Here I Go

I quit my job lalala to write the words lalala I write the words lalala to feed the beast lalala I
feed the beast lalala to say the least

I am now a full time writer and student. I am vying for local freelancing jobs and have a few articles written up for spec that I'm still editing. I found a wonderful class at University of California that requires at least 50 pages of a novel to enter. I have around 90 pages of my novel in mostly rough draft form, and the class is geared toward the goal of producing 50 pages at end.
It is taught by a published novelist and it would be my first time taking a class geared toward serious writing of any kind. I hope I could get even more out of it and complete the rough draft of the novel.

When I was interning for Dr. R.E., the former editor of Scientific Mind and now contributing editor to Psychology Today, I had a few passionate conversations with him about writing, books, culture, etc. I made a mistake in pronunciation of a name and realized it immediately when I saw the look on his face- ' Oh- that's not right is it? ' I said. He was such a gentleman.
He said ' No, no matter, you are a autodictat (will go look spelling up! ) and that kind of thing goes with the territory. Never feel bad about it. ' What an awesome thing to tell me, a writer who passionately loves to learn but did not have the opportunity to attend full time college or university.

It was only last year I learned I have been pronouncing Proust wrong in my mind my entire life.
I never talk about these things with anyone, you see that's the problem, I don't HEAR people talk about things, I read. I've never heard a professor stand up and give a lecture on Tolstoy but I've read him. I grew up surrounded by literature in bookshelves everywhere- one of the greatest and most lasting gifts of my childhood- and so I was reading ' Sophie's Choice ' and ' Rabbit Run ' in middle school. Much more European than American- allowing a young person to decide the strength of their own mind. I've never dissected the style of Austen or Camus or Plath or the real merit of Fitzgerald's writings in class but I've thought about it! This is probably why I love books on writing by writers so so much.

So here I go. As it stands I have one half a novel, one poetry book completed and I've begun to now order the poems, three short stories (two in submission), forty poems revolving in submission ( just heard from an editor at Opium that one of my poems is being considered by the final poetry editor and they'll let me know soon. they even apologized for taking so long, which was very nice of them! ) and two articles for spec in rough draft form. I can do it!
I can! I can, right?

Yes.