I am not good at fiction writing at all. But this is something I always romanticize about. Something about sitting in cafes or home and typing away seems like a perfect day to me. No need to debug, troubleshoot production issues, attend meetings, submit TPS reports, etc. Just you and your writing.
I spent four years in college for English literature. You can do that or you can just read the book 'Self-editing for Fiction Writers' and do the same thing in a tenth of the time.
The other thing you could do is to join a writers workshop, in person is always good but there's no reason why you couldn't join some remote thing. The caveat is that however big the workshop is you need to read everyone else's work and comment on it as well, which means if you have a workshop with four people you typically will need to read something for 4x for every one of your submissions.
The other thing to consider is whether you want to write fiction that is necessarily entertaining or literature that is compelling. Those are two entirely different disciplines.
Then simply write a single page every single day no matter what.
Generally you need to understand the concept of showing vs. telling which is described in the very first chapter of that book.
The other thing you just need to do is read the masters. Hemingway, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Try to find an example of some compelling fiction for yourself, something that moves you. then try to find some cliff notes or a summary regarding that's story's plot. The information is there, but the emotional reaction, the thing that moves you is missing from the summary.
There is a story called "Litost" by Milan Kindera, that in my opinion does a very good job of explaining this without breaking the mood of the story through boring exposition. At its heart the story is simply about a youth in an affair with an older woman and unrequited love. But real compelling fiction is not just the story.
It comes from a word without English equivalent. Litost is a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery”
Try to find a copy of the story and read it. I looked for a link but couldn't find anything. Try to avoid reading literary criticism initially.
Hard part is actually writing everyday though. After day job and social responsibilities, I have barely anytime. Then I recently got real estate license.
Academia or launching a startup (which is why I quit my job for a research position in academia - eventually... it took me a couple of years though - studying high growth startups)
Something that's a switch of gears from "deep, isolated knowledge work" to more action, people, managerial oriented work. Project management, realtor, small business owner, recruiter.
If I'm tasked with something, it may take me a day or it may take me a week depending on how well I can think my way to a solution. Maybe it never comes, maybe I'm spending days searching the same SO answers for a morsel of insight or inspiration from poorly written documentation to solve a problem. Drinking coffee, staying up late, maybe it bleeds into personal life, that urge to keep looking into it to finally put an end to the task and deep dizsatisfaction.
I'm often jealous of people in other jobs that aren't this way, that are more "just hustle and do it," where at the end if the day, you either did the work to progress your position/project/whatever, or you didn't. And if you just got up in the morning and physically and metaphorically "showed up" for the job, there was a far lesser chance you'd just stare a screen to no discernable result for 8 hours and feel a sense that no progress was made.
I tend to get jealous when I see people working with their hands, prefferably outside. Sometimes I even observe the guys cleaning the street and thinks, maybe its not that bad after all?
The times I have done such work (like construction) resulted in a much greater satisfaction and feeling in my body than after a day in front of the screen (even though I have been productive). Doing lots of running and gym but it does not generate the same feeling.
Have lately started to do something about it, maybe switch career totally.
Cal Newport mentioned in his last book Digital Minimalsim about the benefits of learning and accomplishing something with your hands in the real world, and how it's argued to further energize whatever else you do it, be it digital.
Some years ago I read a book about a banker who took a summer off to work an Alpine pasture (ie. a summer farm) without electricity and company. Just him and 50 cows. I've been dreaming about that ever since.
Years ago, the best software engineer I've ever known took a break from programming and became a long-haul truck driver.
He found it a fantastic experience. He claimed that there is more overlap between the skills needed between the two than you'd think (and that he met a surprising number of other truckers who used to be software engineers).
If I decided to change careers, I'd seriously investigate that.
It's surprisingly easy too, only 2-3 weeks behind the wheel to get your CDL. I highly recommend the hazmat endorsement (if you can pass the background check) to get the salary bump that goes along with hauling those loads.
For some crazy reason, I am seriously considering long-haul trucking and I am wondering how did I reach here. I actually opened this post hoping to find someone mention long-haul trucking and your comment just was at the top. Weird.
