Insecure Writers Want to Know
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing! I’m so glad you are here. I’m proud to be co-hosting this month’s blog tour for Insecure Writers Support Group. IWSG is an amazing group of supportive writers who share knowledge and experience with each other.
**Please, if you’re interested in receiving creative writing tips, just sign up for “A Dose of Life’s Adventure” here at my website. It would be greatly appreciated. I create a short newsletter maybe once a month. Thank you!**
Now, on to this month’s topic. Inspiration. Creation of an essay or story. Such personal topics in any writer’s life. Here are 3 tips for completing your creative writing project.
- Create a writing routine. When do you write best? Morning, before everyone wakes when it’s just you and the teapot? A lunch hour with a notebook or tape recorder? Or evening, after your house is quiet and you can bring out your box of dark chocolates? Weekends? Twice a week? Three days a week. Whatever works for you is the correct routine.
- Stop in the middle of an exciting part of the story or project. This will keep you thinking about the story and be ready to write the next time you have a writing session. Don’t worry about word count. Keep pushing forward in the writing process to get that first draft out. You are looking to have something completed in order to revise.
- Talk to someone about your writing project, preferably someone who reads or writes in your genre. I like to discuss with another person ideas, points I wish to make, or problems I’m having in my writing. Or sometimes I just need to talk to myself. This is when I take walks outside—regardless of weather—and hash out possibilities or problems. Take notes, regardless of who you “talk to” about your story. Remember, this is your creative story or essay. Take only the suggestions that work for you and leave the rest on the cutting room floor—or in my case, outside in the mud puddles.
No. Creating a story, essay, or book is not easy. You need to pound out that first draft—no matter how terrible you believe it is—in order to deepen or build upon it. There’s no other way to create something out of nothing.
But you don’t need to do it alone.
Once again, I am offering FREE writing workshops at the Maple Shade Library in Maple Shade, New Jersey. If you are in the area, I’d love to see you there. I’m encouraging participants to bring their works-in-progress in order to ask specific questions. I want to help you finish your manuscript to the best of your ability.
My first FREE workshop will be on Thursday, May 18, 2023, at 6 p.m. We will be discussing character development. I will offer tips and answer questions on the topic of how creating believable characters in story or memoir is not all about how they look. It’s about how they see the world.
Come, stay as long as you can. Ask questions. I’m happy to help you with your manuscript.
Here are the particulars:
Character Development – 5-18-23 at 6-7:30 p.m.
Maple Shade Library
200 Stiles Ave.
Maple Shade, NJ 08052
856-779-9767
I have the list of FREE workshops I’m facilitating this year on my website. Why not stop by and have a look. Let me know if you have any questions. I’m here to help.
Now I’m off to see how you’ve tackled this month’s question. I am extremely thankful for all of you for being my sounding board and advisors on this scary writing and publishing journey.
Thanks for stopping by Adventures in Writing, my spot on the web. Please come again!
This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I’d like to thank my co-hosts for May: Joylene Nowell Butler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Meka James, Diane Burton, and M Louise Barbour! Please visit them if you can.
Our group posts on the first Wednesday of every month. To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.
Thanks for co-hosting this month and for the great tips. I find that committing some time most days to working on my manuscript has helped me finish it. Good luck with your workshop.
Thank you, Natalie! That’s the key. “Committing some time” to a writing project, or any project, in order to move forward and finish it.
Thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing. Have a beautiful week!
Keep sending important information to your followers.
Thank you, Bill. This means a lot to me. Always a pleasure seeing you here at Adventures in Writing. Have a great day!
You definitely have to write something to revise it!
Good luck with the writing workshop. Afraid I’m a few too many states away.
Thanks, Alex. Always appreciate your good wishes. Have a beautiful IWSG day!
I think most of the authors who self-publish dream of becoming famous authors. They often idealise being an author. To become a successful author who can live off his/her writing you have to see it as a normal business. You have to be 51% a businessman/woman to be able to be a successful author. Like in every business you have to invest in people working for you f.e. researching, PR, legal affairs, and agents for foreign rights. If that is not what you want, you don’t get successful. That doesn’t matter. It’s nothing wrong with writing for fun. You will have even more fun writing when you forget about becoming a professional author or even famous.
