This post was going to be about “Resolve,” but it turns out that the definition runs against much of my current thinking.
Resolve [a: To break up, separate, also, to change by disintegration; b: to reduce by analysis; c: to distinguish between or make independently visible adjacent parts of; d: to separate into two components]
People cannot be broken up, reduced by analysis and separated into two components. Perhaps this is why I am struggling with writing a writer’s resume/bio.
If in a resume I include only my writing experience and achievements, there’s a giant hole in the middle sized about 15 years. And I don’t have a teenaged mini-me as the obvious explanation. If I include only my work/professional experience, there’s a giant hovering question-mark…where’s all the writing? Either version presents an incomplete person.
History was my college major, but while minoring in English I found it necessary to know the “global context” of the books I read. What was happening in the author’s world at the time the work was written and to the author personally, the politics of the world, social customs; knowing The Big Picture became the foundation on which I understood the whole story.
Without my work experiences of the last fifteen years, I’m a writer in a vacuum. Without my recent and college-era writing experiences, I’m a clerk.
Why not tell my whole story?
Both make up the “marketable me.” Following resume rules feels like trying to cram a round peg through a square hole.
I am beginning to see the value of a timeline! (With apologies to Facebook.)
Would I get points for creativity if I handed out a personal timeline instead of the conventional resume?
Until I can seamlessly introduce myself as “Terra Osterling – freelance writer,” I’ll just have to lay out the big picture of who I am, where I’ve been and where I’m going. I don’t like the idea of portraying anything but the whole story. I don’t like the idea of playing down one set of experiences over another.
But I do like the idea of a clean slate. Hello, 2012.
Next week: Blog Make-over
I have come to adjusting my resume -slightly- for each job i apply for. But in addition to the many attachments required I have a list of all my jobs I’ve ever had. I don’t know if it ever gets looked at but at least I know I’ve included it. Even though I have generally applied for teaching type jobs, I find my experience working in a t-shirt factory and natural fo
ods store also part of who I have become. Also Of course you can say many things in a cover letter that just don’t seem to fit in a resume. Good luck, being the good writer that you are I am sure you will be able to express yourself.
Happy new year and good luck with that tabula rasa! 🙂
Happy New Year, Robin!