tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post5724264221401307763..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: So you want to be a writer part 3Jim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-60011397374539245032011-12-28T14:47:45.582+11:002011-12-28T14:47:45.582+11:00Hi RJ. Email me ndarala(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au...Hi RJ. Email me ndarala(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au and I will send you a more detailed outline of my experiences and lessons drawn that might (might not) be helpful.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-29229609502406465722011-12-27T15:08:04.366+11:002011-12-27T15:08:04.366+11:00Hi Jim- just catching up on blog-reading, and I ho...Hi Jim- just catching up on blog-reading, and I hope that this comment isn't too late (one of the problems with coming into a conversation a month later!). I was interested in your comment about your CV. My husband (aged 61) recently took redundancy, expecting rather naively that he would pick something up fairly easily, and it just hasn't happened. I wonder whether his CV, too, doesn't reflect so much experience that it intimidates managers. What an awkward situation- having to judge what is 'too much' and yet being asked to show 'enough' experience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-8156096882811344242011-12-09T20:10:37.082+11:002011-12-09T20:10:37.082+11:00Too true!Too true!Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-88863264844301144122011-12-09T17:35:10.882+11:002011-12-09T17:35:10.882+11:00I have three good suits, left over from business d...I have three good suits, left over from business days. They all still fit, are in that wonderful anonymous style which is always "in", and they're all FJ's.<br /><br />What a pleasure it was to be offered their services, once every blue moon. Which is possibly part of their problem.<br /><br />I agree it really is the end of an era, and we are the losers for that.<br /><br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-87968799966697773112011-12-09T17:21:26.005+11:002011-12-09T17:21:26.005+11:00Hi Winton. There is an entire mentoring industry, ...Hi Winton. There is an entire mentoring industry, but I'm not quite sure how to break in, assuming that I could.<br /><br />I thought of writing something on Fletcher Jones, kvd. It's the end of an era.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-41880516004240088952011-12-09T15:39:13.489+11:002011-12-09T15:39:13.489+11:00Well, if you are at a bit of a loose end at the mo...Well, if you are at a bit of a loose end at the moment Jim, I could use some advice. <br /><br />My extended family Christmas gathering is tomorrrow night, and I'm wondering if I should be there when my admired brother in law opens his present from me. You see, a couple of weeks ago I bought him a lovely Fletcher Jones gift voucher.<br /><br />kvd<br />ps there's a moral in there, somewhere.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-9838389740996475852011-12-09T14:39:54.290+11:002011-12-09T14:39:54.290+11:00The situation seems absurd, Jim. The only explanat...The situation seems absurd, Jim. The only explanation that could make sense is the one that you have already been given - that managers may be fearful of hiring staff who have more experience and ability than themselves.<br />Such managers could probably benefit from some mentoring! <br />Now there is a thought. I wonder whether any organizations are interested in employing people who have had previous management experience in part-time roles designed explicitly to help new managers to cope with their responsibilities.Winton Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07383561940886657594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-70602615680042252402011-12-09T12:16:57.714+11:002011-12-09T12:16:57.714+11:00That made me laugh, Winton.
