Twice as Sweet
Over the holiday weekend, went to New Jersey to Jen's parents and went to the beach. Hurrican Frances was pounding the shit out of Florida, and its tendrils were spinning up north far enough that the waves in Long Beach Island were scaring people from going in the water.
Sunday night, after putting the kids to bed, Jen and I went over to the casinos for a while, each armed with a 100 bucks and that hopeful adrenaline rush that comes with gambling. The places were packed. PACKED. The lowest minimum bet table I could find for roulette was $15 a spin. So after watching a man blow almost a grand in a half hour, I pulled out three crumpled twenties and cashed in for $60, thinking I'll do three spins and see what happens.
Started by boxing in the number 21
First spin; nada. Fastest way to blow $15 bucks.
Again, boxing 21
Second spin; hit on 20, got a small return.
Again, boxing 21.
Direct hit on 21, and got a healthy stack of chips pushed my way.
Twenty minutes later, and I cashed out $585, and to quote Fast Eddie in The Color of Money, "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned."
Yeah, I'll agree to that one, with the exception of writing. Was I psyched? Hell yeah, I was psyched. No matter how y'slice it, that's $585! But the buzz wore off not too long after. And Monday evening when we got back home, all I was itching to do was get back to writing.
I've sold a story for $5. This, to those of you who don't realize it, is pretty much the norm for a while for writers cutting their teeth. 3000 word stories sold (if you're lucky, most are published for exposure) for .01 and .03 cents a word. Not exactly a healthy way to pay the bills. The story I sold took me about 30 hours or so to write, and rewrite and submit. That averages about .16 cents an hour.
I could move to Guate-fuckin-mala and make more money than that. But I'd bet they don't have such great internet speeds there.
That $5 gave me a buzz I could live off of for a few weeks, and much like a gambling addict, left me smacking my keyboard like a junkie on a vein for more.
On the way to Jersey, Jen drove.
I wrote long hand.
And this morning, I finished the first draft of a sitcom. How 'bout that shit? Not exactly the type of thing I normally sink into, but what the hell, an opportunity presented itself, and I'm giving it a shot. Polishing it tonight and tomorrow, and it's outta here.
And when that's done, my fingers are itching to get back to Happy the Man.
I'll keep ya posted. I'm gonna go write
Sunday night, after putting the kids to bed, Jen and I went over to the casinos for a while, each armed with a 100 bucks and that hopeful adrenaline rush that comes with gambling. The places were packed. PACKED. The lowest minimum bet table I could find for roulette was $15 a spin. So after watching a man blow almost a grand in a half hour, I pulled out three crumpled twenties and cashed in for $60, thinking I'll do three spins and see what happens.
Started by boxing in the number 21
First spin; nada. Fastest way to blow $15 bucks.
Again, boxing 21
Second spin; hit on 20, got a small return.
Again, boxing 21.
Direct hit on 21, and got a healthy stack of chips pushed my way.
Twenty minutes later, and I cashed out $585, and to quote Fast Eddie in The Color of Money, "Money won is twice as sweet as money earned."
Yeah, I'll agree to that one, with the exception of writing. Was I psyched? Hell yeah, I was psyched. No matter how y'slice it, that's $585! But the buzz wore off not too long after. And Monday evening when we got back home, all I was itching to do was get back to writing.
I've sold a story for $5. This, to those of you who don't realize it, is pretty much the norm for a while for writers cutting their teeth. 3000 word stories sold (if you're lucky, most are published for exposure) for .01 and .03 cents a word. Not exactly a healthy way to pay the bills. The story I sold took me about 30 hours or so to write, and rewrite and submit. That averages about .16 cents an hour.
I could move to Guate-fuckin-mala and make more money than that. But I'd bet they don't have such great internet speeds there.
That $5 gave me a buzz I could live off of for a few weeks, and much like a gambling addict, left me smacking my keyboard like a junkie on a vein for more.
On the way to Jersey, Jen drove.
I wrote long hand.
And this morning, I finished the first draft of a sitcom. How 'bout that shit? Not exactly the type of thing I normally sink into, but what the hell, an opportunity presented itself, and I'm giving it a shot. Polishing it tonight and tomorrow, and it's outta here.
And when that's done, my fingers are itching to get back to Happy the Man.
I'll keep ya posted. I'm gonna go write
posted by Bob at 9/08/2004
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