Risky Business (An IWSG Post)
It’s the first Wednesday of the month, y’all, which means it’s time for another action-packed installment of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!
(For more information and/or a complete list of participants, please click on the above link…)
This month’s awesome co-hosts are PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton.
This months (optional) question asks, “Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc or add controversial topics to your work?”
I don’t think I’m a risk-taker. I don’t think I do anything radically different or controversial. Or even a little bit of those things, really. I just kind of…do what I do—what I think best fits whatever story I’m trying to tell (albeit super slowly and perhaps not particularly well. But it is what it is…)
I do, however, have truly incredible writer friends who never cease to amaze me with their creativity and ingenuity and bravery and all-around awesomeness. They take risks and make it look easy, and I bow down to their superstardom.
I honestly don’t know some days why they continue to let me hang out with them, but thank goodness they do. They make me want to do better.
Even if I am doing it super slowly.
Stay safe & well, all.
Headed Off to Camp (and Other Goals)
Hold on to your hats, cats and kittens. It’s goal post day on My Pet Blog.
First up, however, is a quick review of how I did with last month’s goals…
—Add words to Part III of Full Circle
I did this, actually. I added 6,276 words to the manuscript. I’m not sure whether any of those words are the right ones for the story, but that’s the second draft’s problem.
—Figure out March’s monthly marketing attempt and, you know, do it
I did this, too. I can’t remember what, exactly, I did, which means it was probably super successful, but I did do something because it’s crossed out in my book. Go me!
—Read a damn book
Hahaha! I read two books! I’m on a roll now!
—Walk at least three miles a day
As of the writing of this post, I have walked an average of 3.3 miles each day.
Now for April’s goals…
—Participate in and (if possible) win Camp NaNoWriMo
The first Camp NaNoWriMo session of the year starts on Thursday. After asking my social media buds for their opinion, I am announcing that my goal this month will be to finish the first draft of Full Circle. Somehow, that WIP received 3x the votes over other projects. I wasn’t expecting that, and now I’m feeling a lot of pressure to actually achieve this goal (seriously—people really want to read this book?), but we’ll see what happens.
Because I have no idea how to actually finish this book.
—Figure out April’s monthly marketing attempt and, you know, do it
I really need to try to plan these things out ahead of time. But even just typing that sentence made me want to crawl under my desk.
—Read a book
Let’s see if I can keep the streak alive!
—Walk at least three miles every day
I have nothing to add to this. It’s just a small attempt to inject a little healthiness in my otherwise completely unhealthy lifestyle.
On that note, I’m outta here.
What are your goals for April? Are you participating in Camp NaNoWriMo? (my username is M.J. Fifield, if you’re looking for some buddies…)
Stay safe & well, all.
(An IWSG Post)
It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time for another action-packed installment of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
(For more information and/or a complete list of participants, please click on the above link…)
This month’s co-hosts are Sarah (the Faux Fountain Pen), Jacqui Murray, Chemist Ken, Victoria Marie Lees, Natalie Aguirre, and JQ Rose.
This month’s (optional) question asks, “Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) in which you write? What motivates your reading choice?”
I have been in a reading slump for a good long while now. Don’t know why. But back when I did actually read books, I didn’t care about the genre. I read whatever piqued my interest. Fiction, nonfiction, whatever. All I cared about was a good story. If it had interesting characters doing interesting things, then I was good.
I’d choose a book because it had an eye-catching cover or an intriguing premise. I’d read a book that a trusted source recommended to me. And I would try to read the trends because I wanted to know what people were talking about. (I spend a lot of time being clueless, so when I can get a frame of reference, I like to do that.)
I know a writer who doesn’t read genre fiction. They won’t even consider reading genre fiction. Anything romance, fantasy, mystery, anything like that is an automatic nonstarter. For them, it’s literary fiction or nothing. And it makes me sad. I mean, I firmly believe people should read whatever the hell they want to read, but I occasionally get sad when I think about all the cool stories they miss out on because they’ve dismissed it out of hand like that. Nothing worthwhile there. It’s just genre fiction.
Which is, of course, not the case.
I also get sad when I think about all the cool stories I’m missing out on because of this stupid slump of mine. I hope whatever my problem is I get over it sooner rather than later.
On that note, I’m outta here. Thanks for stopping by today. I’ll try to do better the next time.
Stay safe and well.
March Goals
It’s the beginning of the month, which means it’s time for another action-packed installment of….my monthly goals.
First up, however, is a quick look back at February’s goals and any progress I may have made on those…
- Figure out the main villain arc in Full Circle
I think I may have done this. I mean, I think it’s at least okay enough for the first draft. I suspect the second draft will bring with it some changes, but what else would a second draft do, right?
- Figure out and complete my February marketing attempt
Yeah, so…I had thought about putting the Terrible Romance Novel (Fine. Love & Other Lies. Whatever.) on sale during Valentine’s Day weekend because it was pointed out to me that I had, in fact, written a romance novel (a fact that, in fact, had not occurred to me earlier) and that Valentine’s Day may be a good tie-in or whatever, but then I…didn’t. Because of course I didn’t.
I did, technically, do something in the way of marketing, but it was quite sad and pathetic and I don’t want to say anything more about it.
I cannot stress enough how NOT GOOD at this I am.
- Read a damn book
I actually did this. It took me until the end of February, but I finally read a book this year. I am so very sad that this is an achievement.
- Walk at least three miles every day
I fell short a few days, but the overall average was good. As of the writing of this post, I averaged 3.8 miles per day.
MARCH GOALS
- Add words to Part III of Full Circle
Last month, I had to kill some darlings, an act which thrilled me to no end. I mean, fine, whatever, maybe the story is at least slightly better for it, and cutting that dead weight allowed me to finish Parts I and II of the story, but whatever. I’m totally not bitter about it or anything.
Anyway, the goal this month is to make some headway on Part III. There’s really nothing standing in my way of real progress here except for, you know, me, so…yeah. We’ll see how it goes.
- Figure out March’s monthly marketing attempt and then, you know, do it
I was thinking about dropping this goal entirely because it’s making me feel…things. None of them particularly good. But I’m going to try to stick with it a little longer. We’ll see how it goes.
- Read a damn book
Let’s see if I can keep the streak alive.
- Walk at least three miles a day
Or, you know, at least on average. The dogs like to walk, so this really shouldn’t be a problem.
And on that note…I’m outta here. What are your goals for the month?
Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well, all.
Writing Community (An IWSG Post)
It’s the first Wednesday of the month, which means it’s time for another action-packed installment of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
(For more information, including a complete list of participants, please click on the above link…)
This month’s awesome co-hosts are Louise-Fundy Blue, Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins at Womagwriter, and Nancy Gideon.
This month’s (optional) question asks, “Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?”
I am pleased to report that I have.
When I started blogging a thousand years ago, I didn’t know what to expect. I figured it would just be me talking to myself about whatever random whateverness popped into my head that day.
But then I stumbled onto the writing community, which led to this writing community and the opportunity to get to know some truly wonderful writers who inspire me greatly. I even found some friendships that extend beyond the world of writing (yes, there is, in fact, a world beyond writing), and a brand spanking new accountability partnership (I’m not sure I’m holding up my end of this partnership particularly well, but I aim to improve).
And I wouldn’t have any of these things if I hadn’t started blogging. So to you all I say…
Thanks for stopping by today, everyone. Be safe and well.
D5 Creation