It’s First Wednesday so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog. It’s so easy to self-reject, to feel insecure. That seems to be the default setting for any creative person. You compare yourself to those who are “making it” in the public eye and come up short. Your work sucks. Your talent is…
It’s time for yet another Insecure Writer’s Support Group Post! We’re talking about some ways to combat insecurity today. Insecurity can become a hurricane-force cycle of depression and negativity. There are ways to break this cycle, though. You can even start thinking of yourself as a successful writer. Some of these techniques are borrowed from…
I’m co-chairing our local critique group meeting Monday evening, since our regular chairwoman is on vacation this week. My duties will be keeping track of who’s reading and in which order the critique-ers will speak. This is good, because I don’t think I could handle running the chat room all by myself. SCWA meets every…
Have a new anthology or two we’re trying to get into. One’s a weird history detective story that will feature Badi, our favorite velyr PI. I like his sarcastic noir attitude and am setting the story in 1800s Savannah so it’ll fit in with the anthology’s guidelines (they don’t want anything after the turn of…
My alter ego and I are submitting various stories to various contests and anthologies. I’m working on two anthologies: Inclusive Future Magazine’s “What Will Gender Be Like in 50 Years?” and Writing The Future You Need’s “Navigating the Ruins.” I may also submit something later in the summer for “Prohibition.” My alter ego is sending…
It’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group Post! Doesn’t seem like it should be the first Wednesday in May but here we are … Every writer struggles with insecurity. Each one of us has looked at their work and wanted to toss the computer out the nearest window. One way to combat that feeling…
How is a writer supposed to find inspiration in today’s world? With the pandemic raging and the political upheaval and climate change … how can you keep your muse healthy? One thing that inspires me is reading. I’ll admit it’s getting harder to find good science fiction or fantasy that inspires me rather than bringing…
It’s once again time for our Insecure Writer’s Support Group post! As I just received another form rejection, it’s a good time to rethink insecurity. I did get a nice personalized rejection last month for one story, though, and the editor said to send him something else next time they had an anthology call out.…
Many writers struggle with “writer’s block.” They say they just don’t feel inspired to write, that the muse just isn’t there any longer. I call bullshit on that idea. Writing –professional writing, that is, where you expect a paycheck — isn’t something you only do when you feel the hand of God reaching down from…
People are always interested in how writers work. How do I do my research and how do I organize my writing? Let’s take a look at my process. First of all, I do most of my research on the internet. Sometimes, if I have a particularly interesting setting, or one I’m using often, I’ll pay…