Prejudices within the Writer #IWSG

The community of writers is a special one. It’s full of insane, generous people who have chosen writing as a pastime—or perhaps writing chose them. However, we’re not immune to prejudices—mostly against ourselves.

There’s a common belief that there are classes of writing. The good, the bad and the ugly. The literary, the genre and the first draft. Like all prejudices, they only damage. Not all writing needs to change the world. Not all of it needs to dig deep to uncover truths meant to change a person’s life. And not all of it needs to be perfect at every stage.

I’m a genre writer, my favourite being anything speculative. In some circles, science fiction and fantasy lack a certain kudos that literary works hold. Romance writers seem to be on the back foot as well and let’s not talk about the poor horror writers. Not only that, it’s easy to get fooled into thinking you’ll never be good enough, never get noticed by a publisher, and certainly never hit the bestsellers lists. That only happens to the lucky people.

Well, excuse my language, but pish posh to prejudices! Don’t let yourself lose focus. When I returned to the roots of why I started writing in the first place, I was suddenly okay with being a genre writer.

Writing is a form of expression that’s crucial to my sanity. It doesn’t matter what type of stories I create. It doesn’t matter that my work won’t turn into classics for generations to come. All I need to do is cast aside the damaging prejudices that are both contagious and toxic, and write what I love.

How about you?

This post was written for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. To join or check it out, click HERE.

Also we, at the IWSG, have a special announcement for the IWSG anniversary coming up. Stay tuned!! (Psst, it's super exciting).

And for those of you who have joined the IWSG Facebook Group, we've turned Fridays into promo day when you can share your links to your books, blogs or whatever you'd like to promote, or simply share any great news you might have.

Note: my main computer died (thus no pics in this post). The harddrive went boom. I'm not a happy camper. Luckily I can write anywhere (yay for crappy old laptops). Unluckily, however, it means my game project is on hold. Sigh. 

How to Write from Your Heart and #IWSG

Writing from your heart isn't easy. It's easy to follow the rules, but if all you do is stay within the boundaries, tick the boxes and play it safe, then your story will lack a certain spark. It's the heart that makes a story shine, the heart that pushes your story to a new and riveting level. Below are my tips on how to write from your heart.

Make yourself vulnerable. Get over those insecurities and put yourself in your writing. Bare your soul, showing the world your passion for the story and its characters.

Be wholly in control, but let yourself go, giving yourself the freedom and permission to make mistakes.

Ignore the trends. Ignore what you think other people will want to read and instead write what you want to read.

Be brave enough to break the rules, making certain you have a full knowledge of how and why the rules work in the first place.

Ignore the urge to write for publication, but know what works for publication within your target market and, more importantly, why it works.

Listen to your characters, but decide for yourself if what they want is what you want for the story.

Be honest with your emotions and those of your characters. Delve into the truth of a scene and don't be afraid to explore what you find there.

Know only you can write the story, but be open to outside influences.

Broaden your experiences--this includes reading widely and frequently--because they will influence not only what you write, but the way you write it. They will steer you away from writing copies of someone else's story.

Practise. Like anything, writing from your heart takes practise. So keep writing.

What helps you to write from your heart? 

This post was written for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by Alex J Cavanaugh. Members of the group post on the first Wednesday of every month. Everyone is welcome. If you haven't already, then please sign up HERE.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The Insecure Writer's Support Group website has launched!

I have the honour of being one of the admins for the site, along with Joy Campbell, Joylene Nowell Butler, Susan Gourley/Kelley, Michelle Wallace, L. Diane Wolfe and, of course, the Ninja Captain and spark behind it all, Alex J Cavanaugh. As a team, we helped to put it together and are currently working hard to build it into something truly special.

Along with being chock full of writerly resources, the site will offer encouraging and helpful posts on writing. We will post every Monday and the first Wednesdays. We hope to eventually open up the Wednesdays to guest posts too. So please check it out HERE.

We've also set up a Facebook group. We'd love to see you there!

Oh and our twitter hastag is still #IWSG

How has the Insecure Writer's Support Group helped you?

