10 Reasons to Get Paid to Write

Last weekend was the annual seminar for American Horse Publications. I’ve gone in the past [AHP 0,1,2]. Not this year. Too many horse shows to justify the time away :). Not enough magazine work to justify the expense :(.

One of my goals for 2014 was to get more paying work [7th Day]. I’ve approached it with the same intensity that I have used for horse hunting – a general willingness to be open to anything that falls into my lap. This has worked as well as you would expect.

On the other hand, my magazine career was never white hot in my best years. I probably could have used the profits to keep the cats in kibble. I never came anywhere close to supporting myself, or even paying my share to support the household.

So why bother? Why not write Off Topic posts to entertain myself? I came up with ten reasons:

Writing for equine magazines does not generate much money. However, some beats none. Paychecks of all sizes spend just fine.

There is an undeniable element of ego. Try these two sentences: I write for The New Yorker. I write for a blog read by a handful of lovely folks. Which gets more respect?

The most fun I ever had during an interview was with a bug control dude for an article on mosquitoes. Just one of many ideas of which I never would have thought. Or if I did think, never would have pursued on my own.

Here’s another exercise: Please let me trail about taking notes on your every move so I can write an article for Horses R Us. Please let me trail about taking notes on your every move because I’m insatiably curious. Which one is going to give me access?

The downside of being good on a deadline is being bad without one.

When I first started posting on my own [Back To Riding], I felt the lack of an editor, the way a trapeze artist feels the lack of a net. Whose gonna catch me if I do something stupid?

Good text becomes a great article with good page design and real photographs.

A bigger audience. Less of the shouting-down-the-well feeling.

Text can go wandering on the Internet. My favorite illicit reuse of an article was as a post in a forum wherein the entire article was posted as if I was a member for the forum supporting a particular point of view. I did not have to mount my own defense. I emailed the editor & pointed her at them. Problem solved.

Writing for one’s self has a long and noble tradition. Journalism for one’s self feels aimless.

Glaring Omission

Upon trolling the archives for the Sam post [Text Art: SMM], I discovered that in some show reports I omit explicit mention of the horse involved. The name usually comes up in the conversation, but by then I have mentioned the show, the class, and the ribbon. The horse should come before all of these.

It is not from lack of concern about the horse, rather the opposite. My equine partner is such an obvious fact to me that I forget to mention it.

Partly, the classes are equitation. Even showmanship is how the rider presents the horse. Therefore, when reviewing the classes in my head, I’m thinking of all the equitation moves I made, or failed to make.

Finally, the Stepping Stone Farm lesson horses are such veterans that they mainly truck around doing their jobs. They become reliable platforms for the rider to make a hero or a zero out of herself. The squeaky wheel gets the write-up.

I am grateful to all the horses who consent to carry me and to the owners who allow me to ride their horses. I never forget this for a moment. I just forget to write about it.

Julie Wamble, Alvin, Rachel Wamble, me. Photo by Mariah Bouchet
Julie Wamble, Alvin, Rachel Wamble, me.
Photo by Mariah Bouchet

Show Report: ETSA Midsummer Classic, White Pine, TN “Fortunately, there are folks in the world less possessive than I.”

Antibiotics as Mood Elevator

This post is off topic but not Off Topic.

I have bad days. Everyone does. Then, I have a few in a row. Bleh. Then, the universe is rude to me and I am prostrate. I wallow. I nap during the day and have insomnia at night. I know I’m ungracious and ungrateful and oversensitive. Knowing this does not help me be less so. I am lethargic to the point of paralysis. I collapse into sobbing fits and surf for information on depression.

At about this point, I discover that I have a low-grade infection in my head. For a while it was the Tooth That Would Not Die [Hi There, Regular Programming]. For the last three summers, it’s been swimmer’s ear [Midwestern Mounts]. You would think by now I would recognize the signs. But no. The decline is gradual and perspective is the first casualty.

There is no pain until a) it flairs into Technicolor life and I spend the holidays screaming (this has happened twice), or b) I take the meds and notice the mild but chronic pain by its absence. Once the infection is gone, the world is no more inclined to bend to my will, but I am more inclined to cope.

