A Slice of Life

Hello Escritori,

I’m provisionally starting work in the first week of May. Hopefully by then I can stop being so breathless and begin picking up the routines of my new workplace and meeting people.

I feel like the people make all the difference. So here’s hoping. Yesterday I was asked to write a sample response letter to a customer. This is the second one I’ve done in the more writerly roles I’ve interviewed for lately. The other one was focused on SELLING CHEESE, to work for a dental health provider. Yes, it was random. I didn’t finish in the allotted time but my notes clearly stated my direction from start to finish as to how to resolve the issues put forward by the customer.

*exhales*

I’m almost too scared to type. I already mailed a thank you card to one of my lovely Referees, only to be told that the position I’d mailed her for was no longer available; due to delays and over-recruitment. They’ve sourced this role in the same company instead, (which requires me to write letters) and so now I’m keeping quiet because I don’t want to tempt that strange creature the Switcheroo to come a-hopping into my life.

No, it’s not a g’day mate… It’s a ‘Crikey I got [in] by the skin of my teeth’ day.

Fiction writing has now become editing, because a rewrite is needed to propel the plot. TBG has been throwing up aspects I wouldn’t have seen/thought of, but she dislikes metaphor and God. I see extended metaphors (non-laborious ones) as an equation set up for the reader to work out, so that you feel good when you’ve worked out the parallels and it adds to your understanding of the situation, or the characters. It may even act as a foreshadowing device linked to the plot.

I always aim to write apt descriptions, but I’m also aware in a short story that everything works overtime. She disliked the mention of God. I said I still liked it but it might err on the side of consciously literary and so, like all good duos, when the going got tough, we agreed to disagree and revisit it.

Currently the main character isn’t taking up the Call to Adventure/Instigating Incident. This can’t happen because then there would be no story. Imagine if The One Ring was left in an envelope on the mantle-piece at Bag End, WITHOUT a note to Frodo.

I am not comparing myself to Tolkien at all, but it would’ve been found eventually, by some nice Hobbit cleaning lady, who would suspect that Mr Frodo had either a shady romantic past or current marital intent but that doesn’t make for a good story, unless SHE goes rogue like Marple all over it, accidentally discovers its powers and gets similarly stalked by Nazgul.

See what I mean? Someone has to do something. And I lack bravery – in all things.

So to that end, please do wish me luck.

Keep scribbling,

~ Pola ~