Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Insecure Writer's Support Group: November 2012


Welcome to the November 2012 meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group!  Our  awesome leader Alex J. Cavanaugh, also known as the Ninja Captain, asked for two volunteers to be co-hosts for IWSG this month.  Though I've never done anything like this before, I jumped at the chance.  So permit me to exude my enthusiasm about this here so I don't leak it out all over the rest of this post.



It sounded like a fun and amazing opportunity to get to know other people, and I'm glad I decided to do it.  So if you're riding around the mid-section of the linky list, you just might get a visit from yours truly!  The other co-host for this month is the amazing C.M. Brown.  I encourage you to stop by her blog and check out what she has to say as well!

Before I get on with revealing my insecurities for this month, I wanted to give a quick shout out for the Resurrection Blogfest that's also going on today.  Mina Lobo @ Some Dark Romantic is hosting it in celebration of her one year blogoversary.  Congratulations to her for hitting this milestone!  My own entry for this blogfest is up HERE, so if you want to see what I wrote in my earliest days as a blogger, feel free to take a peek!  

Now I'll get to the point of this post.  Here I'll reveal my current insecurity, or at least the one that's been weighing most heavily on my mind right now.

It's all about balance.

With family life and the difficulties that naturally arise from that, along with a big election to keep my mind rooted in the ways these politicians could potentially impact my life, I'm feeling conflicted about how to balance my work with writing and everything else.  I worry about how I can provide for my family, and how things will go for us in the future.  And when I talk about providing for my family, I mean both economically and socially.  I want to leave my children with the best possible world I can.  I wonder about how I personally can help make this world better.

I won't go into specific political stances in this post, because that would be off-point and could go on forever.  However, I do have my concerns about our future as a country, and as a world.  These concerns inevitably leak into the stories I tell.  This can involve the debate over whether a new technology is ethical or how certain groups of people are demonized for political gain.  These types of themes are common in science fiction, so it's not strange that I find myself dealing with them. Sometimes I intentionally delve into this murky territory, and sometimes it's by accident that I find myself wading into controversial waters.  When issues are deeply important to you, sometimes you just need to express your views.  I think this is one of the many reasons why writing is so valuable.  This is one avenue through which I hope to make a difference, even if only a small one.

Yet, I don't want to seem too heavy-handed when I express an opinion, even if it is a strong opinion.  I also want to tell an engaging story, because that's what will ultimately keep someone reading to the end.  Just like I find myself struggling to find a balance between writing and the rest of my life (which is never easy with two young children thrown into the mix), I also struggle to find a balance while providing social commentary and an enticing plot and complex characters.

Luckily I don't have to worry about this with all my stories, but when I do, I want to make sure I deliver the point I'm trying to make by striking that perfect balance.

What challenges do you face when it comes to balancing things, be they story elements or elements in your own life that conflict with your writing?


36 comments:

  1. Congrat's on the Co-hosting job! You will be wonderful at it. I find balance is a very difficult thing -- I worry way too much, and stress out over the simplest of things. The world is changing -- I pray for the better!

    Have fun as co-host and take a deep breath, it will help, and remember 'tomorrow is another day!'

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats on being a co-host this month, have fun. Balance is one of the hardest things to achieve and something I think most of us struggle with at times. Remember you can only do your best so try not to stress over the things you cannot change :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Some good points L.G. I have voiced a similar insecurity to this previously. I have a full time job, a family which is very demanding and trying to find time to blog and write, keeps me a very busy person. Add exercise and entertainment and my life is full to the brim. It is hard to balance work life commitments, I tend to devise lists to keep me organized and cross off one job at a time. All the best with co-hosting IWSG with me, I am sure we will rise to the challenge and succeed!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congrats on co-hosting the IWSG! I agree that it's hard to find balance, but it's a work in progress. Getting through even a third of these blogs will be a balancing act, but I'm sure that this will help you become even more organized! Thanks L.G.! Julie

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for co-hosting. Good luck finding a balance. It's not easy. Trust your critters. They'll be glad to let you know if you're out of line. LOL :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. In some areas, I think I gave up balancing.
    As long as it's not preaching, I think it's fine to allow your beliefs to come through in your writing. You're being true to you.
    And thanks for co-hosting today! My clones were getting tired...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks for co-hosting! Balance, what is that?

