Challenge - Insecure Writer's Support Group for January 2014 #IWSG

This is my tenth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is: 

"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" 

This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for January 2014. The topic I chose for this one 

is "challenge."

Yesterday, I posted a list of challenges I will be joining I want to make some of those achievements be personal ones. I will be taking submissions for a variety of anthologies throughout the year, but I want to do some major revisions on my 2012 NaNoWriMo novel and get it ready for publication. I am planning on completing the writing for my three non-fiction books, and I also intend to finish writing AND revising my most recent chapter book.

So this year is all about challenging myself to complete these tasks, as well as the more formal challenges I have joined, and alongside creating new anthologies.

Wish me luck!

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Finish - Insecure Writers Support Group for December 2013 #IWSG

This is my ninth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is: 

"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" 

This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for December 2013. The topic I chose for this one 

is "finish."

You may be wondering why I chose to write about the word "finish." It's because I have finished. I finished editing the stories and creating the anthology "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" in August and early September. I finished editing the stories and creating the anthology "Jingle Bells: Tales of Holiday Spirit from Around the World" in mid-November. I finished editing the stories and creating the anthology "SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories" in late November. I even finished editing the stories and illustrations for and creating the anthology "The Talisman Chronicles: A Collection of Stories Written and Illustrated by Children," both the color version and the black and white version.

All of these things were very time-consuming. And every single one of these projects, now that they are finished, give me an amazing feeling to hold in my hand. I love creating, whether it is for me or for someone else. And I have accomplished so many things by FINISHING the things I set out to do.

I've learned that I am skilled at editing and formatting, and I can even manage some artistic work.

I've also learned that I have some amazingly talented friends and fellow writers who none of these projects would have happened without.

And I am going to finish even more projects in 2014.

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Breathe - Insecure Writers Support Group for November 2013 #IWSG

This is my eighth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is: 

"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" 

This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for November 2013. The topic I chose for this one 

is "breathe."

With the work I am doing writing my novel for NaNoWriMo, idea-generating for PiBoIdMo, writing for Write 

Write Non-Fiction in November and putting both the Jingle Bells anthology (almost done) and the SuperHERo 

Tales anthology together (not as done as Jingle Bells but also close), I feel like I haven't had time to just 

breathe, to relax and take a moment not to worry about how many projects I have completed today.

Now that the Jingle Bells anthology is almost finished and the SuperHERo Tales anthology is also close to being

done, I feel as though I am so close to being able to sit and take a breath. Yes, I still have a lot to do. And I still 

have NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo and Write Non-Fiction in November to complete, but the anthologies have a 

more urgent deadline if I want the authors to be able to buy print copies in time for Christmas, and once 

November is over, I will have The Talisman Chronicles to put together for all of those creative kids who wrote 

stories for it.

So right now, although I am still a little bit stressing about completing the anthologies, because the end is in 

sight, I can take a moment to rest. I can sit and breathe in the fresh air, blanking my mind of worries - just 

for a moment.

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Achievements - Insecure Writers Support Group Post for September 2013 #IWSG

 This is my sixth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

  
This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for September 2013. The topic I chose for this one is "achievements."

One of the biggest things that has helped my confidence in my writing has been getting my short stories into anthologies. My longer novels may not be ready for print, but those short stories keep working for me. Every time I get to see another of my stories in print, I feel a little bit more confident in my writing and it strengthens my belief that I am a capable of finishing my novels and getting them out there into the world.

I've found my critiquing skills have grown as I help other writer-friends by looking over their stories and I know that I am strong at proofreading. Each achievement is another step taking me in the direction I want to go.

Now, here is where I get to boast a bit about some of my recent achievements. As some of you know, I run the Chapter Book Challenge (ChaBooCha) every year in March, and the ChaBooCha Facebook group stays open all year. The members of ChaBooCha (mostly ones who are active in the Facebook group) all came together to write flash fiction stories for an anthology of fairy tales with proceeds to benefit ChaBooCha.

On August 10th, Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales became available on Kindle. And any day now, the print version of the book will become available on Amazon.

