. I'll be working on a review of that today, and avoiding being in the house with my little brother and his friend. I don't like kids, and Bubby + a friend = lots of unnecessary noise. I'm going to GTFO and find a seat in a coffeeshop where nobody will bother me. It'll be awesome.

Finally, I have questions for you, dear readers:
What do you want to see reviewed? What are your favorite books? What books do you hate?

If you could pick any book for me to write about, what would it be?