Wednesday, June 5, 2019

The Insecure Writer and Feeling Guilty


Today is June's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

Why am I an Insecure Writer this month?

Because I only manage to update this blog once a month, just in time for the IWSG post.  And that’s kind of depressing.

There was a time when I used to update this blog with a writing related post at least once a week. Twice a week if you counted the Friday writing links. And yet, now that I’m only working part time, I scarcely even think about the blog. 

Bad author! Bad, bad author!

On the plus side, I’ve spent the extra time working on my stories, so they are progressing at a nice pace, but that doesn’t make me feel any better when the first Wednesday of the month day comes around.  I don’t want to let this blog slip any further. Heck, my plan is to start a new website somewhere down the line, designed more for my eventual readers, while keeping this one for communicating with other writers.

What it basically boils down to is guilt.  I feel guilty that I’m not posting more, but I feel even more guilty if I’m not working on my book. (Even as I write this post, my stomach is churning because I’m not adding any words to my WIP.) I know I should be doing more on social media to prepare for my career as an author. I know I should be attending conferences and reading the latest craft books and making connections with other writers in my genre, but that only takes away from the writing time. I’m sure the guilt will lessen once I start releasing books, but in the meantime, guilt is what drives my schedule.
  
And that’s not a good way to write, or to live.

I suspect the answer is to do what I’ve been putting off for years. Set up a schedule for all writing related activities. A schedule that forces me to set aside time to focus on this blog, or read other blogs, or keep in contact with my writer friends.

The only question is: Will I stick with it?
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This month's question is:  Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

My answer is definitely fantasy. I like reading science fiction too, but as far as writing goes, fantasy gives me more leeway to do crazy things without worrying too much about how they could have happened.  When I write science fiction, I feel somewhat obligated to make sure everything has a logical, scientific reason for existing.

Until next month week!



ChemistKen