Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Carrying On



I now call this meeting of the Insecure Writers' Support Group of Prospect, Nova Scotia to order!

I'll do roll call.

Is Jan the writer here?

    Here!

Is Jan the author here?

    'sound of crickets'

Okay then, is Jan the procrastinator here?

    Yes, I'm here. (mumbles something under her breath)

Is Jan the diehard romantic here?

    Yes, I'm here in my writing jacket with leather on the elbows and a pipe and a tumbler full of scotch.

Oh, I didn't realize that Jan the diehard romantic was a guy.

    Well...sometimes. Today I'm fashioned on Hemingway. Yesterday I was a starving artist in a garret in Paris. I was wearing a wispy gown and drinking absinthe.

Alright, moving on. Is Jan the business person here?

    voice of Jan the writer - "she is out trying to find Jan the author."

Of course she is. Finally, is Jan the householder here?

    Yes, but I can't stay long. I'm still trying to finish the decluttering in the writing studio, but Jan the painter is making that nearly impossible. Also, we have folks coming for dinner.

Okay. We have a quorum. First thing on the agenda is that Jan the author hasn't heard back from the publisher and can't give Jan the writer the go ahead to collaborate on the new query package. Who will contact Jan the A. and get her to write another blasted email?

    voice of Jan the diehard romantic "I will. I'll fill her mind with thoughts about what fun she'll have when her next book is published - that week or two when everything is rosy."

    voice of Jan the procrastinator, "I don't think she should bug the publisher just yet. Maybe after Easter would be better. Or Monday next, Monday is a good day to begin things."

    voice of Jan the business woman who has just come in the room, "No! It has to be done today. I couldn't find Jan the author anywhere. Think she's on a bender. I'll write it."

So do we have a motion?

    all speak up, "don't be crazy! If Jan the business woman says she'll do it, she'll do it."

Jan in charge looks abashed,  - Okay, next order of business. Jan the writer, I've heard that you aren't keeping up with your writing schedule? How can we help you?

    Voice of Jan the writer "You can tell Jan the householder to quit inviting people to dinner. And why do things need to be so clean?" (laughter all round) And Jan the painter needs to remember where she is in the pecking order."

    Voice of Jan the householder "You know darn well that every time you come to some plot point you can't figure out that you call on me to insist on cleaning the fridge or doing our taxes so lay off!"

Kafuffle breaks out,  "Order! Order!"

    Voice of Jan the writer "I think this meeting is over! I have a piece to write for the Insecure Writers' Support Group and then I'm working on edits in Butter & Snow so get lost."

I now call the March meeting of Jan's Insecure Writers' Support Group Prospect Division over.




Wednesday, February 7, 2024

February Blues

Hello all dear Insecure Writers and those who love us. The IWSG meets the first Wednesday of the month so here we are. I'm not really blue despite the title, just a wee bit flat of spirit perhaps but it'll come back. It always has. 

 I don't wish to discuss authoring today, only writing. I've been swapping teaching with a pal on our street. She's a talented oil painter who is working on a novel. At least once a week we get together and paint and talk writing. She's a generous teacher and I think I am too. Obviously we talk about the crossovers in our disciplines. I'm doing an edit on her novel this week and it strikes me that figuring out the mechanics of the plot and structure are a lot like composing a painting. And the diction, the actual word choices, the metaphors, similies, and so on are a lot like the brushstrokes a painter uses. We both seem to have a good handle on composition or plot, we know what we want to say and even when we want to say it, in order to lead the viewer (or reader) to the focal point (crisis) but we both need help loosening up our brushstrokes, being more confident and even daring in that department. I want her to stretch and try to say things freshly, cut out hackneyed phrases for surprising ones, and I think she'd like me to be bolder with my mark-making. I know once she starts she'll get what fun figuring out just the right word or phrase is. And I sometimes get a fleeting moment of grace and joy when I let loose with my brush. And isn't that it? Isn't that the real reason we do this crazy highwire act?

Hope you are all well and using these winter days to go deep into your work with verve and joy!

Wednesday, January 3, 2024

2024

Happy New Year dear Insecure Writers! It is our first meeting of the year of the Insecure Writers Support Group,* and I hope everyone has a nice clean notebook because it is time to set our intentions for the year ahead. No, I did not say the word 'resolutions'. Intentions. I like to think of it as a trip I might want to take in 2024. Where am I now? Where do I want to go?  How will I get there? What will I do when I'm there?  For the purposes of this meeting I will focus on my writerly intentions. Before I know where I want to go, I must ascertain where I am. 

Step 1 - where am I?

Let's see - I have one novel traditionally published. I have a second book finished but for the copy editing in the same series, and one finished in a different series. I have one YA book finished and about three books started but not nearly done. 

