IWSG—Insecure Writers Support Group, coming together on the first Wednesday of every month for a virtual pat on the back.
It starts with excuses.
- I’m too busy to write.
- The passion to finish the ms isn’t there.
- Rejections, bad or no reviews.
- Self-flagellation, as in, “I’m not any good so why bother.”
- Life strikes.
All the above hits every writer/author. So how do you fight
through it?
Not looking for sympathy here. Looking for advice.
Insecure Writers Support Group: The Final Frontier.
These are the continuing voyages of the Ninja Captain, AJC. His mission, to explore all new writing venues, to seek out new authors and new blogs.
To boldly go where no blogateer has gone before.
That ending always makes me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteGo back and read one of the reviews that rocked. Maybe even go back and read one of your own stories. Find that excitement again. And figure out why you are doing it.
I'll always think you're awesome, Carol.
I still haven't quite figured out how to fight through it. I have those thoughts all the time and it keeps me from doing any writing it all. So I guess I don't have any advice, really, but I'm definitely right there with you.
ReplyDeleteI went through a period of several months this year where I had no desire… I was actually quite convinced it would never come back… but strangely, it did… sometimes I think we just NEED that break… I'm now convinced that no matter what hardship we've gone through, the spark will always come back. But advice? Hmmm… I say embrace it… embrace the break, because when the desire does come back, you'll work better for having had that break!!!
ReplyDeleteSince I haven't written anything since July...
ReplyDeleteWhat used to work was carving out time where I would have to write. And then allowing myself to just write out what I was feeling, even if it wasn't something that would go into any of my WIPs. Sometimes that helped.
Maybe do something different. Try painting, walking, playing the piano, photographing birds and butterflies. Relax. Wait. Let that little voice speak to you with his/her story. Then see where is goes. I work better with a schedule, not so much as x number of words or pages a day, but work from 9-12 or something like that. I hope you find the desire again. Enjoy creating new worlds and people.
ReplyDeleteI went through a super long time period before I self-pubbed my first book. I didn't think I'd ever write again or have the desire again - I really thought I lost it. Then, I don't know what happened but I started to get the itch to write again so I worked on my novel and went indie with it. I'm glad I did, I have learned so much from it. So maybe the long break helped me. :) Maybe just take a break and not think about it and enjoy other things and you'll find that spark again. :)
ReplyDeleteVery nice lead in for the book Carol :) I'm in my own slump right now, and sporting lots of excuses, lol.
ReplyDeleteWhen I get unenthused or start hating what I'm writing, I know it's time for a break. Sometimes I just need to find a project that really excites me to get going again, but finding it can takes months. If you're working on the 3rd in your series and not feeling it, it may be time to find new characters and try a standalone. Unlike authors for the Big 5 we have the luxury of writing anything we want, whenever we want to. And don't worry about reviews. Most bestselling authors get worse reviews than we do. And they even have certain books that are bombs. It happens to all writers. Take care of you first and do what makes you happy. :)
ReplyDeleteThis is some of the things I've been trying to get over the last week or so. Definitely going to look into ISWG
ReplyDelete