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The first year of...anything.
I'm nearing the one year anniversary of my involvement with the mag. Granted, the first issue of Under the Bed didn't go live until August, but I started working for eFiction in June, and put out the last issue of eHorror before I magically transformed it into what it is today.
The first year was incredibly stressful, no doubt exacerbated by my own incompetence, the insane amount of pressure I was putting on myself, and my habit of grossly exaggerating the expected returns. Just like when I first got published, I presumed I'd make enough money the first year to buy a new computer. Without embarrassing us all with the actual numbers, let's just say, I haven't.
But you know, my first year at Shar was pretty terrible. I was in way over my head, having slightly exaggerated my own musical knowledge. After that, it got a lot better--which is to say, I got way better at it. I became more confident in the knowledge I did have, and better able to compensate for the stuff I didn't know. After that, I just kept on learning things until I decided I didn't like them anymore.
My first year of college was also difficult. When I got there, I was so incredibly scared and intimidated, I didn't eat for almost 3 days because I didn't want to be seen in the cafeteria alone. It got better though, as everything seems to if I stick it out long enough.
So I guess that's the pattern. The first year of anything worthwhile will probably suck. My first year with H didn't suck, but there was a definite learning curve. I had no idea how to treat someone who was always kind and respectful to me, or how to manage a healthy relationship. That took at least a year, presuming that I've learned it now. ;-)
I guess the question is, what should I do next? I'm def gonna stick it out with the magazine, for as long as my computer allows it, at least. It's maddeningly slow at times, but it's still chugging right along. But I'm thinking of doing some self-publishing since I actually seem to know how. I haven't been writing much fiction, and I really need to be working on Millicent Mixter. I'm writing that one using Scrivener. That's a sweet program, though I wish it had some color adjust options. Black on White is not a great color scheme for me.
When I met H, I was terrible with computers. I had an Apple IIc which was at least 20 years old. When I started using modern computers, I was baffled by "save" versus "save as." H taught me some basics, then photoshop. This allowed me to create a website about My Hot, Hot Boss. That shit was hilarious, and I miss it. Later, I learned my way around Word, and took a short class in Excel.
When I started getting serious about being a writer, I learned enough html to blog properly, and then figured out a few other text manipulation programs. I forget what it was called, but I used a really early desktop publishing software to create some killer astrological profiles that I used to give out as gifts.
I started making podcasts, which meant figuring out GarageBand (I had help). Someone built me a cool website, and I had to learn how to update it via databases he also built. Now I have a wordpress site. I didn't build it, but I can maintain it because I'm reasonably good with Wordpress basics.
I made a couple of video promos, which meant learning iMovie. I'm much better at it than I expected to be. I started making comics (well, pretending to make comics, because I had no idea what the hell I was doing) which meant learning Illustrator. Illustrator is largely similar to InDesign, which is what I now use to make the magazine.
So...while I can't build websites from scratch, or program shit, or figure out why flash makes Chrome crash--compared to a lot of people, I am rather tech savvy. That's funny, because I don't even have an iPhone.
The first year was incredibly stressful, no doubt exacerbated by my own incompetence, the insane amount of pressure I was putting on myself, and my habit of grossly exaggerating the expected returns. Just like when I first got published, I presumed I'd make enough money the first year to buy a new computer. Without embarrassing us all with the actual numbers, let's just say, I haven't.
But you know, my first year at Shar was pretty terrible. I was in way over my head, having slightly exaggerated my own musical knowledge. After that, it got a lot better--which is to say, I got way better at it. I became more confident in the knowledge I did have, and better able to compensate for the stuff I didn't know. After that, I just kept on learning things until I decided I didn't like them anymore.
My first year of college was also difficult. When I got there, I was so incredibly scared and intimidated, I didn't eat for almost 3 days because I didn't want to be seen in the cafeteria alone. It got better though, as everything seems to if I stick it out long enough.
So I guess that's the pattern. The first year of anything worthwhile will probably suck. My first year with H didn't suck, but there was a definite learning curve. I had no idea how to treat someone who was always kind and respectful to me, or how to manage a healthy relationship. That took at least a year, presuming that I've learned it now. ;-)
I guess the question is, what should I do next? I'm def gonna stick it out with the magazine, for as long as my computer allows it, at least. It's maddeningly slow at times, but it's still chugging right along. But I'm thinking of doing some self-publishing since I actually seem to know how. I haven't been writing much fiction, and I really need to be working on Millicent Mixter. I'm writing that one using Scrivener. That's a sweet program, though I wish it had some color adjust options. Black on White is not a great color scheme for me.
When I met H, I was terrible with computers. I had an Apple IIc which was at least 20 years old. When I started using modern computers, I was baffled by "save" versus "save as." H taught me some basics, then photoshop. This allowed me to create a website about My Hot, Hot Boss. That shit was hilarious, and I miss it. Later, I learned my way around Word, and took a short class in Excel.
When I started getting serious about being a writer, I learned enough html to blog properly, and then figured out a few other text manipulation programs. I forget what it was called, but I used a really early desktop publishing software to create some killer astrological profiles that I used to give out as gifts.
I started making podcasts, which meant figuring out GarageBand (I had help). Someone built me a cool website, and I had to learn how to update it via databases he also built. Now I have a wordpress site. I didn't build it, but I can maintain it because I'm reasonably good with Wordpress basics.
I made a couple of video promos, which meant learning iMovie. I'm much better at it than I expected to be. I started making comics (well, pretending to make comics, because I had no idea what the hell I was doing) which meant learning Illustrator. Illustrator is largely similar to InDesign, which is what I now use to make the magazine.
So...while I can't build websites from scratch, or program shit, or figure out why flash makes Chrome crash--compared to a lot of people, I am rather tech savvy. That's funny, because I don't even have an iPhone.