An Eight Weeks' Notice
Jul. 23rd, 2019 07:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darksolezHello again! Once again, again, apologies for the delay in posting; I've honestly become worse than VG Cats ( a webcomic notorious for its infrequent updates). I guess you all will be wanting the scuttlebutt from two months at Zazzle, right? Then prepare for me to dispense some mild company secrets. Nothing spectacular. We're not planning to topple antagonistic governments or anything.
Since our work as Content Specialists (three positions were created/filled when I started, so Brian and Seamus are my comrades-in-arms) is part of what Zazzle calls the SWAT Team, the writing/content creation that we're required to do is extremely diverse. For example, the last few weeks I've been working on my first article for the site, which will soon be uploaded on Zazzle.com/ideas. These have, over the past few months, tended to be rather 'fluffy,' wedding-centric articles, but there are increasingly more experimental and varied articles in the works. My article, soon to be published, is about ways for charities/nonprofit organizations to make money online, e.g. through crowdfunding, charity streams, online donation forms, etc. I'm given a rough guideline of what to cover, as well as some keywords or terms that have proven popular on Google, but the content of the article is more or less up to me. The style is relatively informal but relatively informative, too, meaning I DO have to research what I'm writing about; I can't just pull it out of thin air. And it has to be signed off on by about three or four people before it's posted, so the QC process is quite good. You get excellent feedback about how to keep your content fresh, unrepetitive, and engaging.
Along with that, we're also working on SEO (Search Engine Optimization... which I think I explained in my last post), product descriptions, metadata for Zazzle.com/create... Essentially, any kind of creative writing that might be involved in Zazzle from day to day. Having agonised over my thesis/academic writing for years, it's enjoyable to write pieces that don't necessarily have to be high literature, but MUST be creative, funny, and upbeat. Unlike my academic writing, which is logical, reasoned, and empirical, this is imaginative and light-hearted. It feels like my creativity is returning to me, after many years; I've even been drawing again, which I only do in fits and starts, normally. I'm hopeful that even my poetry will return to me... I've always wanted to write poems for Natalie but haven't felt so inclined in years (of course I like to wax lyrical about you, Natalie, don't get me wrong).
Outside of work, I'm enjoying the privilege of getting paid a full-time wage, which has allowed myself and Natalie to book a holiday to Lanzarote at the end of September. We haven't been since 2016, as my fiancée likes to remind me, but I'm eager to go again: holidaying in Lanzarote is a Cork person's rite of passage, and now that I've been once I am compelled to go again. While I had a lot of savings to get me through the months since the IRC ceased, and I've had occasional tutoring and correcting work in the meantime, there's still no feeling that can best a hard-earned paycheck. It creates possibilities, and generosities, too: with a decent income, I can contribute more to the house. Once Natalie and I return from Lanzarote, we'll set about the grim business of saving up for a deposit, but in the meantime, I can afford to treat myself, and her, somewhat well (while remaining thrifty and disciplined).
I'm currently playing Tales of the Abyss, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, and Splatoon 2. I'm currently reading Woody: The Biography by David Evanier and EDGE Magazines. I'm currently watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Laid out in a list like this, I realise that I'm probably watching/reading/playing too much, especially when eight hours' worth of inventing and computer work each day is fairly taxing.
Since our work as Content Specialists (three positions were created/filled when I started, so Brian and Seamus are my comrades-in-arms) is part of what Zazzle calls the SWAT Team, the writing/content creation that we're required to do is extremely diverse. For example, the last few weeks I've been working on my first article for the site, which will soon be uploaded on Zazzle.com/ideas. These have, over the past few months, tended to be rather 'fluffy,' wedding-centric articles, but there are increasingly more experimental and varied articles in the works. My article, soon to be published, is about ways for charities/nonprofit organizations to make money online, e.g. through crowdfunding, charity streams, online donation forms, etc. I'm given a rough guideline of what to cover, as well as some keywords or terms that have proven popular on Google, but the content of the article is more or less up to me. The style is relatively informal but relatively informative, too, meaning I DO have to research what I'm writing about; I can't just pull it out of thin air. And it has to be signed off on by about three or four people before it's posted, so the QC process is quite good. You get excellent feedback about how to keep your content fresh, unrepetitive, and engaging.
Along with that, we're also working on SEO (Search Engine Optimization... which I think I explained in my last post), product descriptions, metadata for Zazzle.com/create... Essentially, any kind of creative writing that might be involved in Zazzle from day to day. Having agonised over my thesis/academic writing for years, it's enjoyable to write pieces that don't necessarily have to be high literature, but MUST be creative, funny, and upbeat. Unlike my academic writing, which is logical, reasoned, and empirical, this is imaginative and light-hearted. It feels like my creativity is returning to me, after many years; I've even been drawing again, which I only do in fits and starts, normally. I'm hopeful that even my poetry will return to me... I've always wanted to write poems for Natalie but haven't felt so inclined in years (of course I like to wax lyrical about you, Natalie, don't get me wrong).
Outside of work, I'm enjoying the privilege of getting paid a full-time wage, which has allowed myself and Natalie to book a holiday to Lanzarote at the end of September. We haven't been since 2016, as my fiancée likes to remind me, but I'm eager to go again: holidaying in Lanzarote is a Cork person's rite of passage, and now that I've been once I am compelled to go again. While I had a lot of savings to get me through the months since the IRC ceased, and I've had occasional tutoring and correcting work in the meantime, there's still no feeling that can best a hard-earned paycheck. It creates possibilities, and generosities, too: with a decent income, I can contribute more to the house. Once Natalie and I return from Lanzarote, we'll set about the grim business of saving up for a deposit, but in the meantime, I can afford to treat myself, and her, somewhat well (while remaining thrifty and disciplined).
I'm currently playing Tales of the Abyss, Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, and Splatoon 2. I'm currently reading Woody: The Biography by David Evanier and EDGE Magazines. I'm currently watching Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Laid out in a list like this, I realise that I'm probably watching/reading/playing too much, especially when eight hours' worth of inventing and computer work each day is fairly taxing.