All the best
Klausbernd 🙂
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Klausbernd! I’m so glad you stopped by and left a note.
You are so right that writing and being an author is a business and needs to be treated as such. This is what worries me. I need to be, as you say, “51%” businesswoman. This, perhaps, could be too many hats for me to wear.
Thanks again for visiting. Stay well!
Good Advice!
Thank you for co-hosting!
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Cathrina! I’m so glad you stopped by and left a comment.
Thanks for your kind words. Have a beautiful day!
Stop when you’re at a high point . . . What a great suggestion. Then you’re chomping to get back at it. It’s like leaving the chapter on a cliffhanger so the reader continues turning pages. Thanks for co-hosting this month!!
My pleasure, Nancy. And thanks for your kind words. I figure we can all use a writing tip now and again. Stay well!
That is excellent advice. The ‘talk to people’–probably the toughest one to do for me!
Thank you for your kind words, Jacqui. When I say “talk to people,” I mean you are bouncing ideas off them. You’re working through plot or dialogue or a problem in your story by actually discussing with someone what you think the sticking point is.
It’s always a pleasure seeing you here at Adventures in Writing.
Thanks for co-hosting, Victoria. The fact that you have time to do all that you do is amazing. Best to you.
It’s always a pleasure seeing you here at Adventures in Writing, Joylene. Thanks for your kind words. Have a beautiful day!
Great tips on this first IWSG Wednesday. Thanks for them and for co-hosting today.
My pleasure, Lee. Thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing. Have a beautiful day!
I often think about that writing routine idea, but have yet to be very successful at sustaining one for long if I even start. I do wish I had someone to discuss my ideas with and get some feedback. For a while I was in a local writers group, but they disbanded a few years ago and I haven’t found any substitute. Though the COVID problem didn’t help much.
Good idea to offer the workshops. Sounds like a good way to find other writers with whom one can interact.
Lee
Absolutely right, Lee! I believe people–not only writers–need people to talk to and bounce ideas off. It is difficult to find fellow writers or writers’ groups to join. I’m having that difficulty too. Stay strong, sir!
Thank you for co-hosting. Having a writing routine helps immensely. It took me some time to get used to one, but I try to keep at it now.
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Sonia! I’m so glad you stopped by and left a note.
Good for you! Yes I believe a writing routine is precious. And yes, it truly is difficult to get in the groove of keeping the routine. All the luck with your routine!
When I’m stuck on something, I’ll email my sister-in-law, usually with the intent of asking for help. But after detailing out all the parts of the problems and where I’m struggling, I come up with a solution more often than not. She’s then gotten emails with simply, “You don’t know it, but you helped me figure out my problem. Thanks!”
Thanks for co-hosting!
This is what I mean about talking to someone about our stories. It helps us work through problems ourselves and with others.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight here at Adventures in Writing, Loni. Have a great day!
thanks for co-hosting and thanks for the writing tips –
My pleasure, PJ. Thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing. Have a great day!
Before dawn is my time to write. Over the last year those precious hours have been gobbled up as I build my new Website. My web designer is in Armenia. We’ve had to work through many unexpected delays.
I have two passions: writing and creating a new whiz-bang website. The site is nearly complete.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with other writers and co-hosting this month.
Lynn La Vita
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Wow! This is great, Lynn. All the luck with the new “whiz-bang” website. And thanks for stopping by Adventures in Writing. All best to you!
I’ve found stopping in the middle of the scene works well for me. The only downfall is if life butts in and takes me away for a while. Then I have to remember what I was writing and why I left off in the middle!
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Patricia! I’m so glad you stopped by.
I don’t know about you, Particia, but life does a lot of “butting” into my writing life. Sometimes I need to re-read what I’ve written to get back into the story. Have a beautiful day!
