IWSG: Finding the Next Step

            Time for the first post of 2016 with the Insecure Writers Support Group, where writers can share their insecurities and encourage one another. IWSG was founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh and we share our posts the first Wednesday of the month. The co-hosts for January are: L.G. Keltner, Denise Covey, Sheri Larsen, J.Q. Rose,  Chemist Ken,  and Michelle Wallace.

            I took writing up as a sideline project nearly 20 years ago when I was in the 6^th grade. It usually took a backseat to school, friends, family, and work. It still does, minus the school. I want to write more and do more with my writings. I was going to call this post “Finding a Starting Point,” but I have already started. I wrote for many of my classes, I’ve journaled for years, I write for this blog, and I submitted a short story for the IWSG contest. It’s not a lot, but it is my two-decades-long point of entry into the field of writing, lol. I guess I find myself asking: Where do I go from here? I want to make my writing more than just another hobby and blogging on a more regular basis since April last year has helped me a lot. Joining this group has also been encouraging. I have read so many great posts full of writing advice and experiences from my fellow bloggers. With a New Year upon us, I am feeling slightly inspired and slightly scared to make new goals in my writing. As I said in my last post, I don’t really make resolutions because my circumstances could change and hinder me from completing them, but I will make some intentional goals to work on this year. My first goal is to set more time for writing, even if I don’t feel particularly inclined to do so, I think that just having a designated time each day for writing would help make it more of a habit. Another goal I have is to write more short stories. I really enjoyed creating the characters and setting in my story for the anthology contest, and I think it would be fun to write more stories of similar length. I also want to look into magazines or devotional journals that accept submissions and enter more contests. Finally, my last goal has been on my long-term list for quite some time now, but if I manage to get into a better writing habit, I think I can take my book ideas out of the brainstorming phase and actually write one! I will probably try a few more short stories first, though :)