What Dr Who’s Scarf Taught Me about Writing

I thought I was a geek until my mum told me she’s knitting a Dr Who scarf for her niece. She showed me the wads of research she had to do to get the colours, length, ply, pattern and style of the scarf right. Apparently there are devotees who’ve done even more research into this 70s icon from Tom Baker’s Dr Who.

The various versions of the scarf have special names. In some seasons it was longer than in others. The longest version was actually three scarves sewn together with one of the portions sewn on back-to-front by mistake. The production’s costume designers had to patch it many times. The tassels were worn to threads.

Because wool colours are seasonal, it’s actually difficult to find the authentic colours, so fans have written long essays on the colour descriptions and possible substitutes that can be used depending on what country you’re in.

I’m so impressed.

These people have a powerful passion for the show and so they take the extra effort to get the details right. Their homemade scarf wouldn’t be a worthy end-product if they’d put together any old colours and hoped for the best.

The same goes with writing. Our stories require a certain amount of devotion that most other people looking on might think is something shy of crazy. It’s all worth it in the end.

If you’re a fan of Dr Who, which Dr is your favourite? What lengths have you gone to that shows you’re a true fan of a series, movie, book, author or celebrity?

Are You Too Busy Being a Writer to Write?

There is so much a writer needs to do to achieve a successful writing career. We need to network, research, market, critique, edit, mentor, go to workshops, attend conventions, listen to seminars, learn the craft, pitch, blog, tweet, Facebook, email, query, promote, read.

Oh, and write. Don't forget the writing.

The problem is we do forget to write. It gets buried under all the other stuff. It gets shoved away and pushed aside, dropping to the bottom of our list of priorities.

There is only one answer: We need to remember to write. This might sound easy, but it means recalling our passion for the craft, practising discipline, and making the time to write. Our writing sessions don't have to go on for hours so long as we write. 

There is nothing more important to our writing career than our writing.

Are you too busy being a writer to write? What holds you back? What helps you to remember?

How to Overcome Writing Pressures

Writers must face a huge amount of pressure during our careers. Before we even get published, we have to deal with the pressure of balancing our writing time with our daily lives without the backup of having validated our career choice through publication. Then there's the pressure to come up with a story idea that's new and interesting, to finish that first draft, to rewrite, to edit, and rewrite again. We then have the pressure to write the perfect query letter, to research the right agent, to impress said agent.

But it doesn't end there. Once we gain publication we have to face more pressures. To market, to edit again, to 'get it right', and then to write another book that's even better than the first.

Among all that there are the unnecessary pressures we put on ourselves. There's the pressure to measure up to other writers. The pressure to 'succeed'. We worry about book signings and speaking engagements and coming up with the next great blog post to keep our readers interested. The pressure we put on ourselves is greater than any pressure from an outside source—especially if we are unrealistic in the way we measure success. We could either turn into diamonds under that pressure, or we could crack.

So how do we overcome these pressures? The simple answer is, 'Just breathe'. What I mean by this is that when we are heaped under a load of pressure—whether from ourselves or others—we forget. We forget how much we love to write. We forget we chose this life because the need to write flows in our blood. We can no sooner stop writing than we can stop breathing.

Sure, we might be able to hold our breath for a while, but soon the need to breathe—to write—presses in on us and we succumb and take that sweet breath. When we put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, we remember how right, how wonderful writing is.

Why go through the angst? Let's remember to breathe before we go blue, because let's face it, breathing and writing are awesome.

How do you overcome pressures of writing, study, career, or life in general?

This post was written for the Insecure Writer's Support Group founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. We post on the first Wednesday of each month. #IWSG

Thank you to Lauren for the Open Horizons award.

Carole Anne Carr is offering her ebook Candle Dark for free for three days from 6th July until 8th July. She is also offering her ebook First Wolf free for two days—July 12th and 13th. So be sure to check them out!

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Energize Your Writing

Writers are so easily influenced by mood. Our disposition, with no matter what we write, will translate to the reader. For example, if we are tired, lethargic, or depressed, then it becomes more difficult to throw energy into our characters, let alone our words.

