#IWSG – ABOUT MY WRITING…

Hello, all! It’s the first Wednesday of the month and we know what that means:

It’s time for another meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group – #IWSG.

My hero, the amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh founded this group and it has become a safe haven if you are an insecure writer.

Click the image if you would like to be a part of the #IWSG family. You won’t regret it.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

 

The awesome co-hosts for the June 7 posting of the IWSG will be JH Moncrieff, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Jen Chandler, Megan Morgan, and Heather Gardner!

 

June 3 Question: Did you ever say “I quit”? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing?

I have thought about quitting many times and have gone as far as ignoring it for months (even years) at a time. But I always come back. I love writing. Over the past few years I submitted a couple of short stories that never made the cut. It was (and still is) disappointing but I have to just get up, brush myself off, and keep trying. That’s the hardest part and one of the main reasons I haven’t submitted anything for a long while.

 

I hope that I’ll build up the nerve again this year. We’ll see. That’s a post for another day. There’s a lot going on in my life now and it’s the main reason I haven’t blogged in so long. Speaking for both this blog and My Miracle Life, I realize it doesn’t make sense for me to try keeping a regular posting schedule because I never know what’s going to pop up and surprise me. I’ll have to take things day by day and pray for the best.

 

What do you do when you feel like quitting? If you’ve already quit, what do you think would motivate you to return to writing? I’m seriously curious.

 

 

#IWSG – LIFE AND WRITER’S BLOCK

Hello, all. For most of today, I thought it was Tuesday, but it’s actually the first Wednesday of the month and we know what that means:

It’s time for another meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group – #IWSG.

My hero, the amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh founded this group and it has become a safe haven if you are an insecure writer.

Click the image if you would like to be a part of the #IWSG family. You won’t regret it.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

 

The awesome co-hosts for the April 5 posting of the IWSG will be Christopher D. Votey, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Fundy Blue, and Chrys Fey!

 

Please take a moment to thank them for their hard work this month.

 

To be honest, I haven’t been able to do much as far as writing. It seems that everything comes in spurts for me, the most recent being medical and therapy related. But I know some of it is due to writer’s block. I’ll stare at the screen trying to figure out what to write, but then my mind wanders to all the things going on in my life.

 

I keep a notebook by my bed because I’ve had some weird dreams and was hoping to write the ideas when I woke up, but they’re forgotten by then. But I know they were good. 

 

I’ve managed to get a lot of reading done and that keeps me from bouncing off the walls. Other than that, there hasn’t been much in the way of writing excitement. 😦

 

April 5 Question: Have you taken advantage of the annual A to Z Challenge in terms of marketing, networking, publicity for your book? What were the results? Unfortunately I’m not participating in this year’s A-Z Challenge and I don’t have a book (yet), so this doesn’t apply to me.

When life gets complicated and writing suffers, what do you do to ease some of the stress?

 

 

 

#IWSG – EXPERIENCE AS WRITER VS. READER

Hello, all! It’s the first Wednesday of the month and we know what that means:

It’s time for another meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group – #IWSG.

The amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh founded this group and it has become a safe haven if you are an insecure writer.

Click the image if you would like to be a part of the #IWSG family. You won’t regret it.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

The awesome co-hosts for the February 1 posting of the IWSG are Misha Gericke, LK Hill, Juneta Key, Christy and Joylene Buter!

Make sure you take a moment to thank them for their hard work!!

February 1 Question: How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

A lot of what I learned about writing I learned from members of this very same group. Whereas I used to read just for the joy of it (obviously, I still do), now I pay closer attention to things like POV, writing style, depth of characters, etc.

I’ll read a book and make mental notes of things I do and don’t want to include in my writing. What are elements of the story that stick out to me? Are certain passages or elements critical to moving the story forward, or are they superfluous incidentals that don’t add value?

Critical thinking is key to developing your own style. It’s one of the reasons I read from various authors and genres.

What about you? How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

 

 

 

#IWSG – HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello, all! It’s the first Wednesday of the month and we know what that means:

It’s time for another meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group – #IWSG.

My hero, the amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh founded this group and it has become a safe haven if you are an insecure writer.

Click the image if you would like to be a part of the #IWSG family. You won’t regret it.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

Co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG are Crystal Collier, Sheena-kay Graham, Chemist Ken, LG Keltner,  Heather Gardner, and yours truly!!

First off, Happy New Year to everyone! Hope your holidays were spectacular!

 

January 4 Question: What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?

I always have trouble with active vs. passive voice. More often than I care to admit, I’m guilty of using passive voice in a lot of my writing. Using passive voice leads to excessive word usage and vaguer sentences. Using active voice provides more ‘pop’ to your writing. Thankfully, the programs I use all let me know when I’m using passive instead of active voice. I re-write the sentences to make them active which makes it frustrating and time-consuming.

Mind you, an occasional passive sentence is fine with me, but I need work on using active voice more often. In everyday conversation, I speak with an active voice (obviously) :), but in my writing, it seems to be the opposite. How sad is that, considering this is probably rule #1! How I wish there were no difference!

What writing rule pushes your buttons?

 

 

 

#IWSG – SHORT AND SWEET

Hello, all! It’s the first Wednesday of the month and we know what that means:

It’s time for another meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group – #IWSG.

My hero, the amazing Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh founded this group and it has become a safe haven if you are an insecure writer.

Click the image if you would like to be a part of the #IWSG family. You won’t regret it.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak.

The awesome co-hosts for the December 7 posting of the #IWSG are Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford, Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!

Take a moment to thank our wonderful co-hosts for their hard work!

December 7 Question: In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?

 

Even with my recent move and the obstacles that came with it, I was still able to write about 13k words last month. I used NaNo as my guide, though I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete it. It did, however, help me keep my motivation to write fresh.

 

In five years, God willing, I will be a published author. I plan to continue writing, taking free courses to help with plotting, structure, POV, etc. because I still struggle with those things. I read like crazy and it helps to see other writers methods.

If you’re unpublished like me, how do you plan on moving forward with your career? If you published your works, what helped you get to the finish line?