IWSG: Major Life Events

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

OCTOBER QUESTION: How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?

MY ANSWER: There have been times when major events interfered with my writing, causing me to go months at a time without producing any new content other than for work. Other times, my writing has served to help heal from and proceed through major events. Here are a few examples:

To Get Creative Juices Flowing, Prevent Writers Block, or to Deal With Rejection and other major events:

Six Words Are the Way In
Leaving Out the Dull Bits
Take A Chance
New Experiences
First Writing
Science Fiction Challenge
Feeling Overwhelmed
Writing
Reborn
Year-End Review of Your Writing
Audience of None
Dealing With Worry
5 Reasons for Vacation
Reevaluatingthe Plan
7 Things Successful Authors Don't Do
New Year, New You
Four Lessons From NaNoWriMo
5 Writer Faults
Starter Kit for Writers
To Write or Not to Write
7 Common Fears and Advice for Writers
Curing Blogging Blahs
20 Quotes of Inspiration
More Quotes
7 Tips for Overcoming Writers Block
Never Give Up
10 Tips for a Better Writing Environment
5 Keys to Unleashing Your Imagination
Writing Through Adversity
Title Tricks
The Art of Chaos
Zen Writing
The Empty Pages
Creativity Chips and Four Other Exercises
Inspiring Authors
Interview Exercise
Jung, Carl
Loglines
Universal Themes and Concepts
Rejection Infection
Inspiring Daily Rituals
Status Seekers vs Storytellers
Fresh or Frazzled
To Whom Shall I Tell My Grief
Holiday Writer
Elusive Ending
Don't Stop
Creativity, Inc.
I QUIT!

IWSG: Pitfalls

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

AUGUST QUESTION: What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?

MY ANSWER: Don't allow critiques or rejection to stop you. It's too easy to take criticism personally. Writing is such a personal act so it's extremely difficult not to allow a perceived attack to aggravate, anger, or depress us. Recognize reading can be subjective so give yourself some distance and time to assess whether the feedback is truly constructive. Do you still have more to learn, do you need to rework your manuscript, or should you completely ignore the otherwise useless comments? Regardless of the answer, never let someone else's opinion prevent you from pursuing your passion.

What pitfalls would you warn others about?

IWSG: I QUIT!

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

JUNE QUESTION: Did you ever say “I quit”? If so, what happened to make you come back to writing?

My Answer: There have been a few times I have thought about quitting. An overwhelming numbers of rejections at one time, a really MEAN rejection letter from a highly acclaimed publication editor, and a terrifying health diagnosis have all instigated periods where I quit writing at different times in my life. Yet, just like so many of you, I couldn't really quit. Writing is an addiction, a catharsis, and a passion. I'm sure I will continue writing until I die, or lose my mind... whichever comes first ;-)

Have you ever quit writing? Are you back on the wagon, or done for good?