I can't recall a time where I didn't like to write. For almost twelve years I've kept a journal. I still have schoolwork from when I was a child saved on an iMac* I'm pretty sure will no longer boot, and probably somewhere in the catacombs of the Internet there are emails that I sent to my mom as a young child.
Recently, I applied with a local (in the Hudson Valley) for a job as an editorial assistant at a local consumer lifestyle magazine. From the moment I applied I should have known I was not cut out for the position. Somehow, almost exactly a month after I sent my resume, I received a response that the position was still open and after a reply, I was given two tests: a digital media test and an editorial test.
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For starters, I am not an expert on SEO (search engine optimization). I leave that to media professionals. I'm happy if even one or two people see my work. I'm not looking at being the next literary Justin Bieber; I just want to have a space somewhere for my work. I've never copy-written any piece of work. I write and leave the editing to the experts. In the end, I emailed the hiring manager back and told him that I was no longer interested, but I appreciated the opportunity (It also makes me wonder if the simple fact behind an address can make the difference between getting an interview and having your application looked over). On the other hand, I have twenty-something volumes worth of composition notebooks that I count as my journals.
The test was a source of frustration with me, and it didn't help that as I wrote the test I was in State College, Pennsylvania helping my girlfriend as a volunteer for the environmental nonprofit she works for.
I'm not a quitter in the traditional sense, or maybe I am. I just happen to know my limitations. I admit I don't handle deadlines, defeat, frustration and/or rejection well. But persistence is definitely something I don't lack. Not all editors enjoy writing (I doubt I'll ever catch my mom writing a best-seller of any sort, but she'll enjoy editing anything I write) just as much as some writers dread editing. I'll expand on this thought next week
*That iMac my late father bought in the fall of 2000, right after he went back to college. It's insane for anyone to own an old computer, but there are some things that for me are really sentimental, even if they are as old as God-knows-what.
