Education is Dying

Our education system is failing. There. I said it.

A few months ago, my nephew informed me that his school is no longer teaching cursive as part of its curriculum. I was baffled. How are children supposed to sign their names when they become adults? A squiggly line? Flowery initials? 

When he then shared that they are contemplating not teaching the Holocaust, I just about screamed. I took a course in undergraduate university on the Holocaust, specifically literature of the Holocaust, and it was by far the most valuable, life-changing course I have ever taken. To think that students won't even learn about the Holocaust, the genocide of SIX MILLION Jews, is disturbing.

More recently, I've read comments from Facebook friends and articles posted by major publications that believe college professors are under-worked and over-paid. In my state, Governor Walker has proposed a THREE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLAR cut to the University system. You read that correctly: 300 MILLION.

Becoming a Writer

How did you begin writing?

I’ve always thought my path to becoming a writer wasn’t normal, but recently, I’ve begun to wonder if there is such a thing as typical in a writer’s life. Truth is, my inner child shudders whenever I answer this question.

Because I know the exact moment I became a writer.

If there is such a thing as normal in a writer’s life, then I’m certain this doesn’t qualify. I vaguely remember writing stories as a child. I pitter-pattered all night long on my keyboard that was attached to a big, boxy, cream-colored monitor. I wrote more stories than I can remember. I’m sure of this, even though I never shared them with anyone. Some were flash fiction pieces set in the realms of my favorite television shows or movies. Some were longer. Some helped me to understand the world and the struggles I had been facing.

But that’s not when I became a writer. A real writer. That wasn’t the moment. Every writer knows the one. That moment of pure clarity. The moment where you fall in love with something, someone. The moment that caused the dominos to fall.

It all started with a movie.

Stonecoast Graduation and Washington DC Trip

On Saturday, January 17, 2015, I graduated with my Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. That was three days ago, and it's still bittersweet. I wanted to reminisce, to reflect on my time at Stonecoast. To do that, I needed to go back to the beginning, to a time when I wasn't the confident writer...

I started writing my novel in 2009. While each new year brought the same resolution—finish your novel!—I still felt as though something was missing.

I found that something at Stonecoast.

In December 2012, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin—Parkside with a Bachelor of Arts in English, and in January 2013, I began my journey at the University of Southern Maine’sStonecoast program. Before I graduated from UW-Parkside and before I applied at Stonecoast, I searched high and low for the perfect graduate school. I knew it existed somewhere. I just had to find it. And I refused to settle.

I was looking for a school that would let me work one on one with my professors, a school that would let me focus on my writing rather than taking more courses that taught me how to write. After four years of undergraduate English courses, I was ready to step out of the classroom and into the writing world. I had also always wanted to study abroad, something that so few schools offered. But most importantly, I wanted to work with professors who were writers I grew up reading (or, at the very least, had heard of). I wanted to work with writers who were currently in the industry, who were prolific in their own way. I wanted to work with writers who truly knew the young adult market and who also wrote their fair share of vampire novels.

It’s fair to say my Buffy-obsessed self wanted to work with Joss Whedon.

Narrative Ink

I'm currently at my final graduate school residency. It's weird to write that, to say that, to think that... On Monday, I completed part one of my MFA requirements: the public reading. It went well. I received a lot of positive feedback, and many stopped me to request a copy of the full manuscript. That's the best compliment a writer can receive. 

This morning, I completed part two: my presentation/panel. I am presenting on forming your own profitable freelance editing company. My editing company, Narrative Ink, has given me great insight into the dos and don'ts of making it in this industry as a freelance editor.

I started freelance editing in March 2013, but I had been working as an editor for various small presses for several years prior to that point. I began writing seriously in 2009, and I have received two degrees in writing: a bachelor's from UW-Parkside and a master's from University of Southern Maine. 

But this isn't about my educational background...

In March 2013, I began freelancing under the company name of Prose & Cons Editing. In November 2014, the company name changed to Narrative Ink Editing, and my paperwork for my LLC was officially processed and approved by both the federal government and the state of Wisconsin. This was a long, daunting process and quite an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.

Being able to say that I am the owner of a business is surreal.