Today is December's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.
Why am I an Insecure Writer this month?
Because it’s December and it’s pretty obvious I’m not going to meet my goal of finishing my story by Christmas
It’s not even going to be close.
I’ll admit I had high hopes for this year. I learned so much about writing in 2014, I was positive that if I dedicated myself to the task there was no way I could fail to meet my goal. I concentrated on not letting myself veer off on writing-related tangents. I forced myself to submit something at (almost) every writer’s group meeting I attended this year. Just put my nose to the grindstone and write. Turns out that wasn’t enough.
Part of the problem had to do with structural issues within my story. As my storytelling skills developed, it became clear many of my chapters needed to be scrapped and/or rearranged to keep the pace going, and as is typical for me, that process took far more time than I would have liked. But ultimately it all came down to the simple fact that although I thought everything I’ve learned about writing would make me a faster writer, all it’s done is make me a better writer. I’m happier with my scenes and chapters than I’ve ever been, but it still takes just as long to write them. Sigh.
Oh well, I suppose quality is better than quantity.
At least I do have some good news to share. The new book in M. Pax's Rifter series is now out. If you want to help support another insecure writer, then pop on over to M. Pax's blog and
With
the rift closed for the season and no more monsters to fight, Daelin
Long gets bored as librarian in the podunk town of Settler, Oregon. A
job interview and her brother’s arrival present a tempting
opportunity to escape, until her brother and her best friend, a
ghost, disappear.
While
Daelin searches for them, more mysteries pile up: dead people coming
back to life, portraits of the town founders replaced with strange
white trees, and people on the other side of the rift returning. It’s
impossible. The portal that allows monsters from other universes to
come to Earth is sealed until next summer.
The
Rifters, a secret group protecting our world, believe the troubles
are nothing more than the tantrums of an offended ghost. Daelin
disagrees. If she’s right, the evil hell-bent on destroying Earth
has new technology making the rift more deadly.
Before
the monster summons the next apocalypse, Daelin must find it and
destroy it.
iBook / Nook / GooglePlay / Kobo / Smashwords / inktera / Scribd
M.
Pax is author of the space adventure series The Backworlds,
plus other novels and short stories. Fantasy, science fiction, and
the weird beckons to her, and she blames Oregon, a source of endless
inspiration. She docents at Pine Mountain Observatory in the summers
as a star guide and has a cat with a crush on Mr. Spock. Learn more
at mpaxauthor.com.