Despite ancient Greek philosophy inherited by Western culture, I wonder if the mind/body dichotomy exists at all. Ill-health makes us cranky. Placebos have powerful effects.

Which is by way of apology to anyone who has had to interact with me recently.

Onwards!

(Stray thought. The phrase “western culture” is Atlantocentric, isn’t it? The world is round. The Far East is equally the Far West. Also, the idea of a country being “Far” carries its own assumptions. After a while, it become impossible to speak. Don’t get me started on the fig leaf that is BCE. But I digress.)

Text Art: Sultan’s Miracle Man

Sam has been at the vet clinic with eye problems. 😦

TxtArt Sam

Letter design inspiration from A Letter a Week 2014: Alphabet Of Tricks I, J, K, L. I intended curved sections. Did not turn out well. My reach exceeds my artistic grasp.

A selection of Sam posts
First Ride: Sam I Am, with video
Early Lesson: New Clothes & Old Habits
Shows: Show Report: Mid-South Spring Premiere, Rainsville, AL 2013, “However, when I asked Sam to move left, he came over all lesson-horse and said …”
Show Report: Winter Tournament 2, Hartselle AL 2014, “Mind you, Sam has probably been in more show rings than I have. He was having a moment.”
Georgia On My Mind – Show Report: Pro Am, Perry, GA 2014, “I tugged on the inside rein causing Sam to give me exactly what I asked for, a canter on the wrong lead.”
Ode to a Lesson Horse: National Academy Day 3+1: Horse of the Year Nomination

Thank you to Ashleigh Donovan and the Donovan family for sharing their wonderful horse.

Dixie Cup 2013. Casey McBride Photography. Used with permission.

~~~
Update January 2016
Sam came through fine and returned to work. A few recent links:
Photo of Me, December 2015, Sam & Big
Show Photos: ASAC 2015, March 2015
Show Report & Tweets: Georgia Fall Classic 2014, “Sam – as wonderful as he is – doesn’t do it for free.” December 2014
Show Photos, NACHS 2014

Sultan's Miracle Man MSSP 2014 Sandra Hall Photography
Sultan’s Miracle Man
MSSP 2014
Sandra Hall Photography

Foto Friday: Spotted at American Village

The American Village Citizenship Trust is a collection of purpose-built, repro 18th century buildings: “A nationally-pioneering classroom and American history and civics education center that engages and inspires 35,000-40,000 students annually from Alabama and Southeastern states in experience-based academic programs related to American history, civics and government.” Mission & Goals

A noble effort, but a bit of a giggle to anyone from the Northeast. I don’t mean to swan about their campus in a condescending fashion, but I’ve sheltered from the rain inside the Capitol Building in DC, walked the Freedom Trail in Boston, and gotten lost looking for the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. American Village is, what’s the word I’m looking for? Hmm, cute.

Spotted at Liberty
Spotted at Liberty
The Spot heard round the world. Spotted at the Concord Old North Bridge.
The Spot heard round the world.
Spotted at the Concord Old North Bridge.
Spotted at the encampment
Spotted at the encampment

spotted AmVill stocks2

Spotted in the stocks
Spotted in the stocks

On a more philosophical note, what is the difference between the thing itself and faithful replica? Why does it matter? At least for broad educational or entertainment purposes? If we can’t distinguish a real 18th century tavern from a rebuild, why travel all the way to Colonial Williamsburg for dinner? Is there an experiencial difference or is it magical thinking? Of course, I come down on the side of the authentic, but is this a reasonable attitude or historical snobbery?

(Did you catch the BBT reference?)

Colonial Williamsburg posts
Foto Friday: Horses of Colonial Williamsburg
What Price Authenticity?
Why Bother? Worthy Cause I (WC II was not related to Wburg)
I’d go back in a heartbeat. Loved the place.

Author making friends with Cavalier, a 5yo American Cream Draft. Photo by Karen Smith.
Author making friends with Cavalier, a 5yo American Cream Draft.
Photo by Karen Smith.

Update: experiencial difference – a difference in experiencing a thing. Been listening to Bryson’s book on Shakespeare. Decided to delve into neologisms. Instead managed to create a new spelling for experiential.