It's interesting...That made me laugh, Winton. <br /><br />It's interesting on the contract one, because I actually blind-sided myself.<br /><br />For consulting work, people focus on the strength of your skills, experience. You come in, do, leave. In contract work, they think of it more in conventional job terms, using different criteria. This holds even where it is a three month assignment. <br /><br />I first came across the problem last year. <br /><br />I have had a particular focus on Government contract work since my skills here are obviously <br />very strong. Most of the positions advertised within the NSW system are at 9/10 level.<br /><br />Last year I got a number of interviews, but neither I nor the agency could understand why I wasn't getting offers even though the interview feedback was positive. I have good referees, but they weren't being consulted. It took a while to suss out the over-qualification problem.<br /><br />I fiddled with my CV, among other things explaining why I wanted contract work. That actually made things worse; neither fish nor fowl.<br /><br />In November last year I got six months private sector work on a web/writing project. Only two days per week, but it gave me enough cash to survive & do other things. When that finished, went back to the work that I had been looking at before. The same problem emerged. <br /><br />I completely rewrote my CV, clearing it through referees and senior colleagues. On their collective advice, I deleted some of the senior stuff such as former Government board positions, toned down other material. It hasn't helped. I have applied for 36 contract assignments in the last two months without cracking one interview. <br /><br />The agencies make their money out of successful placements. They don't need problem candidates. So they are increasingly reluctant to put me forward. <br /><br />I have had some fairly absurd experiences recently including one, for example, where I was told I didn't have enough NGO experience. In a second case with some policy work with a specialist medical college I was knocked out on the basis that I didn't have enough health experience even though I am a former CEO of a specialist medical college. In yet another case, a six months assignment, the client wanted someone who would grow into the position!<br /><br />While I have used some of these experiences as grist for my writing, I have generalised because I felt that being too explicit would not help me get the assignments that I needed. However, as time has passed the strange Kafka like world that I now inhabit has begun to overwhelm me to the point that it is affecting my life and writing; maintaining any form of balance has become difficult.<br /><br />I am sure that I have been doing many things wrong. Still, it's interesting because of the sometimes harsh light it throws on generalised arguments. I keep quite meticulous records, so at some point I will write on the whole experience. Here I have been trying to boil down my own experiences into practical advice that may help others avoid my mistakes.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-18358593741756092122011-12-09T10:06:21.314+11:002011-12-09T10:06:21.314+11:00Jim, I have been thinking about your comment that ...Jim, I have been thinking about your comment that your C-V was an impediment to getting short term contract work to support your writing. I don't have anything constructive to say, but for some reason your comment came to mind this morning when I was reading a review of Sylvia Nasar's book, 'Grand Pursuit: the Story of Economic Genius'. Apparently Karl Marx once applied for a job as a railway clerk. He presumably saw this as a means to support his writing. <br /><br />That is the only possible point of relevance to your situation. Marx's application for the position was apparently rejected, not because his C-V was too good, but because his handwriting was poor and he couldn't speak English.Winton Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07383561940886657594noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-490621572401258842011-12-09T08:38:56.518+11:002011-12-09T08:38:56.518+11:00That's interesting, Augustus. I didn't kno...That's interesting, Augustus. I didn't know that you were a previously frustrated writer!<br /><br />I agree that it's not as easy as it looks.<br /><br />kvd, thank you for the link. The genesis for my series lay in my own confusions about about writing and being a writer. I was trying to clarify for my own sake.<br /><br />In a way, the issue of publishing and making money from writing is a different issue. One of my personal problems is that I write for my own interest, so I'm all over the place. If I'm to increase my income from my own writing as opposed to writing or editing for others, I need a better focus on that. I simply don't know enough about options.<br /><br />I also need to complete some of my larger pieces.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-83790974987601827372011-12-09T06:55:40.533+11:002011-12-09T06:55:40.533+11:00I nearly put this link
http://www.lifehacker.com....I nearly put this link<br /><br />http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2011/12/would-you-pay-dymocks-499-to-publish-your-book<br /><br />up on your first post for interest.<br /><br />Anybody can write. A few people can write well. Now anybody can publish, but the trick as always is to get somebody to buy the output. One of those 'build it, and they will come' situations.<br /><br />Good luck!<br />kvdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-72364579390792761202011-12-08T22:41:48.861+11:002011-12-08T22:41:48.861+11:00Jim - Whatever happened to the block busters of ye...Jim - Whatever happened to the block busters of yesteryear. The GodFathers, the Jaws, the Exorcist to name a few. This may surprise you but a few years ago I tried my hand at writing. I thought that if some talentless hacks like Geoffrey Archer and Dan Brown could pen out a few offerings then why not me. I could certainly use the money. And so I embarked on a literary, though short lived career as a writer. <br /><br />I wanted my first book to have a name of blockbuster proportions so I called it "The Day the Sun Exploded". Without giving away too much of the storyline its about how a group of survivors shelter in a libray. This was rejected by Hutchison (London) publishers. <br /><br />So I then wrote another (potential) Blockbuster called "The Most Deadly Virus Ever" This one had exotic locations and was about an epidemic that killed more than enough people to be a good story. This was sent to Hyperion publishers of NY but was rejected too. <br /><br />So finally I wrote a detective novel called "The Last Hold Up at a Bank". Which was basically about a bank heist gone tragically wrong. But it too was rejected this time by the Australian publishers Collins. <br /><br />I guess the point I am making is its not as easy to write a book and get it published as people would lead you to believe (trust me Jim I've been there). And I think you need to have friend in the business too. <br /><br />I don't want to discourage you but its not as easy as it looks.<br /><br />Cheers<br />Augustus WinstonAugustus Winstonnoreply@blogger.com