Wednesday, September 7, 2022

The Insecure Writer and Determining Priorities

 


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

Why makes me an insecure writer this month?

Dealing with all the non-writing related duties an author has to worry about. 

As a soon-to-be debut author, I have all sorts of tasks that need to be taken care of ASAP. Setting up my author website, preparing my author Facebook page, setting up my email collection system… the list goes on and on. Trouble is, I’ve been so fixated on writing the sequel, I haven’t been able to focus on the more mundane tasks that need to be finished before I publish the first book. Basically, the guilt I feel when I’m not writing prevents me from working on those other tasks.
 
So last month I made the decision to stop working on the sequel and  focus on writing my reader magnet, the free short story I’ll use to entice readers to join my email list before the first book is published. It’ll be quicker than writing the sequel, and I’ll feel as though I’m accomplishing something.

Of course, being a slow writer means a short story that most of you guys would write in a week will take me a month just to finish the first draft. In fact, I’ve already spent six weeks on it, and I still have a way to go. But at least I’m making progress, and that makes me feel less insecure as a writer.


September question - What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why? 

Romance, without question. I have a hard enough time evoking emotions in my fantasy stories. Writing a book dedicated to evoking emotions would kill me.  Besides, you have to read what you write, and I’m not interested in reading romance.

BTW, just in case you think me an emotionless robot, know that I cry when watching romantic comedies.  But knowing how to cry is far different then knowing how to make my readers cry.

My question of the month. What kind of reader magnets do you use?
 

Take care everyone, and stay safe! 

ChemistKen


12 comments:

  1. I picked romance too. It sounds like you've got a good strategy to stop writing the sequel for a bit so you can focus on the tasks you need to get done before your book releases.

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  2. Congrats on your progress - so exciting! Good luck with website & NL and the rest of it. If you need help/advice and think I might be able to help, feel free to reach out.

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  3. My writing speed always depends on how clear the story is in my head as I'm writing. If it's not flowing (like my recent problem scene), it takes months for me to get past it.

    I look forward to when I get the chance to read your reader magnet!

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  4. Based on the answers I've seen to this month's question, I'm surprised there's so much romance out there! Maybe it's just the IWSG group that says no to writing in that genre--some exceptions, of course.

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  5. Well, I'm definitely part of the bandwagon. I chose romance as well, though for a slightly different reason. Anyhow, good luck to you with your upcoming release! As for reader magnets, I've tried a few things over the years, still trying to find something that's right for me, though. It's a struggle.

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  6. Romance was my pick.
    Don't stress too much over the pre stuff. You can plan and prepare forever and it still won't make a huge difference.

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  7. There is a definite skill set to writing a romance and pretty strict rules. I don't have what it takes either.

    Congrats on the magnet. Won't be long now. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

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  8. Finish the magnet story and then get back to the sequel so it's not years in between books. And yes, cram all that other stuff in, too. LOL

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  9. Any progress is good progress. That's what I always tell myself. I often feel like I'm falling farther and farther behind, and it's tempting to push myself hard to try and catch up. But patience is a virtue, and any amount of progress is better than none.

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  10. Wow, that's such a cool strategy! So glad you are taking things slow and steady, instead of rushing into the race :D

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  11. I was so happy to read about all those pre-publishing efforts that you are doing prior to your first book release. I'm doing much the same and was beginning to think I was out of mind. Probably am, but at least not for those reasons.
    Wishing you much success.

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