Client-Less and...Happy?

As of yesterday, I'm client-less. I won't go into the particulars of how it all happened (too painful right now), but let's just say that I haven't had the best few weeks of my life. On the personal side, I went to the doctor 3 weeks ago and had infections in my ears, sinuses, and kidneys. WTF? Let me tell you: ear infections are painful. I know feel incredible empathy for babes who get them frequently. I was miserable and practically in tears for 3 days.

I'm in school full-time in an MBA program, but my classes are odd. Each semester is 4 courses, but you take 1 at a time for 6 weeks. The pace is rapid-fire, and you don't have the downtime of traditional semester designs. So, of course, this illness happened the week of a major team project and then my final paper. Now I'm in the first week of a statistics class and already dreadfully behind.

And then my dad. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005. He had chemo and radiation then and then a round of chemo in 2007. Last week he found out the cancer has spread to his lungs, so he's in the hospital for yet another round of chemotherapy. I'm not sure how he's doing.

Brian and I are leaving our church for deeply personal, and sad, reasons. It's not just a "don't go back Sunday" kind of thing. We're on the board. I helped start and direct the children's choir. We volunteered for all kinds of special projects. It's a huge ordeal to extract ourselves gracefully, which isn't my strong suit anyway.

So the point is that right now our lives are chaotic, and now I'm unemployed. Happily so, really, but unemployed nonetheless.

After tossing back a couple of shots of bourbon last night, I sat down and thought about it a lot. I decided to go with what I know. I'm going to exercise my blogging muscles. I've done some blogging here and there but never anything serious. I'm going to take some time to relax and build up a couple of blogs, including this one. And I'm going to have fun damn it. I haven't done that in a long time.

Sluggishness and Falling Behind

I've fallen behind on my Gender Studies Project. Well, I'm not really behind as there's no deadline. But I thought I'd launch the site by yesterday, and I'm not there. I still have 7 articles to do, but the site's skeletal layout is in place.

I haven't given up my passion for the project. It's more that the amorphous character we call Life has gotten in the way.

I've been battling an unbelievable fatigue for about 6 weeks now, and it's getting worse. I slept a combined 26 hours over the weekend from Friday night until Monday morning. I'm still tired. I should say that 11 of those hours were overnight Friday. I'm just exhausted, but alas...I must soldier on.

I'm also in school fulltime in an executive MBA program. Luckily for me, I only have a year left because the courses move at a rapid clip. I spent most of my weekend work time working for class.

This week, I'm hoping to accomplish more with my writing and get moving again.

Interviewees Part 2 - The Advice-Givers

Many interviewees aren't like the "long wait" ones I shared last week. They are quick to respond - and quick to tell you how to write your article. These interviewees typically start phone converstions or emails with "I thought it would be great..." or "Do you know what would work really well with what I'm going to say..." or "You need to show your readers..."

These people annoy me more than the long wait interviewees, and they probably are harder for a new writer to handle as well. If someone doesn't call back after 14 attempts, you don't feel badly about writing "Representative Wells did not return phone calls seeking comment." She didn't return the calls; you are reporting the facts.

When Representative Wells insists you also interview Mr. Jones, a sixth-grade teacher in her district whose experience would be great for the article, new writers have a harder time deciding how to deal with that information, especially if there's no way Mr. Jones is making it into the article.

How do you deal with Know-It-All interviewees? Here are some options.

1. Politely say "thank you for that tip." You don't have to say more. If pressed to promise, just say you will take it into consideration as you are putting together the article. While the interviewee has certain power in your relationship, you are in control of the article.

2. Remind yourself of your control repeatedly if needed. The article is yours. Beyond quoting and paraphrasing accurately, you don't owe anything to the interviewee. If you don't want to talk to a recommended source, you don't have to offer up an explanation.

3. Take what the interviewee said into consideration. I once interviewed a man for a features piece on Pearl Harbor. He immediately said, "you should talk to a friend of mine." Why? That friend was a soldier on the USS Arizona. He was on deck during the attack. He met his adorable wife, who was a military nurse, while he was recovering. I did that interview, and the result was an amazing story! Sometimes interviewees' suggestions are good, and you should use them if they enhance your work.

