Welp. It's the first Wednesday of the month, the day the Insecure Writer's Support Group posts about fears and insecurities and maybe even offers words of encouragement and advice to other writers. It all started HERE by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Follow the links to learn more, to find the blogs of all the other participants, and maybe even join in the fun yourself!
I just happened to be making my way through the blogosphere today and realized it's the day the IWSG does their thing, and I thought, HEY! You want to be a serious writer? You want to get back into blogging on a daily/weekly basis? You need to TRY this thing! So, it's my FIRST ever IWSG post! And talk about being INSECURE!! Even when I wasn't blogging regularly, I still hopped around once in a while and saw all the first Wednesday of the month posts going on for forever, and I think I'm even a part of the IWSG Facebook group, but POSTING today?!? I feel like I'm the shy, quiet, girl with zero friends trying to sit at the cool kids table in the high school cafeteria!! I feel like I'm crashing this HUGE party, completely uninvited! So, hopefully some of my old friends recognize me and offer me a chair or scoot over to let me sit by them?!? Maybe say, "Hi, Christy! What are you eating today and how has life been and I think I noticed you in the back of my sixth period Chemistry class!"
This month's focus question:
What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?After reading a couple of other writers' blogs, I realized there were firsts before my first completed manuscript. Firsts from when I was a child. There was the dark thriller I started sitting on the concrete floor of my parents' unfinished basement. I wrote about a paragraph of that one. There was the story about the girl in the haunted boarding school that I wrote after my dad brought home our very first computer. I have no recollection of how far I got in that one. There was the mystery series I penned while sitting in sixth grade study hall. I think maybe I outlined the first three books and got a few chapters into the first one.
But what I really consider my first is the manuscript I wrote in 2010. SOLSTICE. It's the manuscript that brought me to writeoncon.com where I met Erica and Michael and a handful of other writers who I came to know through blogging and critiquing future works, well, mostly SOLSTICE cuz at the time I thought, Hey! I wrote a novel. What do you mean it won't get published?!?! And then I posted it at querytracker and entered it in contests and rewrote the beginning a BAZILLION times and it got red-lined and chopped to bits by online readers. I queried it with a two-page long query that I squished into one by shrinking the font. I printed that over-written, purple-prosey manuscript out and put it in a binder and teacher friends read it and then finally, I read SHIVER and felt inspired to write something else. So, thankfully, I moved on. And then moved on from that manuscript, and another one after that....and six manuscripts later, here I am! SOLSTICE is still in that binder collecting dust under my nightstand or bed. It was about a girl, Dawn, who discovered she could see the auras of others. And then there was something about an alternate dimension. And there was her love interest, Lawrence. And other than Phin, the guy from the alternate dimension, I can't remember what the conflict in the story was. Probably why I could never nail down a query for that one!
And, that's that. Since I am feeling so very insecure today, I don't feel brave enough to offer advice of my own, but I do want to offer encouragement, so, friends, keep on keeping on! Write on! I'll be here until next month when it's time to try this thing again!
So, thanks for letting me plop myself down, brown bag lunch and all, right in the middle of all you COOL people out there.
This week I invited an author friend of mine to guest post about her writing journey (HERE), the hurdles she jumped to get to where she is today, and I feel that's quite fitting to link to for the spirit of the IWSG posts, so I'll leave you with her words of encouragement and advice:
So persevere and Write On! Outsiders might think we’re a wussy bunch but I know the reality—it takes a lot of guts to be an author.--Kathryn Berla, author of 12 HOURS IN PARADISE
christy
Welcome! I'm an old hand.... okay, my first IWSG post was last month! We can sit together and worm our way in :)
ReplyDeleteMy first efforts were SO overwritten and cheesy. And conflict??? Didn't know diddly squat about creating it. We've come a long way!
Thank you! I feel so much better now that I'm not alone. Phew! We have. At least I have that. Growth. When I post my work now, other writers no longer strike-through every single sentence! Christy
DeleteCongrats on your first IWSG post. The great thing about being a writer is no matter how bad you may feel your early efforts were, it doesn't matter. It is the writers who keep on writing, keep on submitting, keep on blooging and keep on self-publishing that succeed.
ReplyDeleteNissa Annakindt
http://myantimatterlife.wordpress.com
Thank you!!! And I'm so glad you included self-publishing because that is something I'm about to do (under the author pen name cecelia earl)! <3 Christy
DeleteHi, Christy, this is my first time at your blog. It is beautiful! I’ve joined your blog. This is only my second month with IWSG. So I guess I can say, Welcome to IWSG! The key is to keep writing and never stop. All the luck with your writing.