What's the solution?
Being of healthy body, mind and spirit will help our writing become more succinct, passionate and energised. Succinct because our minds will have a greater ability to maintain focus. Passionate because when we are healthy we care about our work and our stories. Energised because we will simply have more energy and that reflects in our writing.

Exercise: Writing is such a passive pastime that I can't say enough how important it is to exercise. 30 minutes a day isn't too much and that can be broken up into three 10 minute sessions. Tip: If I want to write action I'll get up and jump around for a bit to capture some of the energy needed for the scene.

Stretching: It's also important to regularly get up and stretch. If I'm not paying attention it's far too easy to realise two hours have slipped by and I haven't moved from my seat.

Diet: When we settle in for a writing session it's tempting to snack on treats. (I wish I didn't love chocolate so much). Eating good healthy foods and drinking plenty of water is key to staying fit and healthy, which in turn impacts our writing.

Practise positivity: It's easy to stress as writers. It's easy to let self-doubt take over. If we practise positivity then stress can be managed. Not only will we be less likely to give up on our dreams, but our positivity will pour into our words in the form of energised writing.

Can you think of other ways to energise your writing? What do you do to energise your writing?

Enjoying the Journey

I recently watched an interview with Jeff Bridges on the Colbert Report. When asked how he looks so great and relaxed after all this time, his answer was that his mother told him to enjoy his work and not take it too seriously. This resonated with me.

As writers, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We yearn for publication, strive to produce our best work, pour hours into social media to build that much needed platform—but what’s it all for if we don’t slow down enough, or lighten up enough, to enjoy the whole experience?

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if I'm not doing it right according to someone else. It doesn’t matter if I can’t devote every waking minute to writing. It doesn’t matter if no one likes my stories. I love them and I get a deep satisfaction from writing them. When I let all the doubts and worries go, I also write a thousand times better.

So, paraphrasing Jeff Bridges’ mum, ‘Enjoy your writing and don’t take it too seriously.’

What helps you to remember to enjoy your writing?

Note: This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The group was formed by Alex J. Cavanaugh for writers to encourage each other. 

Giveaway: Theresa Milstein is holding a fabulous giveaway to celebrate her 4 milestones: blogiversary, 600+ follower count, new gradate class, and new job. Pop on over and enter HERE.

How to Generate Passion for Your Writing

Passion is the fuel for our stories. It helps us to keep going and keep writing and keep striving. It’s the airbag that protects us from insanity when we think we’re headed for disaster. It’s the compass to a safe haven when we think we’re lost. Passion not only makes writing worth the angst, it also makes our work shine.

Can we learn passion? Many might argue we either have it or we don’t, however, I believe we can learn passion. I believe we can grow it and nurture it.

Focus on the positives: While it’s important to think of writing as a job if we wish to pursue it as a career, it’s equally important to remember why we originally took on this mammoth task.

To find passion for anything, we have to focus on what we like about it. The more we focus on those aspects, the more ‘like’ will become ‘love’. People fall in love with each other when they focus on the positives. They fall out of love when they focus only on the negatives. The same goes for our manuscripts — especially in the editing phase when it’s our job to find the faults.

Have ownership: Passion has a way of growing when we invest ourselves into a project—our unique selves. Because of that uniqueness, we will each find something different to get passionate about. Trying to write someone else’s story won’t generate any excitement for the story. This is why writing to trends doesn’t always work. Passion starts from that unique place deep inside.

Do your best: When we strive to do our best we can’t help but build a passion for it. How can we love a half-hearted effort? To put our all into our work, we have to care about it and we have to know it matters. That caring is the seed which will lead to passion.

Can you think of other ways to generate passion? What helps you get through a huge project?

5 Ways to Gain the X Factor in Writing

Ever notice how some writers seem to have a talent that stands above the rest? We love their novels, their characters have a special something that make them likable and interesting, and their stories stay with us for a long time after we’ve read them. These writers have the x-factor. So, how do we gain our own x-factor?

Is it something we either have or we don’t? Can we learn the x-factor? I say yes, it can be learned, but it might come more easily to some than others. Below I’ve listed some basic ways to gain that elusive x-factor:

1. Read a lot. Read, read, and keep reading, and don’t forget to be analytical while you read. Work out what it is you like about the stories as well as what you don’t like.

