Stage of Life thoughts

I got responses from five more organizations regarding their nomination in the Stage of Life writing contest! It is so awesome and empowering to see these organizations react so positively to their nominations—and to our mission. Love it!

Today I got my first awkward moment in blogger recruitment—I invited a blogger who was already blogging for Stage of Life! She was very nice about my invite, though, and even had a few questions for me. I also noticed that one of the bloggers I invited, but never received a response from, promoted Stage of Life on her blog! I wish I had known sooner—but it was still awesome to stumble across.

I began researching publishers that could work with a potential Stage of Life book (!). The task is daunting, but I am enjoying it so far. The publishing industry is so dense and tightly wound that it is like a science trying to figure out how to submit a manuscript… if the publisher even wants a manuscript from you. It will be interesting to see how this project turns out.

UPDATE: Since I am the best intern ever (read: I had a lot of time on my hands), I decided to write a very Allie Brosh sounding essay for Stage of Life. It was a lot of fun to write, and hopefully just as much fun to read!

I think I have just about given up researching publishers online; it is definitely something I am going to have to go to a bookstore to do. I never knew the publishing industry was this muddled and insane. I am sort of glad I am not working in it.

Hours worked: 5/45

Out of the 19 organizations that I emailed, eight replied to me! All eight were very excited that their cause was nominated for the writing contest on Stage of Life—Operation Beautiful even tweeted the link to the essay! Invisible Children also said very kind words about the Stage of Life project; it was an empowering eight emails to read. I hope more organizations reply!

I spent most of today doing blogger outreach (I sent out one email; here’s hoping she replies!), and creating an entry for this month’s writing contest. I really liked what I wrote, and hopefully the judges think so too! ;)

Hours worked: 2/40

I began today by browsing Stage of Life for one-time posters with talent. A pretty specific goal, but I did find a few! Hopefully my words of encouragement will convince these writers to post again.

The big task for today was emailing all of (or at least, most of) the organizations that were nominated in the January writing contest. It was an empowering experience—and I learned a lot about awesome organizations working to make a difference in the world! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in touch with all of the organizations. It seems a little strange that organizations like this wouldn’t have any sort of contact information (ever hear of email?), but it’s true. Nothing.

I finished up by continuing with blogger recruitment. I found another great list on Blogger of college-aged bloggers, so on Saturday I will go through the list and see what I find!

Hours worked: 4/38

Today I got to write my first ever (professional) script! It was fun—and challenging—to communicate an exciting message personally without sounding too informal. At the same time, I didn’t want to sound like a robot. I think Eric and I found a happy medium though, and Thursday I will emailing the personalized scripts to almost 30 organizations!

I am now able to edit blog headlines/titles on Stage of Life. So beware—use good grammar, punctuation, and spelling, or it will be changed!

I have officially compiled 50 healthy living inspired websites. Halfway to the ultimate goal, but 50 is good enough, too…

Hours worked: 4/34

I spent a good bulk of work today writing a post for Stage of Life. It was fun, being able to rant about my obsessive love for Harry Potter. Hopefully someone on the site feels the same way and I can make a friend! :)

I spent the other part of my day continuing with blogger recruitment—no luck finding any good, potential bloggers today. I did stumble across a pro-anorexia blog, and I nearly had a panic attack trying to figure out what I could do to help this girl. It’s so heart breaking to know she is fighting this (losing) battle with weight. Other found bloggers tYpEd lyk DiS or spent most of the post venting about their little brother playing video games all day. No luck.

Hopefully I will find more talent soon! I am glad to see Delaney Kay has taken such a liking to Stage of Life, too!

Hours worked: 2/30

It’s official: Delaney Kay (http://doahss.blogspot.com) has officially become a featured blogger for Stage of Life!!! We are super excited to have her on board!! (See? Blogger recruitment pays off!)

Today I got to read through all of the “My Cause” writing contest entries. I created a Word document outlining what each essay was about (including the cause and a small synopsis of the cause’s goal). Even though the task was daunting, I really enjoyed myself. It was empowering to read through over 30 (!) entries describing what these students are most passionate about. My personal favorites are To Write Love On Her Arms and Operation Beautiful, but each cause represented was noble in their own right.

After reading through all of the essays, I tried to identify four trends across the 33 essays. It was a little difficult, so I settled on the four most popular topics: medical related issues, self-image issues, poverty and animal rights. Some other topics included stopping child soldiers in Africa, volunteering at VA hospital, and driving related issues (texting and driving and drunk driving).

Once I officially felt empowered, I began to write a post for the college section (although it may turn into a high school post). I’m not sure if it will go anywhere, but sometimes it is just good to write.

Hours worked: 4/28

I can’t be forced to write. And that stinks most of all when I want to write, but can’t think of anything to write. I anticipating doing a new post today, but nothing came to mind. (Well, several things came to mind, but nothing got fleshed out.) I browsed the Stage of Life high school and college stages today for posts to comment on. It is always a fun task, but it also triggers this urge to write (and then the spiral of writer’s block). I am sure I will think of something—when I am not actively thinking of something to write.

I did a lot of research today on healthy living websites and website blogging contests. I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more contests for blogs/websites! I found a few good ones, so hopefully they will prove useful in some way.

I also continued with blogger recruitment. I didn’t contact anyone new, but two bloggers are one step closer to writing for Stage of Life!

Hours worked: 4/24

I have gotten three responses from bloggers! And one from a high school blogger who is beyond talented. It is extremely exciting! I emailed all three of them back and hopefully they will begin contributing to Stage of Life!

I posted another story on the college section—what was originally going to be my editor’s welcome for next week, until I randomly decided it wasn’t good enough. So today I drafted another editor’s welcome, and I will let it sit for a day before I email it to Eric. This one is much more interesting than the original, and has a smidge more to do with love (well, a certain food I love…)

I continued to look for healthy living websites, and began to look for blogging competition sites. The latter are more scarce than I thought they would be, so it is proving to be a difficult task. I am sure after enough searching I will find an acceptable number of competitions.

Hours worked: 2/20

I spent today working on a variety of projects—and I still haven’t finished! I spent a good hour or so continuing blogger recruitment… I think I am going to be very sick of emails very soon. After that I began looking into writing groups to invite to write for the site. I found a few local (ish) organizations, so I sent them emails. And now I wait for a reply…

Next I browsed the high school and college section on Stage of Life and commented on a few posts I really enjoyed. It is great to see so many entries for the writing contest flowing in! I also resolved to post something on Stage of Life this weekend. I haven’t written in a few days, and that feels so wrong for some reason.

I began researching healthy living websites for children and teens. There are a lot of articles, not a lot of websites… I am sure I will reach an acceptable quota after trudging through the internet for a few more hours.

Hours worked: 4/18

Another great day at Stage of Life; and completely worth the slow, slushy drive over. Today I began by doing the usual: searching for new bloggers. I sent out a few emails/comments so hopefully I will be hearing back from someone soon! I also stumbled upon the holy grail of college bloggers, so I will be busy looking through all of those very soon. I emailed my grandfather, an avid writer, about contributing to the Stage of Life project, so hopefully he will be interested in sharing some of his stories.

I also organized a blogger chart, so I know who I already emailed. That way I won’t accidentally email someone twice (which could come off as a little desperate, especially when I would be asking the same question).

Fun task: I got to look into marriage and divorce statistics for a potential new writing prompt. I learned a lot of stuff about marriage and divorce rates that I didn’t know. (Did you know in Mississippi, a girl can be married at 15, and a boy can be married at 17?)

Hours worked: 4/14