The Modern Human's Error

Most of you will be frowning over the strange title, but  I have been thinking a lot about this post, being a history student and having a somewhat romantic idea about the past.

Let's me start by stating, that despite my romantic idea about the past, I am very grateful to live in modern times, because I am well aware that my idea about the past is bascially that: An idea!

The past was tough land, especially for the poor: They had little to no rights and often enough were missing the most basic things to make life worth living or even bearable. I am not speaking of luxury items, but the things we nowadays easily disregard as "normal" often without consciously acknowledging them, such as shoes, food and heating.

Why is it still so appealing to us? My guess is, as weird as it may sounds is the lack of chances, as weird as it may sound. Take dating as an example. We, the women, have now the option of doing the first the step and we can be more active, which is a great thing, but with the freedom came the problem of choice. Some 50 years ago it was rather simple, because there was just one way: The guy made the first move and if he didn't he wasn't into you, end of story. Now guys have to wonder if the woman hates or likes the old-fashioned approach, if she hasn't done the first step herself because she shy or whatever. The same goes for the women. In the end the variety of options have created a lot of uncertainty, not making dating any easier. 

But the same goes also for the many career choices we have not. I have recently started a new day job and unfortunately this wasn't what I had expected. So I started thnking about modern times in which such things as burn-out syndrome and bullying at work have become mayor issues. While we generally think that it is better nowadays I wonder why we complain so much about things we brought upon ourselves.

You don't even have to go back too far, just take a look at our parents generation. Back then there was no argument about a fullfilling job or anything. A job was there to provide for you and your family, nothing more nothing less. Back then people were happy if they could do a hard work, because it was usually well paid and it meant a more comfortable life for their family.

This and the knowledge that in my homecountry Spain people are being evicted from their homes, because without a steady job they cannot pay their morgue honestly made me feel embarrased and it made realize something:

In the present we complain about a lot of things while we should see those actually as a blessing. We complain about unfulling jobs, while we should be happy, that we at least can try to have a fullfilling job. We are frustrated by modern dating, when we actually should be grateful that we live in a time when we can date whoever we want regardless of gender, religion, social standing or colour. Maybe it'll help us if next time we are frustrated about something like this, we ask ourselves what the situation would have been 100 years ago. 

writing update - #3

After having finished writing the novel and the first round of editing I thought it is about time to post my next writing update. I have to admit I underestimated the part of the work that I am facing now. Since now writing feels actually like work, but you know what is amazing? I love every second of it! It is a good feeling to know that I am approaching my passion with professionalism and it makes me proud.

Right now my novel is in the hands of my valued "test readers" for the second round of editing. Since it is one of the deadly sins for a writer to edit their own novel, because you end up overlooking errors. 

That doesn't mean I am being idle, on the contrary. Lots of my time is now dedicated to preparing the next stage: Trying to sell it! This is a very tedious part as it takes time to browse through countless websides of editors, publishers and agents to see if they are right for me and my book or should I say: If I am right for them? 

Then there is also the issue about professional proof readers. Although I think my grammar and spelling are not bad (particularly in german, which is the language my book is presently written in) I think a professional proof reader will be a good thing, since I want to avoid that spelling errors divert from the actual story. Of course this is also a matter of financial means. 

I have also started to work on the english translation in order to be able to approach a wider range of agents and publishers. The spanish translation is also being worked on (Thank god for family members with lots of time). 

But that is only half the task. The other half is finding out about procedures, dos and donts and how to succeed. But my personal approach is going to be exactly that: Personal! I don't believe in pre-written coverletters but in something original that sticks out, after all I am not trying to sell insurances but a fantasy novel, right?

As you can see I am being extremely busy and hopefully will soon be able to post about the first feedback and good news.