Time
for another posting 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 this month are: Stephen Tremp, Stephanie Faris, Susan Gourley/Kelley, Bish Denham, Fundy Blue, M.J. Fifield, and Loni Townsend.
On
Monday, I wrote a post for the Question of the Month about advice for new
bloggers. I hardly feel qualified to give blogging advice. I was mainly
thinking about what works for me and what I've done or learned through
blogging, but everyone does things differently. Even the posts that day had a
variety of answers and focused on different aspects of blogging, but they each
made valid points. It got me thinking about my own methods in writing and where
I picked them up. There are a lot of resources for writers out there, which the
IWSG’s A to Z theme proved. There are websites, books, fellow bloggers, classes,
and more. With all these resources, I wonder why I'm still holding back, beyond
the lack of time. But, as I’ve said before, if I can make time for daily posts
with the A to Z, I can certainly make time for writing. I don't know if it's a
fear of commitment. I am at a point with my brainstorming material for my book
that I could begin drafting it anytime. And it has been in that state for at
least two years. It is kind of scary to turn an idea into a reality. I guess
that’s why I’m in this group! Oddly enough, I can relate to the episode of Person of Interest that I just watched. Stay
with me here, I think I have a point :) The character, Finch, created an
artificial intelligence and its lifelikeness began to scare him so much that he
decided to wipe “the Machine’s” memory every night so it wouldn’t develop feeling
and attachment. Friends of his used metaphors, like that a child eventually
leaves the home or a student bypasses his teacher. I’ve heard authors talking
about books as their children before, and I get it now. Releasing a book into
the world opens it up to everyone and not everyone is going to like it. When I
do get my ideas to that stage I must be willing to let my book grow up!
Sorry,
this was sort of a stream of thoughts, I hope it makes sense! I started with
one insecurity and ended up with another, lol. Have a great rest of the week
everyone! And if you did the A to Z Challenge, get some rest! I will be taking
a short blogging break after I put up my A to Z Reflections post next Monday.
nice post
ReplyDeleteThank you, Denise!
DeleteMaybe just try to dedicate so much time daily to write; like maybe how long you took daily to work on your A/Z and see what comes out of it. Make no promises of liking what you write or having to keep it, but just start making it part of your routine so that it becomes "natural" to write most days.
ReplyDeletebetty
Betty, that sounds like a great plan! The A to Z certainly showed me this year that I have more time to utilize for writing than I thought I did.
DeleteI know I spend a good deal of time in the brainstorming stage with my writing. I just want everything to tie together nicely. Lately, I've been stuck on how to get this one character a happily ever after, because surely he deserves one, but the woman he's in love with is married and she has no intention of leaving her husband. So there must be someone else for him, right? Eh, that's book 4 and I really should be writing book 2. See, always getting stuck on the brainstorming...
ReplyDeleteLoni, yes he sounds like he needs his happily ever after. Keep working on it, maybe getting some details for book 2 will bring something to light for your book 4 ;) But, yeah, brainstorming, that's mostly all I have, and quite a lot of it...
DeleteNot everyone will like it, but if we know that's going to happen, then it softens the blow. Because there will be those that love it!
ReplyDeleteAlex, you are right, and I have almost reached that mindset. It's time to stop procrastinating!
DeleteI had to skip the POI part as I haven't seen last night's episode yet.
ReplyDeleteI had a novel roaming around in my head for years. What got me to get it out was to make a plan to write one page of something every day. Just a page. But every day.
It was hard to start. There's something odd about actually putting those words on paper--the words that have been floating around in your head. The first few days (months...) will feel a bit weird. I gave myself permission to write out those things that I was feeling, and it helped. (Funnily enough, when I'm having a hard time getting words onto the screen, just allowing myself to say that I'm having a hard time is enough to get the words flowing again.)
So, today, just start. It doesn't have to be good. It doesn't have to be the beginning. In fact, it can just be you writing that you want to write. But start. Because starting is the hardest part.
Thank you, Liz, so much! This is exactly what I needed to read! Seriously though, I read your comment a couple of hours ago and I've been thinking about it, and that sounds just like me! This is the boost I need to help get the momentum going, I can do this :) Oh, and don't worry, I hate spoilers, that POI example was information that has been revealed in past seasons.
DeleteIt is difficult and more than a little scary to actually start writing. But if you're ever going to get the book done, you're going to have to get going at some point. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Misha! You reminded me of a J.R.R. Tolkien quote, that I've actually used on my blog before: "It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish."
DeleteI'm the opposite--I'm bad about jumping in and starting writing LONG before coming up with a plan. Then I try to figure out where I'm going with the story. I wouldn't recommend working that way!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, that is sort of how I handled the short story I wrote for the anthology contest. I had an ending in mind, but no idea how to get there.
Delete