The Insecure Writer's Support Group-September 2020

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time for another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group! Our leader Alex J. Cavanaugh has assembled a wonderful bunch of co-hosts for this month: PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Fundy Blue.

Be sure to check out the IWSG website for great writerly advice!

I wanted to talk about how hard it can be to write sometimes. During times of stress, getting words onto the page can feel a bit like pulling teeth. It doesn't help that this struggle is often coupled with insecurity. There have been many times in the last few months that I force myself to write something, only to look at it with doubt. Is this any good? Did I waste my time? I've heard it said that you can't edit a blank page, but what if what I've written is so bad that it would only make sense to delete it and start from scratch?

Am I alone in feeling this? Surely I can't be. I think a lot of us have had those dark moments. And in a year as topsy-turvy as 2020, we need to be a bit more forgiving of ourselves. In looking through various articles and social media posts, I've seen that a lot of creative people have been struggling this year.

I remember when quarantine started, I thought it would be a good opportunity to be productive. The more time you have, the more productive you can be, right? That sounds nice in theory, but as it turns out, pursuing creative endeavors requires more than time. It also requires the right mindset, and that can be harder to achieve when all of life is stressful and uncertain.

This year still feels up in the air. I don't know what's going to happen next, nor does anyone else. Yet I feel like I'm making progress again. I've been writing more. I've finished short projects again, and I'm diving back into writing a novel. I'm not moving as fast as I was at the beginning of the year, but I'm making strides. Why? Maybe it helps that I've been more forgiving of my short comings. I've been trying to beat myself up less when I fall short of a goal. Being angry with yourself doesn't make productivity come. It only leads to more stress.

If you've been struggling with your writing, be kind to yourself. You can continue to push yourself without the negativity of self-doubt. Set smaller, more attainable goals. And if you need a break to do something nice for yourself, do it. Take a walk. Watch a beloved movie or TV show. Do anything that will help you relax. Then make yourself pick back up where you left off and try writing again. Find balance between work and play wherever you can.

I don't know how much this advice means to you, but it's helped me. What do you do when you struggle with writing? What leisurely activities bring you joy when stress overwhelms you?

The Insecure Writer's Support Group: March 2020

It's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means it's time to convene another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. Our leader Alex J. Cavanaugh has assembled another cohort of excellent co-hosts: Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence.

Be sure to check out the IWSG website for great writing advice!

I wanted to take the time here to talk a little about my writing strategies for this year. One of my main challenges has been getting words on the page. I can come up with all kinds of excuses for not getting any writing done. The housework never ends. The kids always need something. I'm often tired. And those are all valid in their own ways, but sometimes I use those excuses as a crutch. I know I can make some time to get at least something written, and that if I want to make serious progress as a writer, that's what I need to do.

That's why I made a New Year's resolution. I set some goals for myself. I decided I was going to write a minimum of 500 words every single day, no excuses. My weekly minimum was 5,000 words. My monthly goal was 25,000 words. I told myself I wanted to exceed those as much as I could, but as long as I met the minimum, then I was doing okay. I got myself a planner and gave myself a star for every 500 words I wrote in a day. It may seem silly, but each star I gave myself felt like it's own little reward.

I'm happy to say that, so far, I've stayed on track with my goal. I haven't missed a day, even though it wasn't always easy. I contracted a nasty chest cold thanks to my children, so writing through that was a challenge. To prove my progress, here are the first two months of writing I documented.

I've now surpassed 70,000 words in my WIP. It's my goal to wrap up the first draft within the next few weeks, and as long as I stick with my word count goals, I should have no problem doing that.

What methods do you use to motivate yourself to write?

A Silent Soliloquy Blog Tour: Day #4

Today for my blog tour I'm visiting Karen Elizabeth Brown.  She asked me to talk a little about the writing process behind my novella A Silent Soliloquy.  If you're interested in learning more about how this story came to be, check it out!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group: August 2014

Is it the first Wednesday of the month already?  That means it's time for the monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group.  The IWSG was created by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh as a way for writers to support one another during those inevitable times of insecurity and self-doubt.  The co-hosts for this month are Sarah Foster, Joylene Nowell Butler, Lily Eva, and Rhonda Albom.

Be sure to visit the IWSG website for additional support!