This book is a wonderful anthology of fairy tales, from twists on the classics to band new stories. The stories are enchanting, and getting wrapped up in the magical worlds created within Teapot Tales' pages is a terrific way to spend a bit of time. I had help editing some of the stories, but overall, I edited, put together, formatted and created the books. There were 35 stories in total, including two poems, and there were 21 authors.

Getting Teapot Tales out into the world feels like one of those achievements I've been writing about in this post. It feels terrific!

And, I have achieved another small achievement. The doodle books I created are now available for purchase on Amazon too! The doodle books are pattern coloring books with pages for doodling in the back. Both books are the same inside, but are different sizes. Their titles are Doodle Your Heart Out and Little Book of Doodles.  My blog Designing Doodles has a post that shows some of the interior designs within the books.

The doodle books are books created completely by me (using some of my husband's art too) and I am so pleased with how they came out. No, they aren't an example of my writing, but I still think they are fun little books and creating them was another notch in my editing and publishing knowledge. And they will make some wonderful Christmas gifts for kids!

I am currently working on putting together the female superhero anthology, which is an anthology with 27 stories and 24 different authors. It still needs some illustrations for the interior and a cover. The proceeds from it will be benefiting the charity Because I Am a Girl.

Added to this, I have a story in an upcoming anthology, Crock of Charms. And I have three stories which will be in an anthology that will be out later in 2014 called Keepsakes. Another group I am a part of is creating an anthology of Christmas flash fiction which I will be contributing to, and the Chapter Book Challenge group members are now creating an anthology (for kids) of short stories with a Christmas theme, called Jingle Bells.

All of this means I have a lot of work ahead of me over the next few months, but I am loving every moment of keeping busy and CREATING!

If you want to contribute to the Jingle Bells anthology, check out this post for details. It is open to everyone.

If you are an illustrator and would like to donate a female superhero drawing to the female superhero anthology, you can e-mail it to me along with your bio (which will be included in the anthology if we use your illustration. Interior illustrations are to be of one of the superheroes in the stories ( links to posts with the stories can be found here) and to be in black and white.


Oh, and another achievement to mention: I now have an Amazon author page!

What I've learned is this: Every time you create something tangible using your own creativity, it is another nail in the coffin of your self-doubt.

So what are you waiting for, get out there and start creating!

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Work - Insecure Writers Support Group Post for August 2013 #IWSG

This is my sixth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

This is my post for Insecure Writer's Support Group for August 2013. The topic I chose for this one is "work."

The one thing that will make the dream of becoming a published author come true, the most important ingredient in the mixture of success, is a strong work ethic. It will never happen without putting the work in. If you want to publish a book, you first have to sit down and write it. It won't be easy, and once you are finished, then the real work starts. That's when you have to start editing and revising it. You will have to cut some of it out, rewrite some of it and write some new parts to it. You will have to make sure that everything makes sense and nothing is out of context. You will have to check your language and then, once all of that is done, you will need critique partners to tell you what else you need to do, and beta readers to tell you even more ways that it can be improved. You will need to check and re-check and check some more to make sure there are no spelling, grammar or punctuation errors. It takes work and drive and the will to keep at it no matter what might try to get in your way.

I am about to publish the anthology of fairy tales written by members of the Chapter Book Challenge.  The Kindle version is almost finished. I have spent a ton of time editing and proofreading each story and working on getting the format just right. I am determined to make sure that the Kindle will have useful clickable links. I have made the table of contents clickable to take a person to the story of their choice and the title of that story once they get there is clickable to take them back to the table of contents. The author byline under the title of each story will be clickable to take the reader to that particular author's bio. And in the bio, there are clickable links to take the reader to that author's websites. In an anthology which has several different authors, I think this kind of things increases the reader's enjoyment of the book and the ease for them to use it. It's a lot of work, but worth it to create a fabulous book for people to buy. The editing and proofreading is also a lot of work, but no one wants to read a story full of typos, spelling mistakes, poor punctuation and grammar problems.

And once the Kindle version is out, I have to spread the word about it while I am putting together the print version. The print version won't need any clickable links. and through all of this, the germ of an idea for a new kind of publishing company is growing in my mind, so I know I will be doing a different kind of work if I want this new idea to come to fruition.

