Last updated on November 26, 2023
My grand plan to write daily fell apart on the night of April 18-19, after a losing battle with an online employment system used by a university.
I spent three days preparing documents and then the HR system being used (Workday) choked while uploading my materials. The application was marked complete… and so all that work never made it to HR, much less the university department. I know this because the system displayed the error and did not list all the files in the “complete” preview.
A well designed system would let an applicant click “Revise” or something similar to fix any errors. I only found an option to withdraw from consideration. I didn’t want to withdraw and then resubmit, not after all the time and energy spent.
Maybe I overlooked something? Maybe there is a way to fix an incomplete submission?
Hoping for a simple fix, I emailed HR. I emailed the department. Not even a canned response. Nothing. I’ve now spent two weeks fuming because I absolutely hate online HR systems. I have quit a job application because I couldn’t fight through these digital labyrinths.
With the writing log, I had a plan. Write 1000-2000 words on the blogs, book projects, websites. Don’t count anything else, but note those other texts.
But, I haven’t written since wasting all that effort writing a new cover letter, new teaching statement, etc.
You might be thinking, “Hey, you eventually got a blog post out of the experience!” Okay, but my blogs generate only $25 or so in Google and Amazon revenues. The entire reason I was applying for something is that my writing doesn’t earn anything meaningful. I need a job, a safety net for our family. This was demoralizing.
I am not ready to surrender to being unemployed, nor am I willing to walk away from the blogs and podcast. Something has to work out, eventually.
Tonight, as I write the draft of this post, it is a May 1, 2021. A new month. A reset for the writing log. I will try this again.
It might be easier to back on track this month. Losing two weeks has been difficult, yet I have to believe I can recover and be productive.
My part-time, adjunct teaching for the spring term ends this week when I record grades. Teaching consumes a great deal of time and energy, sadly for very little income. Without teaching duties, I’ll have at least 16 hours back to myself.
Also, schooling for my daughters is winding down. Monday is day 156 of 180. Yes, 25 days translates into five weeks. The workload decreases dramatically in the final month, emphasizing review of materials. We have clear plans for those weeks, thankfully. The girls are ready for summer and hopeful they can return to campus in the fall.
With university teaching and homeschooling winding down, I have to defend my time for writing.
I know I need a writing schedule. As Susan says, life got in the way but I also prioritized teaching over writing.
Now, I am going to log these words and feel a sense of relief.