My insecurity this month has to do with deadlines.  There are a couple of stories I would like to submit, and I know exactly where I want to submit them.  One of them has a strict deadline attached. The presence of a deadline helps to motivate me, and without it looming before me, I know I might revise and agonize endlessly until I drive myself insane.  Then again, with a deadline forcing me to submit within a certain time frame, I know I'll be left struggling with a sense that the story isn't actually up to the standards I want to meet.  I have a feeling that I'm just being too hard on myself, but I still can't quite get past this insecurity.

What do you think about deadlines?  Do you like to set deadlines for yourself as a form of motivation?  Do you think having concrete deadlines help your writing, or do they hurt your creative process?

The Writing Process Blog Hop

I was recently tagged for The Writing Process Blog Hop by the amazing Sophie Duncan.  I met her earlier this year during the A to Z Challenge and have been a fan of hers ever since. If you've never visited her before, I highly suggest you do!

I'm excited about this hop, because it's a good opportunity to share with all of you how my creative process works.  The rules for this hop are fairly simple.

Rules:

1. Introduce who referred the blog tour to you
2. Answer the following 4 questions:
• What am I working on?
• How does my work differ from others in its genre?
• Why do I write what I do?
• How does my writing process work?
3. Introduce the people you're passing this on to (3 - 4 people if possible who will then post a week later)

So here we go!

Obviously I already completed #1 on that list, so now I'll move on to #2.  

What am I working on?

Right now, I'm working on two different projects.  First of all, I'm in the middle of editing my sci-fi/dystopian novella "A Silent Soliloquy".  After I finish this round of edits, I'll find some fresh eyes to read over it so I can get some much needed feedback.  Then I'll edit it again while keeping in mind the feedback I collect.  I'm nervous about this (of course, I'm always afraid of what people might think of my work), but I'm also kind of excited.  We all need fresh eyes from time to time, and critique helps us to grow as writers.

The other project I'm working on is a sci-fi short story.  The working title is "In Justice We Trust".  It's a new WIP, so I don't want to go into much detail about it right now.  All I can say is that, when it's done, I plan to submit it to a magazine. Right now, I'm considering submitting it to either Asimov's or Fantasy & Science Fiction.  I know that's an ambitious plan, but I think we all need to be ambitious once in awhile.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Now that's a difficult question.  I just write what I want to write, and I am well aware of the ways in which my stories are similar to others in their genre. Perhaps it's easy to be aware of this because we desperately want to create a truly original work and fear others stepping in and claiming that we've ripped off a beloved work.  No one wants to have that happen, though it seems largely inevitable if your writing becomes well-known.

Perhaps my voice is what distinguishes what I write from the rest of the genre. We each have our own unique voice, and the key is to make that work for what you write.  I've heard of people trying to replicate the writing style of famous authors they admire, but I think writers are far better off to polish the voice that comes naturally to them.

Why do I write what I do?

That's a fairly simple question to answer.  I write what I feel compelled to write. I grew up reading science fiction thanks to my dad.  Our bookshelves were always filled with science fiction books, and I fell in love with the exciting stories and the endless possibilities.  My parents were both fans of shows such as Star Trek and Babylon 5.  We watched every science fiction movie that came our way. Science fiction is the genre I know.  That's how my stories come to me.  My brain is now wired to go that way, I suppose, and that's fine with me.  I love writing science fiction, and I would never want to change that.

How does my writing process work?

It all starts with the big idea.  They can come from anywhere.  Sometimes I'll be reading a news article, and the idea will hit me full force in the face (this is how "In Justice We Trust" started out).  At other times, I'll just be staring off into the sky, and something comes to me unbidden.  I often carry a notebook with me, and I jot down the ideas as they come.

I usually spend a week or so letting an idea roll around in my mind.  I continue taking notes, asking myself questions about the story-telling possibilities that come from the idea I've had. Once I get to the point where I feel like I have enough information to write a full story, I write a rough outline.  I experiment with the order of events, and I try to get a good idea of where each piece of information will be most effective.

This is about the same point where I start developing my characters.  Sometimes the story idea starts with a specific character intruding into my thoughts, demanding to be given something to do, but this isn't always the case.  In developing my characters, I think of what kind of person I want to see operating inside of the scenario I've created, and in analyzing how they react to the events I've already outlined, I'm able to create a more detailed outline.  I take the relationships between the characters into consideration during this stage, though I always leave room for those relationships to evolve on the page when I'm writing the actual first draft.  After all, characters will occasionally behave in ways that run contrary to what we've planned out ahead of time.

