Tag: Journalism

Writing Journal 8.18.2019: Summer is coming to a close, eventually

~ Jason Liegois ~ Leave a comment

This is going to kind of brief – my son is turning 19 today and were doing some stuff for him, and I’m also seeing my wife off headed back to work and her new job.

Why am I surprised that I’m coming up against self-imposed deadlines without yet reaching them? I’ve found out that there are many times in my time as a student and as a journalist, that it was only when I was up against the wall, so to speak, that I was able to move forward and get things done. I guess that’s the lifelong battle against procrastination… but you’ve heard that before.

I promised I was going to vary these things up a little more. In that spirit, I’ll let you know I’m currently typing or revising three different things at once tonight. I’m finishing writing this blog, of course, and I’m going to finish up Project S that I’ve been tinkering on for the past couple months, on and off. (Here’s the list of my current projects if you’re interested.) I’m still unsure about whether I will post it here, but I think I might share it on a fanfic site or two to see what people think. I think it’s the first story I’ve ever written with no expectations whatsoever except for an emotional release, a way to deal with watching something that disappointed my expectations. It’s been an interesting ride.

I’m also going to continue my read of The Writer’s Handbook. It’s been interesting so far, but I’m trying to figure out the best way for me to organize and narrow down potential candidates for agents and publishers.

I keep promising to do stuff, but it keeps getting put off. I should get more of it done this week (being the last week I have relatively free until school starts).

Here’s the raw numbers, by the way:

+3,000 words written.

Days writing: 5 of 7.

Days revising/planning: 6 of 7 for 360 total minutes.

Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 6 of 7 days.

Best week I’ve had for about four weeks, I think.

The featured image for this blog entry is another selection from my personal bookshelves. I’ve read plenty of things and a variety of things. Feel free to comment if you want to talk about these books or any of your collections.

Well, that’s it for tonight, everyone. Deadlines are looming. I’ll try and write something before the weekend. I might have an idea or two…

 

Being The News Rather Than Writing It

~ Jason Liegois ~ Leave a comment

It was an interesting experience walking into my local newspaper as the subject of the story rather than writing one myself.

But, it was a good article about the publication of my book. Go ahead and read it here – the reporter did a great job to be honest.

Anyway, that’s all for tonight – I’ll probably check in before the weekend and the weekly journal. Take care and keep warm if you’re in the Midwest like me – apparently it’s going to get really cold soon.

A Writer’s Biography, Volume II, Part 5: My time in journalism

~ Jason Liegois ~ 12 Comments

Last week, I met with an acquaintance at my house. The guy, Dale, was picking up some old files from me for a writing project that I was dropping and he was passing on to another writer.

As I asked about the writer, I learned that he’d worked at the same newspaper as Dale had years back. That was more than a few years back, “before the buyouts.” And just like that, for a few moments we were swapping stories back and forth – the buyouts that had hollowed out Dale’s former employer, the cuts at the hometown newspaper that I used to work for that left it more of a zombie publication than a living, breathing institution.

I was flashing back to my time as a journalist. I call myself an old retired journalist, even though I’m 20-40 years younger than most of the people who claim that description as their own. In years past, I would have been in my prime as a journalist, with honors aplenty and years left to go in my career. Now I’m retired from the profession, with no foreseeable way to return to it, or any real desire to do so.

Continue reading “A Writer’s Biography, Volume II, Part 5: My time in journalism” →