A lot of good suggestions there! Sometimes, plugging away can be like pulling teeth, but it worth it when you finally have a breakthrough.
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Donna! I’m so glad you stopped by.
You know, sometimes I won’t let myself get up from my computer until I have something down on the page. No matter how terrible it is. Have a beautiful day!
Thanks for co-hosting the blog hop!
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Yvonne! I’m so glad you stopped by.
It’s been a pleasure co-hosting IWSG this month. Have a beautiful day!
I agree- not focusing on that word count but making progress is important! Empty pages can’t be edited or published. Also- love those flowers!
Thank you, Miffie. My daughter bought them for me for Mother’s Day. I am truly blessed!
You are so right. Empty pages cannot be “edited or published.” Thanks for sharing your thoughts here at Adventures in Writing. All best to you!
I’ve just started to do number two and it works at times. But the great thing about writing is we have all these different tools in our toolbelt and if one isn’t working, we can switch to another. Thanks for sharing your tools!
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Kristina! I’m so glad you stopped by.
Yes, many tools can work, “at times.” And yes, we are lucky to have a variety of tools to choose from. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in this discussion. All best to you!
Yep, getting fresh air away from the laptop is often a great way of shaking things up when they get stuck. Great tip.
Absolutely, Nick. I love going outside for a bit of fresh air, no matter the weather. Have a great day!
A friend gave me that same advice of stopping in the middle of something you’re excited to finish. It really works for me! @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Samantha! I’m so glad you stopped by.
Yes, stopping in the middle of something usually works for me too. Have a beautiful day!
Hi there! Thank you for co-hosting this month and thanks for stopping by my blog as well!
I really loved your tips for inspiration. I definitely agree that stopping in the middle of an exciting part can keep you thinking about it! Although sometimes it’s hard to stop right there! Leaving yourself on a cliffhanger. Your writing workshops sound like fun!
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Rosie! I’m so glad you stopped by.
Thank you for your kind words. And you are right. Sometimes it’s difficult to stop in the middle of things because we are so involved in our stories. Have a beautiful day!
If I lived in your area, I might stop by for the workshop. I live in the middle of nowhere in a very small town in Northeastern Colorado. I’m not the most social person who ever existed, so I actually quite like living in a remote location.
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing! I’m so glad you stopped by.
You know, sometimes I’d like to live in a more remote area. Thanks for your kind words. Have a beautiful day!
Those three simple tips for staying engaged are tried and absolutely true. I appreciate the reminder 😉 Thanks for co-hosting!
Thank you for your kind words, Diedre. I appreciate your chiming in on this conversation. All best to you!
Hi, Victoria! I wish I lived closer to New Jersey. It would be so much fun to go to your workshop and to meet you in person. I’m working on my memoir, and the challenging part is trying to see the world through my characters’ eyes. I’m sure you will have fun connecting to other writers. Thanks for co-hosting. Happy creating in May!
Thank you, Louise. I would like to have you at the workshop. Always appreciate good friends.
Looking through our character’s eyes is the most difficult part of creating story. As writers, we need to inhabit our character’s lives, think as they would, always remembering to move the story forward in all they do. Have a beautiful day!
Thanks for co-hosting and for the great tips. I’ve tried them all, and they work–especially developing a writing routine. That’s absolute gold.
I am a routine person, Janet. I need the structure in my life, which can be difficult to maintain when you have a family. All best to you!
That’s a good idea to pause in the middle of exciting parts. I’ll try it. Maybe it will cut down on the time it takes me to jump back into each writing session.
It works for me most times, Kim. Still, sometimes I need to re-read where I left off to continue with my writing. Have a beautiful day!
Thanks for co-hosting this month. Thanks for the writing tips. I think it’s cool you run writing workshops.
Thank you for your kind words, Toi. And your vote of confidence. I need to hear this sometimes. All best to you!
Excellent advice, Victoria!
Thank you, Nas! I truly appreciate your kind words. Thank you so much for stopping by Adventures in Writing. Have a beautiful day!