I know that there's a lot of people who are probably really upset about tonight's results-I've had a lot of people supporting me throughout my run in Idol, and I'm honestly incredibly grateful to all of them for turning out and supporting me through this thing.
...but, guys, I'm really relieved.
It has never been a secret that I write long. When people were talking, way back in Week 1, about what to do, how to "play the game", one of the things I heard, a lot, was that you had to "keep it short".
The first time I played Idol, I listened to this. I was fresh out of undergrad and I was TAing full time as well as taking 16 credit hours of classes. I opted to keep things short because it meant that my students got their lab reports &etc returned in a timely manner, but I didn't particularly like it. (I've never been very good at following the rules!)
When talonkarrde88 pressured me to sign up for Idol this time around, I thought long and hard about what I was going to do.
Week 1, when we had to write for "Jayus"-I knew, in telling the story of the boy I'd grown up with, that I was done following the "rule" of keeping it short. I banged out that piece in an hour and a half, sitting in the school computer lab and talking to Sean, and I knew, when it was done, that I was going to post it without editing, that it was over 3K words long, and that I didn't care.
I posted it, and it was easily the best-received piece I posted all season.
I knew, from Week 1, that I was in Idol to tell stories, and I was going to write things and let them take the shape that they wanted to take, length be damned. I've used this season of Idol to start writing again, and everyone here has been incredibly supportive of that. I wouldn't have made it as far as I have without having a great audience to give me gentle feedback and support even when I was writing things that were "too long for Idol".
I've enjoyed it, a lot...and I'm done.
I don't know that I've talked about it much. I have heard speculation about what it must be that I do for a living. I'm going to end that mystery here (not that it was much of one :P ).
I'm a chemist. I have a BS in chemistry and I am working toward a PhD in materials chemistry.
I am also, presently, the head of a moderately successful startup. I say "moderately successful" because after roughly two and a half years of work, we've finalized our core team and are about to incorporate and start pitching.
Yup, I’m CEO of my own company...and yes, I have been working full-time toward my PhD while spinning out the startup and doing Idol.
Work-life balance? What's that? :P
At last check, something like three weeks ago, I had written roughly 104K words for Idol.
And minus two pieces I can think of immediately, I have loved everything I have written.
And I am so done you guys. Seriously.
I’ve been grateful and happy that I’ve lasted in Idol as long as I have, but I’ve felt burnout encroaching for a very long time, and I’m glad that I’ve been voted out before it could fully hit.
I think it’s customary at this point to thank the people that have supported you-so, yes.
To everyone who has connected with or loved a piece of my writing-thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Keep an eye on my journal, guys. I’m going to be starting a new writing-based project when Idol ends.
Until then-one of my best friends in the entire fucking world arrives from Vancouver, BC tonight, and now that I have a bunch of free time, I can actually clean my house and start thinking about what I’m going to submit to Queers Destroy Fantasy.
I never felt your pieces ran "too long", but seemed the right length for the story you were telling, and I'd say that's important - though I can see why everyone says "write short" when there a lot of entries to read. Presumably the idea is that people get bored if they've got too many longer entries to try and read before voting.
Congrats on how well you did, and if you're relieved, than that's a good thing too :)
I totally get where you're coming from. I'm at the point where boy do I want to stay, but man, I wouldn't be that upset to be done. It's exhausting. I can't imagine with all you've had going on!
As others said, I've really enjoyed you this season and I love that you write long. You have had some of my favorite pieces all along. It's been an honor and a pleasure to read your work.
I know that there's a lot of people who are probably really upset about tonight's results-I've had a lot of people supporting me throughout my run in Idol, and I'm honestly incredibly grateful to all of them for turning out and supporting me through this thing.
...but, guys, I'm really relieved.
It has never been a secret that I write long. When people were talking, way back in Week 1, about what to do, how to "play the game", one of the things I heard, a lot, was that you had to "keep it short".
The first time I played Idol, I listened to this. I was fresh out of undergrad and I was TAing full time as well as taking 16 credit hours of classes. I opted to keep things short because it meant that my students got their lab reports &etc returned in a timely manner, but I didn't particularly like it. (I've never been very good at following the rules!)
When talonkarrde88 pressured me to sign up for Idol this time around, I thought long and hard about what I was going to do.
Week 1, when we had to write for "Jayus"-I knew, in telling the story of the boy I'd grown up with, that I was done following the "rule" of keeping it short. I banged out that piece in an hour and a half, sitting in the school computer lab and talking to Sean, and I knew, when it was done, that I was going to post it without editing, that it was over 3K words long, and that I didn't care.
I posted it, and it was easily the best-received piece I posted all season.
I knew, from Week 1, that I was in Idol to tell stories, and I was going to write things and let them take the shape that they wanted to take, length be damned. I've used this season of Idol to start writing again, and everyone here has been incredibly supportive of that. I wouldn't have made it as far as I have without having a great audience to give me gentle feedback and support even when I was writing things that were "too long for Idol".
I've enjoyed it, a lot...and I'm done.
I don't know that I've talked about it much. I have heard speculation about what it must be that I do for a living. I'm going to end that mystery here (not that it was much of one :P ).
I'm a chemist. I have a BS in chemistry and I am working toward a PhD in materials chemistry.
I am also, presently, the head of a moderately successful startup. I say "moderately successful" because after roughly two and a half years of work, we've finalized our core team and are about to incorporate and start pitching.
Yup, I’m CEO of my own company...and yes, I have been working full-time toward my PhD while spinning out the startup and doing Idol.
Work-life balance? What's that? :P
At last check, something like three weeks ago, I had written roughly 104K words for Idol.
And minus two pieces I can think of immediately, I have loved everything I have written.
And I am so done you guys. Seriously.
I’ve been grateful and happy that I’ve lasted in Idol as long as I have, but I’ve felt burnout encroaching for a very long time, and I’m glad that I’ve been voted out before it could fully hit.
I think it’s customary at this point to thank the people that have supported you-so, yes.
lrig_rorrim, gratefuladdict, talonkarrde88, icaruslived, fodschwazzle, jem0000000-some of you I knew before this season started, and some of you I didn’t, and I am grateful to all of you. I love you all.
To everyone who has connected with or loved a piece of my writing-thank you. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Keep an eye on my journal, guys. I’m going to be starting a new writing-based project when Idol ends.
Until then-one of my best friends in the entire fucking world arrives from Vancouver, BC tonight, and now that I have a bunch of free time, I can actually clean my house and start thinking about what I’m going to submit to Queers Destroy Fantasy.
See you on the other side, all.
♥
Jenn
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(I totally get what you mean by "done", too, BTW.)
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It's been a great season. :)
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It has been a really wonderful season. Thank you. :D
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Congrats on how well you did, and if you're relieved, than that's a good thing too :)
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I think people look at the longer stuff, look at how much they have to scroll through, groan, and go "fuck everything"
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As others said, I've really enjoyed you this season and I love that you write long. You have had some of my favorite pieces all along. It's been an honor and a pleasure to read your work.
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