There's a Joke in There

Somewhere on the open road from Wyoming to Colorado People today have two versions of their lives: their Actual Life and the Facebook (Instagram/ Snapchap/Tinder/ Social Media) Version. Actual Life endures the harsh truths that must be confronted each morning; work, bills, wrinkles, bad news, bad breath, free-to-air television, crushed dreams. While the Facebook Version skips over all the crap parts, highlights and filters the best bits and photoshops across the board. I'm guilty of this myself. I was recently on a roadtrip through the US and posted a photo on instagram of a snow-covered landscape and a wide open road ahead, implying that I was free and fearless. Exploring the world. Just living the dream. Thick ice caked the car And while it WAS an amazing time, I had driven many hours that day, alone and singing to myself. The temperature had dropped very quickly when I'd reached these flat, exposed areas, making the roads icy and unsafe and at some points, ...

If I just copy and paste one sentence from each... I'm currently trying to write a book. No, scratch that. I have written a book, but I'm trying to rewrite it into a great book. Earlier last year, I submitted a draft to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest, whose first prize is a publishing contract and a cash advance of $50,000 USD. In hindsight it's clear that the book wasn't ready. But after working on the same project for several years, I was impatient to get it out there and move on to something else. Thus I ignored the plot holes, dialogue inconsistencies and grammatical errors and submitted my manuscript at 3am, two hours before the deadline. In the month leading up to the announcement of first round finalists, I did not forget that I had entered. On the contrary, I counted down the days until the 'results are in' email appeared in my inbox. Seconds after that, I had logged on to the site to check if I'd made it. Successful entrants had ...