ReplyDeleteYay! Glad you stopped by, and thank you! Best of luck to you, too! <3
DeleteWelcome to the IWSG!! I'm so glad you decided to join in as it's great to meet you and discover your blog! :)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the IWSG! You're in the right place.
ReplyDeleteIt may be gathering dust, but that first story was a great experience for you. Think how much you've grown and learned since then.
Welcome to the IWSG! You'll find many of its members are just as insecure, probably even more so, than you. Writing is a constant learning process. What you don't know now you'll figure out eventually, so just go for it and enjoy the ride as best you can.
ReplyDeleteI once knew a woman who see people's auras. Welcome to IWSG, Kristy. It's great to meet you. I'm #39, which means I've been here for awhile. IWSG is a good safe place for any writer. So, you're in good company. You've got Erica in your corner. That's good.
ReplyDeleteLOL. You know, I hovered for 2 years before joining the group. Not a decision I've ever regretted. I'm chuckling over your enthusiasm with your first book--not because it's funny in any way, it's just so true to life. We've all done it. =)
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the group! I remember feeling too insecure to join at first, but I'm so glad I did! I never made it near the cool kids table in high school, so I feel fortunate to have found such a great, accepting online community of fellow writers.
ReplyDeleteThose first manuscripts may not be gold, but they are infinitely valuable in terms of writing experience. Without those first attempts, we could never learn and grow as writers.
Thank you Julie, Alex, Ken, Joylene, Crystal and L.G! I agree. I wouldn't have realized I'd been growing but for less and less criticism as the manuscripts piled up! It's definitely great to have other writers to share with and to find out we all share the same journey in some respect, the same fears and insecurities! <3 Christy
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the IWSG! Great to have you - you're a writer so you're already cool. ;) This is my second time in the group. I had to drop out last year because of my work schedule so I'm back at again after being gone for over a year, so it's like I'm a newbie too. No worries!
ReplyDeleteHa, thanks! Glad you're back and hope continues to allow you to hang out more often!
DeleteWow, sounds like you gained a LOT from that first novel.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the IWSG!
Well, a lot about what NOT to do anyway! (And lots of online friends!)
DeleteIt's good to see that it isn't too late to join IWSG. I just might hop in next time around. Glad that your practice book kept you growing, learning, and still enjoying writing.
ReplyDeleteYES! Do iiiiiitttttt!!!!! It is a testament to my willpower to improve that I continued on, even after all the harsh critiques I got! Makes me think I'll be able to handle negative reviews when they come!
DeleteWe're so glad to have you here at IWSG. You're not crashing any party of the cool kids. We're all the same insecure supportive people just like you.
ReplyDeleteThanks!!! I suppose that is why we hang out at places like an INSECURE writing support group! :)
DeleteWelcome to IWSG! I have to admit I laughed a bit about shrinking the font of your query letter so it was one page. It sounds like that first book gave you a ton of practice, and it's awesome you've written more since then. :)
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh. It's so embarrassing to look back on! Ha!
DeleteHi Christy! Thanks for visiting my blog. I was so thrilled to see you there after all this time. The IWSG is a great forum to get back into the blogging world. I for one hope you stay!
ReplyDeleteOf course! It's nice to make new blogging friends, but especially nice to check in on the ones I remember from the days we blogged daily! I'm hoping to stay, though it's easier said in summer, harder to DO once school begins, but my plan is to keep on keeping on! Thank you!!!
DeleteI personally found it worked best to just throw my early work out--it was just NOT workable. That was before I learned about motivation and conflict and such. But that work is never wasted--it helps us grow stronger in our writing and that's where we grow.
ReplyDeleteYup, mine's gone too. Well, buried deep. I can still sneak a peek at it. And someday I may just dig it up to see just how badly I wrote back then. (I hope I can tell a difference from what I wrote today!)
DeleteDon't be shy, I just did my first IWSG a few months ago! I skipped this month though since I was doing my self-pubiversary post. Solstice sounds like a cool book - love that title! And speaking of insecurity, I usually avoid offering advice on writing, so I have been feeling all sorts of weird after posting my self-pub tips yesterday :)
ReplyDeleteYour tips were SUPER helpful! I'm so glad you shared. But I totally understand. I'm the same way. I never feel like I have anything to offer that someone didn't already know!
DeleteHey, Fellow Newbie. I'm so sorry it took me this long to drop by and read your first IWSG post. I think most writers have that 'first novel' hiding somewhere in a draw or under their bed. It doesn't matter whether it was good enough to publish or not, because it taught them a heck of a lot about writing. So, cherish Solstice.
ReplyDeleteNo apologies! I still haven't finished making the rounds either, and it's almost time for another post! Thanks so much for visiting!
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