2. Write a lot. You won’t find the x-factor if you don’t practise writing. It’s as simple as that.

3. Voice. Find your voice and develop it until it’s yours and yours alone. This might take some time and a lot of experimenting, but it’s worth it in the end.

4. Learn the craft. Oddly enough this might be the most neglected of all the elements that lead to the x-factor, and yet this is one of the most crucial. Sure, anyone can write. Do you want to be thrown into the ‘anyone’ class, or do you want to shine above the rest? Then, learn the craft.

5. Passion. Remember your passion for the story despite the number of revisions or rejections. Passion shows through our words.

Can you think of other ways to gain the x-factor? Who are the writers you think have the x-factor?

Note: This post is part of the A-Z Challenge. To learn more about the challenge click the image on my sidebar.

Photo: I had no idea what image to use for the x-factor, so I chose a pic of Melbourne at night. What can I say? I'm a sucker for pretty lights.

How Writers Keep their Heads from Imploding

There’s so much we have to think about when we write a novel. Is the story right for the market? Does it fit in the genre? Do the characters have believable motivations? Are they likeable and interesting? Is there enough conflict in the story? Is the balance right between internal and external conflict? Am I showing rather than telling? Do the scenes flow smoothly? Does the book have a strong enough hook? Does the dialogue move the story forward? Are the setting and scenes vivid enough? Have I used correct grammar and punctuation? Does the story need tightening? Argh!

So, How do we keep our Heads from imploding? Rather than allowing the enormity of our undertaking to drown us, we have to take a deep breath, remember our passion, and take it one step at a time.

How do you stay sane?


Note: This post is part of the A-Z Challenge. To learn more about the challenge click the A-Z image on my sidebar.

Blessed or Cursed?

The creative mind is a strange one. I will carry us into fearful and wonderful places. We flirt with insanity as we work and rework our creations. So, are we Blessed or cursed?

I say it’s all in our attitude. If we say we are cursed then we begin to act that way. If, however, we say we are blessed then the crazy times don’t weigh us down so much. We can get through the edits, we can conquer the queries, and surmount the rejections.

Do you feel blessed or cursed right now? Why?

Note: This post is part of the A-Z Challenge. I will be posting Monday-Saturday during April corresponding to the letters of the alphabet.

Is Writing Worth Your Time?

When we hear agents get hundreds of queries a day, when we suffer rejection after rejection, when we’ve agonised so long on a piece we can no longer tell if its any good, when writer’s block strikes with a vengeance and won’t let go – this is when we inevitably ask ourselves, is writing really worth my time?

My answer is a resounding yes. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t agonise over word choices, I wouldn’t spend hours plotting ways to make life horrible for my characters, I wouldn’t pour all my hopes and dreams into such a time consuming career.

Why do it? Because I love it. It’s as simple as that. I love creating stories, painting pictures in the minds of strangers, playing with words, building worlds, having the power to bring a moment of joy into someone’s life.

And so I write.

I don’t need to be published to do these things, but I do need to write.

What keeps you going?

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I’d also like to officially thank two wonderful bloggers who gave me the Stylish Blogger Award this week.

Thanks to Michelle from Perfecting the Craft and Madeleine from Scribble and Edit.

Please visit these lovely ladies and say hi from me.

Honesty in Writing

Where does your writing come from? The real you? The honest you? The you you’ve kept hidden in those inner recesses? To write well requires letting go of affectations, letting go of pretences. It means delving into the soul of a matter and expressing the truth as you see it. It’s about feeding the passion and, at the same time, shaping it into your vision.

We can’t write someone else’s story. When we try, we hover on the surface and stay where we think we are safe. But we won’t find the passion there. We won’t find the magic.

Our beauty comes from our individuality. We need to find the courage to revel in that uniqueness, to be proud of it, and let others see it.

For me writing is like stepping out from a cave into the sunshine – scary, exposing, but wonderful. What is writing like for you?

Danny MacAskill - "Way Back Home"

This post is a slight departure from my usual themes, but I had to share it. This short film has been beautifully shot, great music with an amazing, breathtaking performance.