Once the more detailed outline has been drawn up, I start writing the first draft. This part gets kind of weird, because I don't tend to write things in order.  I write the major scenes first, probably because those are the scenes I get the most excited about.  Once the most important scenes are down on paper, I go back and fill in the narrative gaps, tying things together as best I can.

After this is done, I go back and rewrite it.  This helps me smooth out any issues caused by my insistence on writing things out of sequence.  This is also the stage where I pay particular attention the the beginning and ending of the story.  I feel like I generally have a good idea of how I want it to end by this point, but I struggle to decide where to start the story.  I usually need to write the beginning a few times in order to get an idea of where things need to begin.

Once this initial rewrite is complete, it's ready for critique.  This is the most difficult part for me, because I'm afraid everyone will hate what I've written. Still, feedback is necessary, especially for longer, more complicated works.  An unbiased reader can point out the problems with a story that the writer may not see, as well as offer reassurance that you've done certain things right.

This reader feedback helps me go back to make the final polish on the piece (unless, of course, a major structural issue is discovered, in which case an entire rewrite is in order).

That's basically it.  I've left out the occasional bouts of "I can't do this, why did I think I could do this?" and "this idea is crap, why would anyone ever want to read this?" because I have them every time, and they occur at different times during the writing process.  Sometimes those doubts lead me on to work on something else, and at other times, I recognize that the idea is at least worth the time and effort.  Not all stories get finished, and that's okay, but we can't let our self-doubts derail everything we put to paper.  That's just unproductive.

Okay, this is the point where I cheat a little bit.  I know a lot of my blogging friends have already done this blog hop, and I'm not sure who hasn't done it yet. So, if you haven't done it yet and would like to (or perhaps you liked it so much when you did it before that you'd like to do it again), let me know in the comments.  If you decide to do it, you'd be posting sometime next week.  Just let me know when, and I'll make a special post directing people to check out what you have to say.  If you're going to put in the effort, I'll do what I can to make sure you get some traffic for it!

The ABCs of Writing: A is for Audience

I have decided to try something different for my Wednesday posts.  I want to cover my ABCs of writing.  This is my attempt to take a humorous look at how I respond to various aspects of writing.  I hope to do each letter of the alphabet, so this will be going on for awhile.

I hope you enjoy!

A is for Audience

I sit in front of my laptop and open notebook, a sense of dread spreading through my limbs.  I’ve only ever written for myself.  I have always written what I want to write, with the obvious exception of class assignments, of course.  When I’m writing for myself, there is no pressure.  Only freedom.

Then I heard a word that made me shudder.  Audience.  If you ever want to be successful in the writing biz, you need to know who your readers are, who your intended audience is.  Sure, there are examples of writers who didn’t take this into consideration and became wildly successful anyway, but I have to face facts.  My luck simply isn’t that good.

The panic sets in as I wonder who in the world would want to read anything I write anyway.  Who do I want to reach?  Who do I want to entertain?  Which audience is least likely to eat me alive?

I can’t deny this much.  The idea of having any audience both excites and terrifies me.  If I have an audience, it also means that I have expectations placed upon me.  People who may be angry at the choices I make.  I mean, have you seen angry fangirls?  Or infuriated fanboys?  Yikes!

A piece of advice that I’ve heard before comes to mind.  Picture them in their underwear.  That will make the audience seem less intimidating.  Granted, this is advice given to those speaking in public, but it could still apply.  Right?

Then I pause.  Following this advice could potentially be creepy.  Definitely not the kind of technique a children’s writer should employ.

No.

I mustn’t let my mind get off track.  I’ll only freak myself out if I continue along this track of thought.

Fine.  There’s only one solution to my predicament.  My audience is . . . me.  Surely there are others like me out there, and maybe they’re looking to read the kind of story I can tell. 

Right?

Hmm.  I decide that I’m going to operate off of this assumption.  If I don’t, I’ll never get anything done.

My Muse is Out to Amuse

I wanted to share a couple of videos about the writing process.  This first one is a humorous take on the writer's daily routine.

This second video features comedians who talk about their writing process. Hey, they're writers too!  They're just brave enough to perform their work for an audience.