IWSG September: Finding time to write and introducing the IWSG Anthology Contest 2016!

Hello everyone! It's been a long time since we last spoke - there are several reasons for this, the main one being that I've been to four weddings in the space of two months (including my own, and one I was bridesmaid for at the weekend). However, I'm back now, well rested (kinda) and ready to write once more!

I have the huge privilege of being one of the co-hosts for this month's IWSG - I'm so excited! What better way to reacquaint myself with you all than getting to visit lots of fantastic blogs?? Your other awesome co-hosts for this month are:

C. Lee McKenzie, Rachel Pattison, Elizabeth Seckman, Stephanie Faris, Lori L MacLaughlin, and Elsie Amata!

First things first - this month's IWSG burning question is: How do you find the time to write in your busy day?

I have a confession to make: I haven't written anything since about June, apart from a brief writing session sitting in the airport on my way back from my honeymoon. Wedding fever and juggling a new job have essentially taken over my life for the past few months, but now that my wedding season is over for this year, I'm determined to pick it back up again. So I've decided to make a pledge to you all to ease me back into the writing game - while I can't promise to write every day, I'm going to write 500 words at least a week. I know this may not sound like much, but I think it'll be a good way to get back into the swing of things for now. And these 500 words don't have to be on my novel - I'm including blog posts in that word count too, so my blog doesn't get neglected either!

And now, onto the exciting news of the day!!

Announcing the 2016 IWSG Anthology Contest!

Last year’s contest was science fiction – parallel world/alternate history, and the result was Parallels: Felix Was Here. This year, we have a new theme and invite all members to submit.

Eligibility: Any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter – blogging or Facebook member. The story must be previously unpublished. Entry is free.

Word count: 5000-6000

Genre: Fantasy

Theme: Hero Lost. It could be about a hero turned villain, a villain's redemption, a hero's lack of confidence, a hero's lack of smarts, etc. It can be about any kind of hero including superheroes, mythological heroes, unexpected or unlikely heroes, or a whole new kind of hero. This theme has plenty of scope and we’re open to pretty much anything along these lines. No erotica, R-rated language, or graphic violence.

Deadline: November 1st 2016

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted, previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details and if you are part of the Blogging or Facebook IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!

Our amazing judges this year:

Elizabeth S. Craig
Richard Harland
Laura Maisano
Russell C. Connor
Dawn Frederick
Michelle L. Johnson
Ion Newcombe
Lynn Tincher

Best of luck to every who enters! I can't wait to read the results!

How do you find the time to write in your busy day? Do you have a set writing plan, or do you just see what happens? Will you be entering the IWSG Anthology Contest this year?

T is for...Time

Today's blog post is brought to you by the letter 'T'!

I wanted to get a good chunk of my latest WIP detailed synopsis/outline done this week, but it really hasn't happened. I was planning on coming home straight after school and writing until the Engineer got back from work, but here's what my week actually ended up looking like so far:

Monday: invited over to a friend's house for a cup of tea. Got caught in traffic for an hour on the way home due to an accident. Words written: 0

Tuesday: Got home on time, but had to tidy up house from epic building work that took place at the weekend. Words written: 0

Wednesday: Inset evening at school for an hour. Got caught in traffic again. Went shopping. Made supper, but didn't eat until after 8. Words written: 0

Thursday: Got home on time, but had a phone call from a friend I haven't spoken to in about six months. Words written: 0

It's actually quite depressing when I write it out like that, but there were many things this week that were outside my control (I did pre-plan for the phone call today though, and took my laptop to school, but when I went really anti-social working on it in the staffroom so I put it away again!). I have made a couple of little notes on my phone whenever an idea has occurred to me, but I haven't really been able to sit down and work on my WIP properly.

There are going to be some weeks when you simply can't, for whatever reason, sit down and write, however much you want to. Time will run away from you and before you know it, the whole week has passed in a blur and you're not entirely sure how it happened.

I haven't had the time to write this week. But am I going to let it stop me? No. If anything, it's making me even more determined to use my time wisely while the Engineer is away this weekend, and write as much as I can.

So make time to write, but equally, don't beat yourself up if you can't find the time. That's life. Don't let it get you down, or stop you from writing. Sometimes that's just the way it goes :).

Do you plan time to write? What do you do if you can't find the time to write? Do you try and make up the time?

August IWSG: Same old, same old....

Welcome to this August's Insecure Writer's Support Group!

IWSG was set up by Alex J. Cavanaugh (you can view his blog here) and the group now was it's own awesome website here. Make sure you check them both out!

I'm afraid to say I'm going to be rather boring again this month. My project over the last month was the idea of keeping my novel 'open' - i.e. I don't forget about it, and I try to work on it every day, even if it's just thinking about how a new scene will go.

Overall, it's been fairly successful....or at least, if I haven't been able to work on my novel for whatever reason, it's been enough to guilt trip me into writing extra hard the next time I can access my computer.

To be honest, this month I'm just going to try and keep going with this idea. As I have a lot of time to fill until September, my initial idea was to have the first draft completed by the time school starts again. I'm already freaking out that I won't get it done, as I haven't been able to write much over the past few days (Since Monday, I have broken two cars, smashed my mobile up and broken a set of fairy lights...so much for things coming in threes...but naturally sorting these things out has taken time!) - and my friend is coming to stay with us today until the end of the week.

So, I think my main fear I'm going to have to keep under control this month is my anxiety that I won't get my book written at all. I've already been freaking out this week because I haven't been writing as much as I wanted too, but I just need to calm down and tell myself that even if it doesn't happen immediately, it will happen eventually. Just like my herb garden ;).