    ReplyDelete
  8. As writers, we are always seeking balance. It would be a dream to be able to say, "Writing is my job. It is the only thing I am required to do." But instead we have day jobs and families to care for and laundry to do, etc. I try to get little chunks of writing done, so I don't overwhelm myself...say 500 words a day.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for co-hosting! I can't believe the numbers have swelled to over 300 insecure souls... :)

    I still struggle with balance in my personal life. And in my writing, when it comes to saying something meaningful, I can only hope I'm succeeding without being soap-boxy about it (soap-boxy is a word, right?) It will always be a struggle.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for co-hosting, and thanks for sharing your worries about balance. Sometimes writing can seem like the most selfish, self-indulgent activity - but when you are struggling to find a way to say what needs to be said, to make a difference in whatever way you can, it certainly isn't selfish at all. Or maybe there just is no such thing as balance, so it's not worth struggling to find it :) Happy IWSG day, Jo

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for co-hosting IWSG! The group has gotten so big, it's great! Balance is a tough one. I don't think we can ever have everything in our lives perfectly balanced for any length of time. For me, I feel that I have some things balanced for a while, then I slip a bit as I try to balance other things. I just try to do the best I can, it's all we can really do. (:

    ReplyDelete
  12. Balance...I have none. I'm sure to break a hip any day now. Good to meet you, LG! I enjoyed your post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Expressing opinions in your novel can be tricky, you're right. I try to let opposing thoughts fight it out between characters, trying to make credible stances for what they believe. It gets spooky making credible portrayals for the being who believes himself Lucifer! :-) Good luck with co-hosting!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Orson Scott Card gets very political with his novels. I know I let a little of my liberal/democratic side show through. But you know what, conservatives who thing gay people should have no marriage rights and who believe that gays are abominations aren't going to buy my book anyway. I feel that being honest politically in my writing will turn off those readers and encourage them to pick up books, say, that expound the virtues of their gods. And that's fine by me. It's all about trying to find the people who will appreciate your work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You make a great point. I have a WIP that would deeply turn off the anti-gay conservative crowd, and I can deal with that. I just worry that it'll come across as that being the only thing I'm trying to do. Then again, I should worry about writing the story I want to tell and finding my own audience. You're definitely right about that. Thanks for the encouragement!

      Delete
  15. We are always struggling to find the perfect balance between personal and professional achievement. In my case, I've decided that my family must come first. I have two young girls and I don't want to open my eyes one day to find a couple of teenagers that I barely know. I want to be there, to remember every game, every show... For that reason, my writing keeps getting pushed back. I never move forward as fast as I had planned and sometimes I wonder if I'm simply a mediocre person who keep finding reasons not to move forward... The jury's still out there, but I think I can live with the choices I've made.

    Hope you find that middle ground where you are happy with the compromises you've made. =) Happy IWSG day!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Congratulations on hosting! How fun!

    Balance, UGH! My character and I both need more balance in our lives. I think it would help us get things done on a more timely and consistent manner.

    ReplyDelete
  17. A thought-provoking post. I try to stay away from the big issues too, but sometimes they do come up. I have had a few protagonists that didn't have the same political, moral or religious views as me, and I cringed as I wrote them, but I had to be true to the characters. I try to make something like that realistic.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I don't delve much into politics or issues one way or the other-- I find them divisive rather than uniting and, in the words of the Kinks, "I'm a lover, not a fighter". But I am finding as I work on my WIP that giving enough emotion without crying in the soup, so to speak, can be a precarious balance.

    ReplyDelete
  19. You're doing a great job of acting as co-host, L.G.! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

    I've written politics into my novels too, but try to balance things by having sympathetic characters on both sides.

    And I use a lot of personal experiences in my writing too. I don't think about it too much--writing seems so personal to me that I don't know how to do it in another way. But I also like to write about horrifyingly dramatic events that never have and likely never will happen to me.

