NO, not the dastardly deed, as in the old "You must pay the rent"/"I can't pay the rent" routine. I got my op-ed column into the paper on budget and early (i.e., ahead of deadline).
Two gold stars for Rob-Bear! ;)
I was frankly worried for a while that I wasn't going to be able to do it. My energy has been awfully low lately (so low, in fact, that, in a recent race with a tortoise and a snail, I came in third! But I may have told you that already.)
About "on budget." When one receives a writing assignment, one is told how many words to write. (In my case, the column always 500 words.) If you write too many words, you're over your word "budget" (so to speak) -- which results in certain "consequences." But then, if you go over "budget" when buying a car, or sofa, or refrigerator, or new clothes, that are "consequences." Most of us understand that.
But 500 words is terribly frustrating. You just get started on telling your story -- and you're out of words. And you have to go back, and re-think, and re-write, and make sure every word is worth using. It's a different world from blogging. The other journalists who inhabit blogland (and I know several) would, I think, agree. They can speak for themselves, if they choose. I'm not going to "out " them as journalists. (That would be certainly unkind and invasive, and frankly unethical.)
Anyhow, what I've written will "hit the streets" next Thursday. Sometime after that, I'll put it on my Bears Noting blog -- which used to be my main blog, until I switched to "Chrome on the Range." I'll make a few revisions at that point, since I won't be bound by the infernal 500-word limit.
In the meantime, thanks for your support and encouragement.
8 comments:
Can't wait to hear what you picked as the article to write. You said you got some ideas after writing your last blog posting. I didn't realize that you still write for publication. How often?
Well done to be early.
GW: Thanks. I write from time to time. I'm part of a writers collective which is committed to an op-ed column every second week in a newspaper, so I usually write about half a dozen times or so (or more often, if other peoples' schedules get messed up). I also occasionally write for other papers or magazines. Were I more healthy, I'd be doing a lot more. Footnote: What I wrote about was the decline and fall of newspapers, and the social impact of that situation.
Maybe you should have written it in text message format. That would have gotten a bit of attention he said lol.
Good job, Rob.
I am also looking forward to your article. :D
Hugs, from the madness and mayhem.xx♥
Demeur: I'm pretty unsophisticated technologically -- I'm lucky that I've been able to master the concept of blogging. Wt's txt mssg fmat?
Natalie: Thanks. I'll let everyone know when I put the piece on the other site. Even in the madness nd mayhem.
Hello Mr Bear. I'm glad I found you. I understand you - I have the same problem with Twitter!! I always wrie more than 140 characters and have to edit it horribly. No fun. Look forward to rwading more x
MT: Thanks for the note. At 140 characters per "tweet," I don't think Twitter is all that it's cracked up to be. Which is why I tend to avoid Twitter and Facebook. Pls keep looking in for me in the blogsphere.
MT: Right; will do. You can run, but you can't hide.
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