This sounds like a blatant "grass is greener" mirage. Guys drive trucks
because it's all they can do to support themselves, not for any other reason.
When I fall asleep at my terminal, I get fired. When I fall asleep at the
wheel, I die.
Nope. "The grass is greener" refers to falsely thinking that something you don't have is better than what you do have.
This guy drove trucks for three years. I think his assessment of his experience is not based on an illusion.
He also wasn't saying it was better than software development. He was burnt out in the software world and drove trucks simply to do something that wasn't that. After a few years of truck driving, he returned to the software world, which is what he is still doing today, and speaks positively of both that and truck driving.
- Psychologist / Counselor / Professor: Huge impact opportunity. Society is so career and status focused nobody pays attention to emotional needs.
There is opportunity help others understand and express the feelings of why they suffer, instead of acting out in indirect/critical, dysfunctional ways, which compounds the problems. That is just benefits that can be attained at ground floor.
Aside: Montemayor, an independent history documentary maker, has a documentary on The Battle of Midway at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo. If you would like to support his work he has a Paypal on his channel page!
- Flipping houses: Upgrade carpentry from tech level 0 to tech level 3 and get property + credit line
I'd be a machinist. I love watching machinists on youtube turn a hunk of metal into a useful part. It looks like it has the right mix of problem solving, thinking and labor.
I've thought about starting a financial planning charity to help middle class and up people get out of debt (low hanging fruit), but I think I'm more likely to try to become a fireman or something else physical. I just feel so much more satisfied by doing a bunch of physical work or charitable work than technical work, so once I don't need income, I'll switch it up.
I just keep trying to remind myself that things could be worse. As soon as I'm out of debt I'm going to save up some money and make a career change, even if I'll be 40 years old.
Find something meaningful, that makes you feel complete.
Right now I'm in a very difficult situation where I don't know what to do. I cannot find anything that does not ask for previous experience; and the irony is that I don't know anything else apart from technology which I started hating the last 4 years.
I'm not currently doing it as I'm unemployed and at my age (near 40) cannot find something else without previous experience.
edit: obviously my impostor syndrome kicks in lately due to countless factors and I self-sabotage with every interview out there lol. I just want to go back in time and slap me in the face for choosing this career -_- I don't want to spend the rest of my life in front of a screen.
I’ve though about being a tradie. Doing some home improvements has been fun and I can stay focused more easily than on screen work.
Also considering doing some freelance work which although still coding will involve some sales/contract negotiation type stuff and the chance to charge more (I’ll keep my job so it’s easy to say no to low ballers!)
You North American coders would say 150/h is meh for freelance work but if I could get that in my spare time it’d be pretty cool.
I love growing plants. I love being outside. I love being away from electronics. It’s perfect for me. If only it paid more... (but I’m working on that, in 2-3 years I hope to be able to make the transition to full-time farmer)
Sport medicine and diet: I would like to help people get fit, healthier. Plus, I like learning these topics.
Also, it would be great to have flexibility in work, and ability to be more outside. I find it so unnatural and sad that we have to sit on our arses and look at monitors locked within 4 walls for our best healthiest years. I slightly suffer internally every time, when the weather is great outside.
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[ 394 ms ] story [ 1404 ms ] threadI am not good at fiction writing at all. But this is something I always romanticize about. Something about sitting in cafes or home and typing away seems like a perfect day to me. No need to debug, troubleshoot production issues, attend meetings, submit TPS reports, etc. Just you and your writing.
The other thing you could do is to join a writers workshop, in person is always good but there's no reason why you couldn't join some remote thing. The caveat is that however big the workshop is you need to read everyone else's work and comment on it as well, which means if you have a workshop with four people you typically will need to read something for 4x for every one of your submissions.
The other thing to consider is whether you want to write fiction that is necessarily entertaining or literature that is compelling. Those are two entirely different disciplines.
Then simply write a single page every single day no matter what.
The other thing you just need to do is read the masters. Hemingway, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Try to find an example of some compelling fiction for yourself, something that moves you. then try to find some cliff notes or a summary regarding that's story's plot. The information is there, but the emotional reaction, the thing that moves you is missing from the summary.
