Wednesday 4 May 2016

IWSG May 2016

Time for another posting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, the monthly safe haven where writers can talk about anything that is ailing them. Founded by Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, the May posting is co-hosted by Stephen TrempFundy BlueMJ FifieldLoni TownsendBish DenhamSusan Gourley and Stephanie Faris. Check 'em out!


Can we be into May already? Star Wars Day too, so I'm hoping the force will be with me as I try to reboot this year. Writing has become a daily struggle over the last month or two - more so than usual. I'm not sure, but I might only have scraped out 1000 words in this time. The inspiration isn't there. Seriously, even writing this is hard. I'm not sure what's wrong with me?

As you may recall, I was attacked near the start of the year, but I can't use that as an excuse for killing my confidence. A CP pointed out an issue with my book that was causing her trouble and I still can't work out if I agree. It's not like it's something that's never been covered, even within YA. I don't know if it's the approach that's the problem - I haven't brought myself to go over the offending sections yet, but as it hinges on what I'm writing now, it's kind of brought everything to a standstill. But I wouldn't lay the blame at my CP's door. I value her feedback, but sometimes I find it hard to listen to others' advice and instead forge ahead with what I think is right. The idea of rebuilding a large portion of my series is daunting, but that's my job, isn't it? This wasn't meant to be easy.

So that's where I'm at. I haven't talked about this with anyone yet, but maybe now I have I can take some steps to fixing the problem. Have you ever had to drastically rethink your work? How important is your CPs' advice to you? Hope all enjoyed the A-Z Challenge who took part. I sat this one out but I'm hoping to be back in force next year!

Check out the other IWSG participants here.