Dealing With Interviewees

Over the past three years, I've not done much interviewing. When I first started writing web content, I appreciate the move away from chasing down interview subjects, getting the runaround from public officials, and honoring interviewees without compromising the story.

I was ecstatic to get back into the swing of interviewing people, but I'd forgotten the things interviewees do that drive me nuts. The two big annoyances for me are taking a long time to get back to me and trying to tell me how to write the story.

I've learned a few techniques to deal with these problems, though, and at least for now, I'm so excited, these small inconveniences don't bother me. Here are a few ways to deal with the first problem - the long wait interviewee. I'll address the other client next week.

The Long Wait:

1. Contact the interviewee again within a small amount of time. Remain cordial. "I'd just like to see if you will have a chance to speak to me by Friday at noon."

2. ALWAYS give a day and time for your deadline. NEVER make this deadline when you actually need the person's responses. Give yourself as much leeway as possible.

3. Go to another source if possible after a certain amount of time. You can find another detective with whom to discuss identity theft. A different mom can give you a perspective on raising a child with autism. Don't be afraid to let a source know when you've

Learning to Focus

One of the problems I have in general and in my writing is an inability to focus. I've tended to go in 10 directions at once. Then I get a new idea when I'm working on something else, and I want to stop and change course midstream.

It's a character flaw.

Allow me to say that again. It's a character flaw.

I need to learn to focus to make my worklife more productive. Julie Morgenstern, in her book Making Work Work, discusses this issue. She says that having half of your projects completed is better than each of them only half completed. I suffer from the sort of reasoning that leads me to finish all of my projects halfway.

This weekend I had to reassess where I am on the Gender Studies Project. Because the umbrella project has four parts, I've viewed them as a whole project. In just a week, though, I discovered a frustration from seeing myself working constantly without the feeling of making any progress.

My goal for this week is to get the website portion of the project ready to launch by March 15, which is the goal date. I have the basic layout of the site, but I need to customize the nine main pages. I also need to write or edit 9 articles and get them laid out. Once I'm launched, I can work on the next project in the series.

Making Progress on Creating Platform

"Platform" is the new buzzword for writers. Platform, in essence, means a built-in group of people to whom to promote a book. My goal is to write about women's studies/gender politics. I'm working on building a platform that niche nonfiction area.

The benefits of platform:
- gives you people who are more likely to buy the book because they already believe in you and what you have to say
- gives you an interesting angle for media appearances
- shows you can keep an audience interested on this topic

Getting a good platform isn't as difficult as you may imagine. There are several ways to begin to build your platform.
- Volunteer work related to your subject area
- A popular website or blog related to your topic
- Courses or seminars you lead on the topic
- A newsletter or other custom publication
- Speaking engagements (paid or unpaid) about your topic

My job right now is to build a platform for gender studies. Here's what I have going on:
- I'm revising the booklet I wrote in 2006 on gender studies careers. The booklet sold relatively well, but I'd like to revamp it to update the resources, add new information, and change the marketing plan.

- I'm putting together a new website called Gender Studies Careers. This website will serve as a hub of information for gender studies majors. It will have information about career development, graduate school, and other relevant topics.

- I'm working on 2 proposals. The first is a proposal for a graduate school directory. The second is a book proposal based on the booklet. My thought is that the directory would be published first and would serve as an additional platform for the book.

Book Publishing and Website Launching

One of my undergraduate degrees is in women's studies. I've been a feminist since about 8th grade, and though my understanding of feminism and exact location on the spectrum has changed, my basic position has not. Women and men are not equal, and it is my obligation to fight for changes to the gender structure in our society.

With that said, my new writing is focused on gender issues. My first goal is to work on a full project I'm short-handing the "Gender Studies Project." Well, maybe that's not really short-hand, but you get the idea.

The project has 4 parts:
1. I'm revising and re-releasing a booklet I wrote in 2006 called 101 Careers in Gender Studies.
2. I'm putting together a website for gender studies majors.
3. I'm working on a graduate school directory for women's studies.
4. I'm putting the booklet and other information along with some statistics into a book proposal.

Yesterday I located 4 potential publishers for the book. Work on the proposal will take a bit of time, but I will be doing it in the next month.

I also worked on the website and getting it planned out. Today's project is to start on the articles. I can hardly wait!