There is a story called "Litost" by Milan Kindera, that in my opinion does a very good job of explaining this without breaking the mood of the story through boring exposition. At its heart the story is simply about a youth in an affair with an older woman and unrequited love. But real compelling fiction is not just the story.
It comes from a word without English equivalent. Litost is a state of torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery”
Try to find a copy of the story and read it. I looked for a link but couldn't find anything. Try to avoid reading literary criticism initially.
Hard part is actually writing everyday though. After day job and social responsibilities, I have barely anytime. Then I recently got real estate license.
If I'm tasked with something, it may take me a day or it may take me a week depending on how well I can think my way to a solution. Maybe it never comes, maybe I'm spending days searching the same SO answers for a morsel of insight or inspiration from poorly written documentation to solve a problem. Drinking coffee, staying up late, maybe it bleeds into personal life, that urge to keep looking into it to finally put an end to the task and deep dizsatisfaction.
I'm often jealous of people in other jobs that aren't this way, that are more "just hustle and do it," where at the end if the day, you either did the work to progress your position/project/whatever, or you didn't. And if you just got up in the morning and physically and metaphorically "showed up" for the job, there was a far lesser chance you'd just stare a screen to no discernable result for 8 hours and feel a sense that no progress was made.
The times I have done such work (like construction) resulted in a much greater satisfaction and feeling in my body than after a day in front of the screen (even though I have been productive). Doing lots of running and gym but it does not generate the same feeling.
Have lately started to do something about it, maybe switch career totally.
He found it a fantastic experience. He claimed that there is more overlap between the skills needed between the two than you'd think (and that he met a surprising number of other truckers who used to be software engineers).
If I decided to change careers, I'd seriously investigate that.
This guy drove trucks for three years. I think his assessment of his experience is not based on an illusion.
He also wasn't saying it was better than software development. He was burnt out in the software world and drove trucks simply to do something that wasn't that. After a few years of truck driving, he returned to the software world, which is what he is still doing today, and speaks positively of both that and truck driving.
And if a pilot falls asleep the entire plane falls down, when a surgeon falls asleep someone dies under the knife.
There is opportunity help others understand and express the feelings of why they suffer, instead of acting out in indirect/critical, dysfunctional ways, which compounds the problems. That is just benefits that can be attained at ground floor.
Please check out Attachment Theory and Schema Therapy: http://www.psychology.sunysb.edu/attachment/online/inge_orig..., https://www.guilford.com/excerpts/young.pdf
- History professor: Because history rocks.
Aside: Montemayor, an independent history documentary maker, has a documentary on The Battle of Midway at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd8_vO5zrjo. If you would like to support his work he has a Paypal on his channel page!
- Flipping houses: Upgrade carpentry from tech level 0 to tech level 3 and get property + credit line
You cannot imagine how much I hate myself for dealing with technology...
Right now I'm in a very difficult situation where I don't know what to do. I cannot find anything that does not ask for previous experience; and the irony is that I don't know anything else apart from technology which I started hating the last 4 years.
edit: obviously my impostor syndrome kicks in lately due to countless factors and I self-sabotage with every interview out there lol. I just want to go back in time and slap me in the face for choosing this career -_- I don't want to spend the rest of my life in front of a screen.
Also considering doing some freelance work which although still coding will involve some sales/contract negotiation type stuff and the chance to charge more (I’ll keep my job so it’s easy to say no to low ballers!)
You North American coders would say 150/h is meh for freelance work but if I could get that in my spare time it’d be pretty cool.
Have been learning a lot of sailing and boats from YouTube. Want to give it a try.
I’d become a farmer.
I love growing plants. I love being outside. I love being away from electronics. It’s perfect for me. If only it paid more... (but I’m working on that, in 2-3 years I hope to be able to make the transition to full-time farmer)
I feel like I'm too unplugged from nature.
I love being a software engineer but I would love it more if I didn't have to rely on it for paying living expenses.
Also, it would be great to have flexibility in work, and ability to be more outside. I find it so unnatural and sad that we have to sit on our arses and look at monitors locked within 4 walls for our best healthiest years. I slightly suffer internally every time, when the weather is great outside.