But you know what? It feels good to do the work. And even more? It feels great when everything comes together and the finished product is there, ready to go out into the world.

Have you been doing the work it will take to make your dreams come true?

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Moving Forward - Insecure Writer's Support Group for July 2013 #IWSG

This is my sixth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

Moving Forward

No matter how often I try to be "good" and not let my fears take over, I still suffer from self-doubt on a regular basis, especially as it pertains to my writing. I am trying to behave in such a way as to suggest that it doesn't have an effect on me, but I don't always succeed.

I've been sharing more of my short stories and flash fiction writing on my blog. I don't get many comments on my blog posts, no matter what the topic is, but the few comments I get on my stories that compliment my stories make me feel better, if only for a short while, about my writing.

I think I am what might be called a "lazy writer." I love writing my stories, and I feel great when I have finished a longer novel. But the hard part, the nitty-gritty work that is involved in editing and revising, that part I put off, leaving my novels to languish forever in obscurity, never to be read by others. Naturally, I can't possibly share my novels with my critique groups or beta readers or even an editor until I have at least made a first pass-through at perfecting the writing.

I'm really good at proofreading. I can catch spelling errors, typos, grammatical errors and punctuation errors EASILY. But going through a piece of writing and making it go from writing that tells a story to writing that sucks you into another world and hangs on to you until you have emotion roiling through you and you never want to leave, THAT is something I need to work on. And I will not be happy with my novels until they can do that to a reader.

But, as a writer, I have to move forward. If I leave my writing as is, then it never changes. My writing will never raise from the level it is at unless I am willing to work at it and let it grow. So, to move forward with my writing and with my goals this year, I am determined to make ONE of the many novels I have written SHINE. And I will get it past the first edits and send it off to a professional in order to help it get to the shiny stage.

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For those of you who don't know, the Chapter Book Challenge has a fairy tale anthology coming out, hopefully by August first, in both print and Kindle format. The title and cover are still being worked on,  but you can head on over the ChaBooCha to find out more about it.

The Creating a Female Superhero Challenge came up with 27 female superheroes for the anthology and 23 entries for the contest. The winner of the contest will be announced on August 7th, along with the charity that won the vote for the proceeds to go toward. The stories are all from 500 to 1,000 words long, and have varying lengths for each of the "about" sections for each superheroine. I think it is going to be a pretty decent little anthology. (I am open to new submissions for the anthology before its creation is complete, because it is for charity, so more stories can only be a good thing.)

I also am in the process of creating a story for the Crock of Charms project, which is a short story project where everyone will be writing interconnecting stories suitable for young children through teenagers. They have a new project out, for adults, called Keepsakes, that I am currently looking into. (I like challenging myself by writing short stories. It helps hone my writing.)

I love hearing from you, so let me know in the comments what you have been up to and what your plans and goals are through this year.

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What's Stopping You From Achieving Your Dreams As a Writer? #IWSG

This is my fifth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

My husband has recently asked me when I'm going to start submitting my book to agents and publishers. Or when I am going to self-publish it. I think he was just trying to subtly point out to me that at some point, I have to let go of my insecurity enough to start sharing my stories. I don't have a problem with sharing my short stories or my flash fiction pieces. I get nervous about my novels though.

And because of this, I keep putting off the editing and revising of these novels. Then, when people offer to critique, I can truthfully tell them that it's "not ready yet." But at the rate I am going, using procrastination and self-doubt as excuses, I will never get my books published.

I read a lot. And because of this, I have read some really great books, which make me feel like my writing is inadequate (i.e. How will I ever write this well?) and some really awful books. I've also read some books that have potential, but are clearly written by amateurs, people who published too soon, before their books were really ready. When I read these, I wonder if my books are any better. (i.e. What if this is as good my stories get? What if I let others read my stories and they think the same way about my books as I think about these books?)

But if I keep using excuses, if I keep letting laziness (procrastination) and fear keep me from pushing onward with my books, I will NEVER get them published, and getting my books published, having books that people read and love, is my dream. I have fought to achieve a dream before that others thought was impossible (losing 145+ lbs), and I succeeded. so why should I put any less effort and drive and dedication into pursuing this dream?

