Please allow me to introduce you to Dana. She is an incredibly brave young woman who took a leap of faith in 2011 and decided to follow her dream to become a professional writer. When I grow up I want to be just like her.
This is Dana’s book. 
The list is a combination of the unique steps that have formed my career and bolstered my creativity, and the things I haven’t yet had a chance to try. The book offers some conventional and some unconventional steps on the path through a writer’s life, why they matter, and advice for getting started.
Dana asked anyone who wanted to be involved to join her in writing their own bucket list. There are two days to go in this blog challenge and I have been procrastinating. So that goes up on my bucket list first – STOP PROCRASTINATING AND JUST DO IT!
What am I going to cross off my Bucket List in 2013?
I’d like to say I will leap out of a plane and write about it but quite frankly that is never going to happen due to my unreasonable fear of heights and small planes. So this is what I will do….
1. Be A Whore – Make A Splash
As an academic in social sciences and humanities, I would be lucky if my work is read by more than a dozen people and most of those are down my corridor and read it because they had to (I may have been holding them down and force feeding them M & Ms at the time). When I published my thesis as a book I sold three copies – two because I made the university library purchase them and the other my dad bought. He’s still trying to get the money out of me. My bosses bang on about impact factors but the truth is even if you make it to an A-star journal you might be lucky to get cited half a dozen times.
As Sasha Cameron, dynamic and vaguely interesting perpetrator of fan fiction, curator of fiftiness for the greysessed and blogasm artiste extraordinaire – impact factor has taken on a whole new dimension. I’ve only been at this blogging thing since November 2012. I created Sasha in October so that she could play in the fan fic world. Since then she/I have just broken the 21K view barrier on the blog and reached the 60K mark on fanfic.net, so I am claiming that as a pretty big splash. Look at what I have to compare it to. Of course, I am not sure if it is a smart career move to put tags like ‘do my tits look big in this?’ on my next academic article.
2. Social Media – Work The F*#k Out of It
As an academic I spend thousands of dollars of my own money each year plugging my work at conferences where maybe ten people are in the room during my session and two of those give me their details with a promise to call. They never do. I feel so used.
In her short existence, Sasha has gained 90+ blog followers, 110 facebook friends, about the same number of goodread friends, 93 pinterest followers and over 600 twitter followers. She belongs to Linked In, several readers groups, a number of facebook groups. She is a social media whore and loving it! Her mother would not approve.
Social media is the darndest thing. There are a lot of warnings and disclaimers that go with it but since Sasha started showing me how it is done I can see why people want to live their lives out loud and on line. My bucket list aim is to take some of what I have learned in the blogosphere as Sasha and apply it to my academic career. And of course, nurture all that hard work that Sasha has put into whoring herself about the blogosphere.
3. Finish Shit
Part of being a successful mediocre writer/artist/social media whore is having the product or service to put out sell offer the world. Up until now I have been stalling, in both my academic work as well as that long held desire to be a writer that I kept trotting out at dinner parties – “yes, one day I hope to write my own [insert genre here] book”.
As I read the other day on Kristen Lamb’s blog – perfectionists don’t win, finishers do. So I am going to finish shit. All over the place. Great big dumps of completed crap wherever I can. Then I will worry about how to shape it into some semblance perfect. If EL James that artist bloke can get millions of dollars and a movie deal thousands of dollars for writing FSoG to create his shit art installation then I can at least get one original fiction book published by the end of the year. Right?
There are at least a dozen people who are rolling their eyes right now because they know me well. I’m hoping they can see their way to picking up their pom poms and cheering me on instead.
This leap into fan fiction/blogging has been the most wonderful experience of all. Without it I would not have believed that I could actually do any of this. So I will nurture the muse and my new writing/reading friendships above all in 2013.
A few of you stop by from time to time and tell me your thoughts. But I am going to ask you all – just this once – if you are reading this blog post, if you have had a nice blogasm with me, please, take a moment to tell me about yourself. I promise not to be that chick who virtually stalks you and leaves text messages on your phone that say ‘let’s get together sometime’.