If we work hard enough, driven by passion for whatever it is we're doing, we can all achieve great things.

Have a great weekend, everyone. I’ll have my head down in a scramble to finish the first draft of my latest novel.

Why do you write?

Why do you write? It’s not enough to say, “Because I must.” That’s the ethereal answer reserved for strangers. We often fall back on that answer because we don’t believe our non writing friends and acquaintances would truly understand.

Yes, it’s a yearning based on the human need to express ourselves. Words whisper to us when the house is hushed in the early hours of the morning, or in the late hours of the night. They call to us when our minds wander through the chaos or boredom of daily life.

But why? Why are writers so cursed, so blessed, with the need to write?

I believe this question can only be answered by each individual writer. It’s different for everyone and, I think, our reasons shift and change as much as the tides. Below I’ve listed some possible reasons. I’d love to know if any resonate with you.

It’s a way of making a difference to the world. If your words can reach out into the vastness of the human race and touch just one person, to move them to cry, to laugh, to learn, to sing, then you’ve found your calling as a writer.

It’s a way of making sense of this world. We live in a bewildering world full of strange and amazing experiences. There is so much we don’t understand, so much we can’t quite grasp. Writing may help you to unravel some of the questions you’ve longed to answer. It might help you to speculate on the what ifs.

It’s a way of showing others we aren’t alone. When we write we share with others through the lives of our characters, the experience of the human condition. We want to relate to each other. We want to know we aren’t alone in our feelings, thoughts and dreams.

It’s a way of escaping a harsh reality. There is magic in writing. We can create any world we want and people it with any character we desire. Our imaginations are our only limit. Our stories can become a place we can escape to from a difficult or unwanted reality.

It’s a way of earning a living. A famous Australian cartoonist once admitted in an interview that he hated cartooning, but he pursued it because he was good at it. He said he needed to earn a living somehow. This might take the romanticism out of writing, but it’s just as valid a reason as any other.

What are some reasons you write? Have any of your reasons changed over the years?

Pic: Light Festival in Hong Kong

5 Ways to Crisp up your Writing.

Have you ever read a story that fell limp? Have you ever watched a movie where the characters were dull? I have no doubt your answer will be a resounding, "yes!" So, how, as writers, do we escape the boring characters? How do we avoid the fizzle? In other words, how can we freshen up our writing and make it more engaging for the reader?

1. Throw everything you have into your writing. I wrote tedious essays in school. I would spew out 2000+ words of dry facts and boring details and figured that would do. Technically they were correct. They had an introduction, a middle and a conclusion. But they were horrible. I got fair grades but there was nothing extraordinary about my work. Because I lacked passion. If you are passionate about your subject or your story, then that passion will translate into your work.

2. Never accept a ‘close enough is good enough’ attitude. Sloppy work will only cause regret later on. The practice of sloppiness will also mean critics will see you as an amateur – no matter how many books you sell. Always strive to be the best you can be.

3. Learn your craft. Sure, anyone can string a few sentences together and call themselves a writer, but you need to think of yourself as a wordsmith: someone who has to learn the power of words to be able to wield that power. The more you learn how to use words, the greater the impact you’ll be able to achieve.

4. Look for the new angle on an old subject. Clichés riddle our society. It’s in our speech, our media, our music and our stories. At the risk of sounding like an old fogey before my time -- I blame television. We watch too much of it and soak ourselves in its cliché spittle. I recently listened to some political speeches for Australia’s coming elections. The party leaders drowned in Aussie clichés. It made me wonder if they thought the public wouldn’t be able to understand anything more intelligent or thought provoking. And so I say – with passion – try to rise above the masses and write something new. (lol, even I’m not immune to the occasional cliché)

5. Seek honesty in your writing. Rather than writing what you think others expect or want to read, write with honesty the truths in your heart. This takes courage and requires practice. It means steering away from plastic representations of characters. It means going that step further to find the realism in your work. It may even mean writing to a different market than the one you originally chose. Readers respond to honesty, no matter what form it takes.

How do you freshen up your writing?

Freedom of the First Draft

Trying to write the perfect first draft is a beginner’s mistake. Why spend hours on a piece of writing you could eventually toss? The trick to writing a successful first draft is to write it fast.

