Tag: insecure writers support group

Insecure Writer’s Support Group – Not Enough Time

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle25 Comments

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I hate to miss a IWSG post, but lately, I feel like I don’t have enough time to do all the thing I need and want to do.

So, here is my short post for today, how do you handle life when there are just not enough hours in the day?A 36 hour day is looking really good to me at the moment.

Where do your writing duties (writing, editing, promoting, tweeting, face booking, Pining,) fall within your priorities list?I will get to writing as soon as I finish, kids, husband, laundry, commuting, working, etc. . . 

Does it change depending on the time of year?  Welcome Christmas time. Did you come early this year?

Make sure to check out the other member’s to see what they are insecure about this month.  There is a contest going on today at the IWSG website. It’s all about spreading the word and as soon as I find some time, I will enter. 

Thanks to the awesome co-hosts for the December 4 posting of the IWSG Julie Flanders, Heather Gardner, Kim Van Sickler and Elsie is Writing!

Insecure Writer’s Support Group – Energy!!!!!!!

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle36 Comments

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It is the first IWSG under the new site. Congrats to the new Insecure Writer’s Support Group website. Our host for this month, CD Coffelt, Tina Downey,Isis Rushdan, and Michelle Wallace! Thanks to you all.

There is this quote I heard from the rapper Ludacris that said, “passion is energy.”

I’ve also heard that when you’re searching for your passion, “You should do the thing that gives you energy.”

Most of the time I feel this way about writing, but somedays, not so much. Take today for example:  The plan was to get off of work early and make it to the library by six in order to have three uninterrupted hours of writing. I managed to get off on time, but first I had to drop a package off at the UPS Store. I went to three UPS Stores before I found one open and the traffic to get to that one was a beating. By this time I was starving. Instead of a nice energizing meal, I grab and chicken sandwich and fries from Wendy’s and eat it in the car while trying to avoid hitting anyone.  By the time I made it to the library, I was exhausted, frustrated, and full. I wanted to lay my head down and take a nap. 

Instead, I flip through my scene list and found the first kiss scene, one of my favorite scenes to write in a book and proceed to plow through it.  When I looked up two hours later I got 1700 words in and it came out pretty good for a first draft.

The library is kicking me out with this annoying song they play, but I wanted to ask: What do you do to energize yourself when your exhausted, but still need to write? Do some scenes energize you more then others? 

A big thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh, J.L. Campbell, Susan Gorley, Joylene Nowell Butler, Michelle Wallace, L. Diane Wolfe, and Lynda R. Young for their work on the IWSG website. I is a sanctuary for writers. Thank you!

Insecure Writer’s Support Group – Ups and Downs

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle24 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroupI can’t believe it’s already October. Where has this year gone? Before I get into my insecurities for this month, I wanted to give a shout out and congrats to our fearless IWSG leader, Alex Cavanaugh. If you haven’t read his Cassa series cumulating with CassaStorm, which was released last month, you are missing out.

Thanks to the #IWSG co-hosts this months, Julie Luek, Rachna Chabria, Beverly Fox, and Ilima Todd! Please be sure to thank them for their time and effort to make all IWSG members feel welcome.

#IWSG – The ups and downs are inevitable in this journey. It is like life I guess, some days the words are flowing, the goals are being met, your on top of things. Other times, you can’t help but be overwhelmed by the weight of it all.

September was a particularly unstable month for me. Here are some of the highlights:

I started the month on a four day solo writing retreat to The Hill Country near Lake Travis (North of Austin, Tx). – UP
The hotel I stayed at was a hole. – DOWN
I found an amazing spot to gets some work done and finished edits on my WIP. – UP

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I sent my WIP out to some amazing people who agreed to beta read it for me. – UP
I started my own read through and found so many grammar issues, I recalled it from all the beta’s. – DOWN
I thought I had found a new critique group with two ladies who write in my genre. – UP and super excited to have some feedback from fans and writers of NA. 
After emailing them my WIP, they decided I wasn’t right for their group after all. – WAY DOWN and a little defeated. 
I submitted my query letter to Unicorn Bell Query Workshop and received the most amazing feedback and suggestions and from that I created a query letter that I am so proud of. – WAY UP and renewed my faith in this amazing writing community. 
I pitched my story during #PitMad and got two partials and a full request, one from my dream agent. – UP
I sent a query letter to another dream agent and got a partial request based on just the query letter. – WAY UP
I am still editing my WIP because every time I read through it I find something that needs to be improved. – UP & DOWN

How do you deal with the ups and downs of being a writer?

 

Insecure Writer Support Group

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle21 Comments

Or, 7 days away from finishing my fourth round of edits. More on that in a minute.

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Big thank you and congrats go out to Mr. Alex J. Cavanuagh and his team for taking IWSG to the next level. If you haven’t read about the big announcement, click here.

Thanks to this month’s co-host  Chemist Ken, SL Hennessy, Michelle Wallace, and Joylene Nowell Butler.

Ok, back to the topic at hand.

Write the first draft – check
Let it sit for three weeks – check
Read through and find the big mistakes (edit #1) – check
Read through and find the big mistakes you missed on the first read through (edit #2) – check
Read through and find the small mistakes (edit #3) – check
Read out loud and find the not so obvious mistakes (edit #4) – Finish in 7 days. 

But, then what?

I love this story. It has consumed all of my free time over the last four months.  I’ve put in the work to turn it into a story that even after reading through it 10,000 times, the parts that are supposed to make me laugh, still make me laugh and the parts that are supposed to make me cry, still make me cry and I can’t wait to see what happens even though I know the ending.

But, is that enough to put it out there for the world to see?

I know about beta readers and critique partners and editors, I’ll do all that, too. What I really want to know is even after all that, will there be a clear sign that let’s me know, ok, publish it?

How do you know when your story is good enough for public consumption? 

Insecure Writer’s Support Group – Envy

Published on by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle37 Comments

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Support Group time. Thanks to super host Alex J. Cavanaugh and his co-hosts Nancy Thompson, Mark Koopmans & Heather Gardner! Click the badge to visit other group members.

My insecurity stems from the green eyed monster creeping into my psyche and I don’t like.

Three things happened in the last two weeks:

I read debut novels by two talented young authors and before I could stop myself, I uttered, “Well, their novels aren’t any better then mine, are they?”

I sent out four query letters and received three rejections.  I think I handled it pretty well, until I researched tips on query letters and came across a story about a writer who sent out one query letter, signed with that agent and now has a 3 book deal.

And,

I drove down the highway yesterday and was cut off by a cute red Mercedes convertible. Now, I don’t typically have car envy, but this car’s personalized license plate said, WRITER. Obnoxious, I know, but kind of cool.

I don’t like being jealous or envious. I know everyone gets what they get when they get it.  There’s room for all of us to be successful in whatever we choose to do, but it’s hard when every where you turn, it seems to be happening for others.

Do you suffer from the green eyed monster?  How do you deal with it?