5 Reasons to Quit Writing #IWSG

The question of the month for the IWSG: What would make you quit writing? 

I thought about this question for some time and decided to focus on the word quit. Plenty of things have caused me to take a break from writing, but I’ve yet to quit altogether. So below is my carefully curated list of reasons that would make me quit writing. 

1. The zombie apocalypse. I imagine it would be difficult to write on the run from slathering zombies who want nothing more than the taste of my sweet, sweet brains. But then, maybe I wouldn’t quit. To occupy my time while holed up in my zombie-proof fort, I’d likely write manuals to help others to avoid the infestation. 

2. Stranded on a deserted island with no writing materials. Even then, I’d write stories in my head at night, or find a way to record my thoughts. Maybe I’d create paper from seaweed and ink from sea slugs. 

3. Abducted by aliens. Nope, not even then. That would likely give me even more reason to write. 

 4. If I were offered a million bucks to stop writing—nope, make that a BILLION, and even then, I’d likely keep writing under an alias. Because writing! 

 5. If I found something more creative and expressive than writing. Yep, that’s likely the only thing in this world that would stop me from writing. 

I must have that creative output, otherwise I get grumpy or depressed or both. So it’s in everyone’s best interest if I continue to create. 

How about you? What would make you quit your favourite creative outlet? 

This post was written for the IWSG. Every first Wednesday of the month, members post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG or want to learn more, then please go HERE.

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.