    Good luck finding balance!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I almost forgot to post today for IWSG, but as soon as I did, you and C.M. commented and made me feel so good. I love this group! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Congrats on being Co-host!!

    I haven't run into anything like you're talking about in the kinds of books I write. But I do find it hard to balance the demands of having a family and finding time to write. Sometimes it feels a little overwhelming, but I just keep plugging away at it.

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Congrats on being a new co-host for the blog hop!

    I would say I don't worry about balancing story with theme, since theme arises naturally when the story is told right, but I struggle to balance out the logic the characters have for their actions and what I want to make them do. That is one tough juggling act! How to make them do what I want but not have it feel like author-interference is super hard. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Finding time for everything gives me anxiety some days. I hear you on that.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think balance is key to leading a successful life both professionally and personally. Often I find a story idea takes its root from a conversation or a story in my real life. I'll be hanging out with a friend, telling them how I feel about this thing or that and then I realize what a great writing piece it would make. Girl Child used to love the stories I'd make up for her. She would add in her ideas and mesh them with mine to make the story a little different each time it was told.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I'm having trouble balancing too. Work and real life keep throwing things off. Finding that balance is hard. Just keep doing what you do, and it will work out.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Congrats on co-hosting!

    I have trouble finding a balance too. I need to live life, but I want to write. Providing for myself is hard and providing for a family must be difficult. We just all have to find the place where we are supposed to be. :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Co-hosting! How exciting! Balancing everything is so hard. It's so nice to hear we all struggle with it. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Congratulations, how exciting to be co-hosting this amazing group!
    Balance is something I struggle with daily, but honestly I have so much respect for writers that have little ones. Mine are grown and on their own and I have enough trouble balancing work and writing.
    Politically I have tried to keep it fair and balanced but oh my was it hard to bite my tongue at times.

    ReplyDelete
  29. You took a page out of my book, probably one from all of ours... balance is an ever present insecurity of mine when it comes to finding the time and dedication to write. As a parent and/or spouse, it can sometimes feel selfish to want to take time away for yourself to put thoughts onto a printed page. However, you've pointed out that sharing stories is not only an act of self enjoyment, but an attempt at making a difference in the world of your readers. Thank you for this reminder. This is what IWSG is supposed to be about. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks for being a co-host this month! Balance seems to be one of the hardest things to find. It's been my biggest struggle for the year with my new job, new daughter, and persistence to keep writing. Luckily I've taught myself to juggle, but only three things at a time. Haha.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I know what you mean - I was supposed to post my IWSG yesterday but life got in the way, threw me about and made me deal with it all day long! Thanks for helping out with this group - I love it.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Balance... *sigh*
    I'm not very good at that either. But my problem is a bit different. I get so into whatever I'm writng or reading that I ignore verything around me. It's like I get suck into another world and forget all about the ·real" world. I've been like this since I was a kid. I remember my mom used to yell at me to leave my books alone and go clean my room and stuff. She even threatened to burn my Harry Potter and The Order of the Pheonix book once. What kind of parent does that anyway? I only read it about fifteen times in a row. I don't know what her problem was.. #sarcasm
    I totally get what you mean now. I don't have children of my own, but my youngest sister is still a kid and she's a demanding little devil.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hi LG. Glad to meet, and follow, you through the IWSG. Thanks for co-hosting.

    Life is one big balancing act. At least the election's behind us now.

    Be well.

    ReplyDelete
  34. I haven't figured out balance yet- family, work, commitments, writing, having some fun in there- it's one big juggling act. Glad to know I'm not alone and that most people struggle with this.

    Thanks for co-hosting. I look forward to participating in this group! :)

    ReplyDelete
  35. I'm popping in from IWSG... you know the saying, better late than never?!
    Firstly, congrats on the co-hosting gig!
    I am in awe of the writers who balance raising young kids with writing (and some also work part-time, and others full day jobs...) I don't know how they do it!
    I think that balance is the one factor we all struggle with, but to different degrees.

    ReplyDelete