Step 2 - where do I want to go?

I want to see my three unpublished novels published.. I want to continue writing as the three finished ones look for a home and would like to have two more ready to send out by year's end, if not sooner. So, to synthesize, I'd like to find a publisher, either on my own or with the help of an agent, who wants to represent most if not all of the books I can churn out. While of course realizing they'd have to accept each one on its own merits.

Step 3 - how will I get there? 

I have the second in the Nell series being read by beta readers. When I get feedback on them I will revise accordingly. My fella is a primo copyeditor and has agreed to do that. I will be sending The Rock Walker out next week to beta readers and will by the end of January have both of those books ready to shop. When I have my query package made I will send to the agents and publishers I'm most interested in working with. While I await word on them I will have fun with my brand new work in progress - a hard-boiled detective story set in 1946 in Halifax!

Step 4 - what will I do when I get there?

When I have some possible deals to make I will carefully insure that the agent or publisher is the right fit for me and my novels by being as straight-forward as possible about what I want. This will never be about money for me, but about enthusiasm and understanding of what my books are about. As well, I will continue to have fun writing which is, in fact, what is deeply important to me. 


*Purpose: 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!


Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Thanks for coming by everyone and hope you are having as much fun as I am navigating in this strange land of writing.

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

If we are insecure we are also secure

 Greetings dear fellow insecure writers and those that love us!

It is time for the December meeting of the IWSG - sign up here!

I love December and this particular December I feel a resurgence of my creative energy. This is the new year for me. My birthday is on the solstice and I naturally feel the world turn to the light as it approaches. I was in a slump for awhile but my energy like the light is starting a slow turn to the positive.

I have a message for all aspiring writers that is burning a hole in my metaphoric pocket.  Here it is:

Do not dance with someone who isn't flat-out crazy to dance with you.

And by this I mean do not get into a publishing or agent agreement unless you can easily ascertain that they are full on enthusiastic.

I used to feel that if anyone was willing to dance with me - a tall gawky red-haired flibbertigibbet - that I had to say yes. I got over that after several disastrous  unions but I neglected to take that learning into my artistic life. As writers who often accrue enough rejections to paper our writing studios, we can leap when someone expresses even the mildest of interests. Do not! Take your time to find out why they like your piece (your essay, your poem, your short-story, your novel) or if indeed they do at all. Publishing in this treacherous time is fraught so it seems like we should take any scrap of interest offered. Remember why you write and if you will still want to do so if you are writing solely to get published. Unless you are Margaret Atwood or Stephen King you won't really be making any money anyway so you might as well do it for the love of the craft. 

I'm going to be way old on the solstice and I have at least five more books I want published, but they will not be represented or published by anyone who doesn't think they are as special I do. That might mean they sit in a drawer or I publish them myself (not what I want to do) because I've decided I'm a writer first and an author second.

Merry Holidays to all who celebrate this time of year whatever your belief system.

Hold yourself precious!

Wednesday, November 1, 2023

another insecure writer speaks up

 It is Wednesday and the first of November, do you know where your insecure writers are?

Yes, it is another meeting of the IWSG - sign up here!


Purpose: 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!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Hi everyone! Boy these months sneak up on ya, wha! Here in Nova Scotia it has been softly snowing all day. My regular writing pal, Gwen, doesn't have her snow tires on yet, so we did our tomatoes alone and just checked in after every couple. What? You don't know what a 'tomato' is? Well, it's called the Pomodoro system and it is just a way to track your time. Like a kitchen timer (often a tomato) and we use it to write for 25 minutes, break for 5 and go back at it. Somehow it is incredibly motivating and Gwen and I have been using them for just about as long as I've been part of the IWSG. Here's a program I've linked here - Pomodoro

The question this month was about NaNoWriMo and I'm ignoring it as I've answered it several times already. I'll just say that my one published novel originated in a NaNoWriMo and I'm grateful. Won't be using it this month though as I'm in heavy duty revision of Butter and Snow - my second Nell Munro mystery. It will be ready for my beta readers in two weeks and then back for another swipe before anyone else looks at it.

In October I took part in Inktober for the fourth time. For that challenge you simply have to draw, ink or paint something daily. I like it and I really like the notion of simply showing up for your self in this way. This time I focused on landscapes and used all sorts of mediums and techniques to render the beauty I saw on the trips we took this summer and fall. It was fun and juicy and I love doing it.

I'm on a self-imposed challenge right now to get this revision done - 21 days of two hours a day. Doesn't seem like much but it sure makes a difference when you show up day after day. Like the snow fall today - the words accumulate.

Okay - see you next month!
Keep on keepin on.