Love and good times,
Sasha xox
Related articles
- Book Review: A Writer’s Bucket List by Dana Sitar (blackanddarknight.wordpress.com)
- The terror of tweeting: social medium or academic message? (guardian.co.uk)
- A Bucket List for Writers: First (Ever) Giveaway! (williesha.wordpress.com)
- Guest post: Why I Value Failure by Dana Sitar (morgenbailey.wordpress.com)
- Bucket List Challenge Blog Hop – Working Through My List (blackanddarknight.wordpress.com)
Sasha Cameron - Writer 
Bring on the big $ for me because you know I have TONS of dirty thoughts! I loved your blog post just as much as I love all the rest of your stuff & you! Sorry I haven’t been around much lately, I’m playing catch up. I got into reading “Darkness and White” over on our fav FF section. Although what she is in the process of writing is rated T & is an original story. She had sent me a PM asking me to read/review it for her since as you know I have a hard time just leaving a few words, lol! I had to wait until my hands and fingers were feeling up to it because there were around 75 chapters. Needless to say the next day my RA was kicking me in the butt even worse than normal. My next story I’m diving into is something called “Making Mia”, maybe you’ve heard of it! 😉 I really like the author, she writes just the way I think…hot n’ dirty! Plus who can’t help but love to read stuff when it’s written about where she lives & likes to play.
Anyway, I just wanted to say I have been missing you and I’m sorry I have been in hiding. Plus I laughed my ass off while reading this post. I need all the help I can with that since I have been laying around so much being a whiner because I’m getting old and crippled! Love ya Sweetie!
XOXO,
Ang
LikeLike
Hey Babe,
Sorry to hear things are still not good for you but very honored that you would be the first to talk dirty to me. I hope you feel better and that Mia helps you along the way. If not, keep checking the posts and I will endeavor to make your day. Love you heaps, Sasha xox
LikeLike
Thanks for joining the challenge, Sasha! Great blog, and I’m in love with the word ‘blogasm’ — thank you for adding that to my lexicon.
I appreciate your kind words x) — I hope we’ll see you around more at DIY Writing.
LikeLike
Thanks Dana – and once I got my head around the task I had a great time. I promise to keep dropping by. Love your work.
LikeLike
What more is there for me to say about me that isn’t in one of my posts…shit better slow down writing or get a lot more interesting? 🙂 I do agree with the finishers win over perfectionists, I know a couple of “has to be perfect” writers and they rarely finish a project. Now, you and the academic publishing is of interest to me because that is a direction that has been recently revealed to me and I like to know what lay ahead before I step on the path. As for a dirty thought: two monkeys and a banana or was it a plantain? 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for dropping by and many, many more thanks for your blogging nomination. As a self proclaimed media whore, I do love to make a good list! So much wisdom to share with you about aca publishing – like if the acapub world is run by science geeks, business and law then why is it that business faculties are always the ones that are losing money? – just saying. One day we must talk ethics. I would come and take one of your courses although I would prefer pants off Friday – it’s a bit of an Australian tradition. Plantain and monkeys – kinky, I like it! 😉
LikeLike
Sasha, count me in with my Pom Poms waving and saggy boobs swaying as being on your team to see your own published book! I met your Blog last November when Monique started hers and introduced us to you. I have had numerous ‘blogasms’ from your becoming the media whore you are today, with all of the eye opening , heart stopping and mind boggling information you have scoured the inter-web for and brought to us along with the introspective and hot commentaries. Since starting this ride with you, I now buy more underwear , have a grateful husband along with a new fascination with Goats? I hope all your hard work brings Academic success for you! In the meantime I am enjoying the hell out of it!! Thank you for sharing!! XOX, Liz
LikeLike
Liz – you make me laugh. I can just see us waving those mounds of sagginess in celebration! I am so happy that you have had so many blogasms but I really wish you would stop making me sleep in the wet patch. 😉 Looking forward to continuing the journey with you – and I am sorry lady, but you are person I am tempted to stalk. If only because my office is in need of a makeover! Love you, love your work, Sasha xox
LikeLike
Your writing voice is hilarious and yes, you should consider Sasha and yourself aa huge success already.
LikeLike
Thank you so much Willi – I have found some interesting things on your blog. Thanks for the great resources and ideas. Thanks again for dropping by – maybe next time we can do some shots and tell the story of our life. 😉
LikeLike
Haha shots sound awesome! 🙂 And thanks for letting me know that you found interesting things on my blog.
LikeLike
Dropping by from the blog hop… it sounds like you have discovered a way to brand yourself already! At least in one way. And if that has given you the confidence to move forward then all the better! Best of luck!
LikeLike
Hi Lissa, nice to meet you. Mmmm…branding… Oh how I struggle with this – Sasha is such an exhibitionist whereas Dr J tends to more conservative pursuits. She certainly won’t be branding her academic profile in quite the same way. They wouldn’t appreciate the goat humor for a start. 🙂
LikeLike