Oh, and if you're a member of Authonomy, I've posted up the first couple of chapters from my book if you want to check them out :) - the link is here. I'm still open to CP offers btw ;)!

Happy writing!

December's IWSG - Is my novel worth it??

Hello lovely authors!

Where does the time go?! It seems like only yesterday I was writing November's IWSG post...I do apologise for the delay in this December post - the only excuse I can plead is that on Saturday I returned to the UK from China, which resulted in me being awake for over 24 hours and being VERY disorientated for the rest of the weekend! But I've managed to catch up on my sleep, and now I'm good to go :).

*EDIT: Have just realised that I am, in fact, a day early in posting this - my jet-lagged-addled brain thought it was the 1st of the month when IWSG posted, not the first Wednesday of the month! That's what you get when you cross eight time zones and don't sleep for a long long time...*

Here's a quick overview of the Insecure Writers' Support Group, for those of you who are new to this blog :) - every first Wednesday of the month, writers from all over the blogosphere confess what's been troubling them in their writing over the past month. IWSG was set up by Alex J. Cavanaugh (you can check out his blog here!), and you can check out the official IWSG website here!

I have one major fear that I'd like to share with you all this month - well, I actually have a bunch of smaller fears as well, but this the one that's causing me the most concern, so I'm choosing to write about this particular issue. My fear is quite a simple one: what if everyone hates what I write?

Now, I know that (apparently) a lot of authors go through this phrase of being convinced that no one will like their novels, but what I'm terrified of is that once I finished my novel (and I am determined to finish this one!) - what if people read it and think 'wow, that was pointless, why did this crazy author ever think that this story deserved to be told in the first place? I'd like the last three days of my life back please.'

I'm not only afraid that readers won't like my writing, I'm also afraid that they'll think that my story doesn't have a point, or that my characters are so boring/lifeless, their story didn't even deserve to be written in the first place.

The more I think about this, the more freaked out I get. Is my story worth telling? What story am I even trying to tell? What exactly is the message I am trying to get across to my readers? Do I even have a message? Why should anyone care what happens to my characters?! What should anyone even bother to read my novel?!

I don't know why this fear has gripped me so suddenly - possibly it's the aftermath of NaNoWriMo messing with my mind and telling me that there's no point in me even editing the manuscript I have so far, as my whole novel is worthless, or maybe it's just me once again over-thinking everything. I really am hoping it's the latter!

I guess the most I can do that this point is just to keep going with what I have so far. Most of the time, I'm still so excited by my novel idea and what I've managed to achieve during NaNoWriMo, and I think I just have to ignore that little voice of doubt in my head and keep ploughing forward. I just need to retain that spark of excitement that compelled me to begin this story in the first place - that overwhelming belief I had, that the world simply has to know about this story. I just need to figure out a way of transferring all that excitement and hope and determination onto the page, so that ultimately, my readers will love my novel as much as I do.

Until next time - happy writing, folks!

It's almost here!

The countdown to NaNoWriMo has begun!

In just one and a half hours (if you're running on Beijing time that is), NaNoWriMo 2013 will begin! Although on the one hand, I'm completely psyched to get going on my novel, at the same time, I'm terrified! All I can think about is - have I put enough work into planning my novel? What if everyone hates my characters? What if I hate my characters? What if my world isn't believable...? Wait...stop, stop, STOP!

I'm actually having to try and mentally shut my brain down before it goes into overdrive - NaNoWriMo isn't about having the perfect plot or story arc, or characters....it's about writing. So that's what I'm going to try and do - from tomorrow, I'm going to stop worrying so much about the nitty gritty of my story and just simply...write! Who cares if the background to my world isn't complete yet? Who cares if I don't know every little thing about my characters yet? NaNoWriMo will give me the chance to discover all these things - and once I've written my 50,000 words, that's when I can go back through it all properly and edit it. But for now, I'm just going to have fun letting my creative side out!

I'm off to bed now so I can get a decent night's sleep before the craziness of November kicks in tomorrow. Good luck to everyone who's participating this year - I know you'll do great! And if you fancy having someone to cheer you on/cry on, feel free to add me on the NaNoWriMo website - my username is REPattinson1 :).

Good luck!

X

Three days to go...

...are you ready yet?!

I know, I know I keep going on about NaNoWriMo (you can check out it's awesomeness for yourself here), but I really am psyched to properly try and win this year! For the past few weeks I've been waiting impatiently for 1st November to roll around, so I can properly get stuck into writing my novel - but now I can't believe that it's only three days away!! Ahhh!! WHERE DID THE TIME GO?! For the next few days I'll be frantically putting together the last of my notes on my world-building/characters/plot etc (I know you're not really supposed to do this, but trust me, if I just jump straight in, I know I'll hit a wall in about two days time, and that'll be that). 

I've also taken the plunge and re-joined the Insecure Writer's Support Group (you can check out that awesomeness here!) - when I joined last year, I, er, may have got taken off the list because I didn't post for more than two months in a row - but this time I am determined to keep up with it! I already know what a couple of my upcoming posts will be about (and no doubt my first one for November will include NaNoWriMo...) and I've also made a note in my diary every first Wednesday of the month to make double-y sure I don't forget again! I may also put a reminder on my phone, just in case...

I hope everyone else's plans for NaNoWriMo are coming together - I'd love to hear about your plans for this year, so feel free to post a comment or two!