The answer is I shouldn't. I should be just as dedicated, work just as hard and go after this dream just as much as I went after that other dream. And you should too.

What is it that you are letting keep you from your dream? Is it worth it?



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Insecurity - Insecure Writer's Support Group post for April 2013 #IWSG

I almost missed the IWSG post for April. It had to be written today and it's now late evening and I only just remembered due to some terrific people who are also part of the IWSG group leaving me comments on the last post today, wondering where this month's post is. (Yes, I know that's a run-on sentence, but this is a blog post, not a book, so deal with it.)

Today, writing about insecurity seemed appropriate. I just completed the Chapter Book Challenge. I run the challenge, so I had a lot of stuff to deal with over on the ChaBooCha blog, on the ChaBooCha Facebook group and organizing prizes to send out. And I did all of this while also writing a complete first draft of a chapter book. I am not very confident about the story though.

Most of the Chapter Book Challenge members are at the stage where they are exchanging their stories for critiques, and I am not confident enough in my own story to be willing to share it yet. I'm not confident enough in any of my stories yet to share them. I know they all need revision, and I know that, through critiques from others, I will be able to get some perspective on where the revisions are most needed.

But there is that awful niggling voice in my head that tells me my friends and critique partners will lose respect for me when they see how awful those manuscripts are. Once they read what I have written, they'll think to themselves that I shouldn't even be bothering. Part of this insecure feeling comes because, well, on these first drafts, maybe those thoughts would be partly right. They need a lot of work. But my stories aren't meant to be perfect on the first write. The first draft is meant to get the story down and then revision and editing and re-revision have to take part in making the story stronger. Beta readers and critique partners and eventually an editor all will take a hand in making my stories shine. I shouldn't feel this worry about what my friends will think of me if they read my first drafts; instead I should be hoping they will come up with some great insight as to how I can make my stories stronger.

The other part of this worry comes from the fact that I have read some really wonderful books out there, books I can not even hope to write to the level of, but I have also read some really poorly written self-published books out there. Most self-published books are terrific, but a few writers are so eager to be published that they publish before their writing is ready for it. They have the basis of what could be a good story but instead it lacks the necessary element to draw the reader in to the story. They have some brilliant writing, but it's mixed in with a lot of tedious writing. They could be so much more, but they jumped the gun and published too soon, without enough revision and practice. I worry that I will do the same, or that I will never be able to make my stories shine enough to be published.

But I have to stop letting those niggling thoughts bother me and get back to the writing, to the editing and to the revising. I am a little bit in love with each of my stories and it is my job to shine them up enough so that when others read them, they will fall in love with them too.



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Procrastination - Insecure Writer's Support Group post for March #IWSG

This is my fourth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

Procrastination. It is the bane of my writing life. And it's entirely my fault that it is. I think fear plays a little bit into the reasons for why I procrastinate - fear that I won't be good enough when all is said and done, that my writing will be lacking. But truthfully, I think plain laziness also takes part in why I procrastinate. I love writing, and when I am on a roll, I will write a lot. But once the writing is done, I would much rather start a new writing project than go through the mind-numbingly boring task of editing my story and making it as perfect as is possible.

So, at this rate, I will have about twenty novels written by the end of the year and zero that are worth publishing. Not very good numbers to be looking at.

My husband and I were discussing this fact last night. He asked me, "Where exactly do you want to be five years from now? Do you want to be a published writer? Do you want to be teaching writing? What is it that you want?" To be honest, I want to do both, five years from now. But that means I have to start taking my writing seriously, again. I thought I was taking it seriously when I started writing in earnest a couple of years ago. And I was taking it more seriously. But to be really serious about this as my career, then I need to put forth the effort to make sure that the words I am writing will someday be seen and will be worth being seen. And that means I have to spend time perfecting my words, making the stories I write become more than just interesting; they have to sparkle.

