Showing posts with label iswg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iswg. Show all posts

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


Wednesday, July 6, 2022

The Insecure Writer and Being on Vacation

 


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

Why makes me an insecure writer this month?

Right now, nothing. I'm on vacation up in northern Michigan, so today's post will be short. 

I'm still waiting to hear back from my editor that she's ready for me to send her the changes I made to my manuscript after her first pass. Thanks to some lingering effects from Covid-19, she's still not working at one hundred percent, so I don't know when the final draft will be ready for publication. In the meantime, I've been working on the sequel. I was hoping the writing would proceed more quickly this time around, but I'm realizing that's not necessarily the case. It's easier to spot where the problems lie within a scene now, but figuring out how to fix those problems is still the hard (and slow) part for me. Sigh.


July question - If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose? 

I know this may sound like a trite answer, but I'd want to live at Hogwarts. I don't want to meet any of the characters of that world. I don't want to relive any of the adventures from the books.  I just want to live there. Teaching Potions in a castle that's filled with magic would be my dream job. Oh, and the fact it's in Britain would be an added bonus. Sure, I'd miss the Internet and my smart phone, but it'd be worth it. I just don't know what I'd do with my family in the meantime. :)

P.S. I suppose I could solve that problem by using a portkey to commute to and from Hogwarts every day, but it sounds like all the fun stuff happens late at night over there, so I'd rather sleep at the castle too.
 

Take care everyone, and stay safe! 

ChemistKen