There’s no need to concern yourself about perfection. You can throw in as many adverbs as you want. You don’t have to worry about sentence construction. You don’t even have to worry about spelling. And, because of this, there is no place here for self doubt, guilt, or fear.

Just write.

The faster you write your first draft, the more chance you’ll keep ahead of that niggling voice that says you’re not good enough. You’ll be able to hold onto all the threads of your plot. You’ll be able to plunge into your story with abandon. You’ll have the freedom to explore different possibilities; they don’t all have to work because it doesn’t matter.

Things begin to unravel when we slow down, when we deal with the details at a microscopic level, when we continually question whether or not we are heading in the right direction.

The more you write, the better you will become. So keep writing and don’t give up. Give it everything you have. Give it your passion. Give it your heart. Give it your soul.

And then edit.

Do you agree? Do you have any tricks you use to stop yourself from self-editing during your first draft?

Better than the Dream

I’ve read a lot of blog posts recently about writers doubting themselves, their abilities, their chosen profession. I think as writers we are built to question everything, including ourselves. But we can’t let that stop us from writing.

Writing isn’t a stroll through a field full of daisies. It takes hard work and dedication. It requires a lot of sedentary and solitary time. It needs perseverance and an active mind. And it’s demanding on family and friends.

As a writer we wrestle with schedules and deadlines. Pressure squeezes us from every direction. Our acquaintances pressure us for our time. Our daily lives and duties pressure us for our attention. The desire to write well is a pressure. The need to pay bills is a pressure. Our own personal goals can also become a pressure.

When it gets too much, it’s important to reassess our priorities. Perhaps your daily word count goal is too high. Perhaps you need a weekly word count instead. What works for one writer may not work for you so you have to find out what works for you. The key is flexibility. Life changes, so sometimes our goals must also.

Perhaps the increased pressure is an indication of your need for a break. Everyone needs a break at some time. There is no point fighting it. But sometimes change is as good as a break. Change the way you write. Change where you write. Change what you write.

Don’t let the pressure frighten you off from writing. Don’t let it tell you lies about your abilities. Writing is better than that field of daisies we all think we dream about. It’s the challenge that wakes us up and lights the fires.

What is it about writing that you love so much?

4 Ways to Write with Passion

William Wordsworth advised about writing, “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” In other words, write with passion.

To write with passion, to have your words sing, you must give of yourself. Rather than tip-toeing through the puddles of the worlds you create, wade in, and then immerse yourself.

If you aren’t willing to fully enter your world, then your readers won’t either. You’ll be cheating yourself (and your readers) from everything that makes writing (and reading) such a trip.

Below are four ways to tap that passion:

1. Get involved. Get involved in the lives of your characters. Get under their skin. Find out what motivates them. Learn their likes and dislikes. Discover their quirks and imperfections. Care about the details. Nurture them. Help them to grow.

2. Get poetic. Don’t settle for the everyday way of description. See the world through the eyes of an artist – because we are artists and our paint is words.

3. Be true to yourself. Don’t try to imitate someone else’s art. Make your own. Write the stories inside you that cry out to be written. Be brave and don’t hold back.

4. Care. Care about what you write. Care about the impact your writing may have on another. Extend yourself. Learn about your craft. Do your best and never settle for less.

What is it that makes you passionate about your writing? Can you think of other ways to tap that passion?

Shiny 'n' New

As you can see, I've bitten the proverbial bullet and decided to start a second blog. This one will be about writing, blogging, books, social media and anything creative.

It is something I've deliberated over for quite some time now. My first blog, Fearfully and Wonderfully, is a devotional blog and I post every day except Sundays. I feel strongly that God has called me to write for Him and I'm very passionate about it.

But I also feel passionate about other forms of writing. In particular, I love reading and writing Fantasy and Science Fiction. I'm a bit of a geek and I love strange science facts and the advancement of technology. And I love writing about people.

My plan is to post here three times a week: Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. I'll see how it goes to begin with and make any adjustments if I need to.

Like the angel image above (which I hand painted in Photoshop), it's a W.I.P.

Wish me luck! :)