On another topic, there is still time to sign up for the Chapter Book Challenge if you think that spending the month of March writing an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA book might be the thing for you. It's a really informal challenge, but if you sign up for it, you are automatically entered in the Kindle giveaway. And there is a great line up of guest posts from published authors and agents and many prizes being given away throughout the month. There are just two days left to comment on the guest post from Angela Ackerman in order to be entered to win a copy of her co-authored book "The Emotion Thesaurus" (as long as you are also signed up for the challenge). You can also get some great ChaBooCha web badges for your blog or website. There's a ChaBooCha Facebook page, a ChaBooCha Facebook group and a ChaBooCha Twitter page, and we post about the challenge using the hashtag #ChaBooCha. We have over 80 people signed up for the challenge so far.

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Doubt - Insecure Writer's Support Group post for February #IWSG

This is my third monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

Doubt. It's one of those things that every writer lives with on a constant basis. All of us. Whether we are published or brand new at this writing stuff. And I am not any different from the rest. I'd like to believe that my doubts and fears are somehow bigger than everyone else's, but I know that's not true. The difference is that some people work past their doubt, or they work in spite of their doubt. And some people let the doubt eat away at their resolve; they let it convince them to give up. I refuse to give up.

It might take me longer than other writers, but I will succeed. I believe in dreaming big, and I don't intend to let any excuses stop me from working towards my dream, and that includes that plaguing self-doubt that keeps trying to creep in and convince me I'm not good enough to keep trying. (It's been trying very hard lately to convince me to give up.)

Anything worth dreaming about is also worth effort and work. It's worth giving it our hearts.

What about your dreams? You're not going to let a little self-doubt stop you, are you?


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Insecure Writer's Support Group Post #IWSG - January 2013 - The Evil Inner Voice

This is my second monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

I am a bundle of insecurities when it comes to my writing. In yesterday's post, I wrote that "believe" is my word for the year and that I am going to believe in myself. Well, that belief is still a work in process.

It seems like every time I read some really great writing by someone else, that nasty little inner voice pipes up in my head, saying things like, "You'll never write as cleverly as he does," and "Your writing will never grip people the way that her writing does." I have told myself over and over that the nasty little voice in my head LIES, but sometimes, I still let that voice get to me.

I'm working on it though. I am editing my manuscripts and getting them ready for publication, and hopefully, when I start sending them out to my critique partners, I will find out that my manuscripts are not as bad as I fear.



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Insecure Writer's Support Group Post #IWSG - December 2012

I just joined the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh for the first time. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

I think a monthly post about my doubts and fears might be helpful to me. After all, it is my fear of my writing not being good enough that kept me from pursuing my dream of being a writer for many years. Most of my life was spent wanting to be a writer but being afraid to try, afraid I didn't have enough talent.

I've realized, over time, that most writers don't have the talent to write something superb with their first drafts. It takes a lot of time and effort and revision to get the words just right. My problem is twofold. I worry that my writing won't be good enough even if I revise and edit a million times, and I worry that I am too lazy to actually do all of the revision and editing that my novel needs. Yes, I said that I am scared of being too lazy.

I know, it sounds strange. Surely laziness is a choice and something I have complete control over, right? Ah, but therein lies the true problem; any act of laziness in regards to my writing is truly an act of fear. If I'm too lazy to do the work, then it's not that my writing isn't good enough, it's that I am not good enough. I'd rather be lazy than a bad writer. I didn't say the rationale was a good one, just one of those crazy subconscious things I've been trying hard to recognize within myself so that I can circumvent it or ignore it.

I've recently finished National Novel Writing Month, and this time, I wrote a full manuscript, all 100,169 words of my urban fantasy/paranormal romance story. It's very rough and probably not very good. But I love the story. And I hate the idea of reading through it again and possibly finding out I hate the writing when I read it through for the edits. I want to continue to love my story, and I want anyone who reads it for critique to love it too. I know that the whole point of a critique is to help me improve the story, but I worry that they will read it through and think "she shouldn't even bother with it because it's too poorly written to save."

I guess I just wish I was one of those rare people who can write a masterpiece,a well-written and immediately gripping story, on my first write-through. But I'm not one of those people, so I just have to bite the bullet and put my work out there for others to see. Eventually. After I've had time to edit. And edit some more. And more...


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