IWSG February 2026

Time for our monthly meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Hosted as ever by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers can share doubts and insecurities without fear of being judged. This month's co-hosts are J Lenni Dorner, Victoria Marie Lees and Sandra Cox. 

This month's optional IWSG question is: Many writers have written about the experience of rereading their work years later. Have you reread any of your early works? What was that experience like for you?

I fear this question will show up how disorganised I am. My earliest work is many laptops and computers ago, and I've never been very good at backing stuff up (still not, although it helps that nowadays the process is largely automated). So unless I did some deep digging into ancient emails I don't even have my old work to go over and laugh about. If I did, I'm sure it would feel like reading someone else's work. I do remember the tone of those books, and my style has evolved vastly (thankfully) and it's a completely different genre than what I now focus on. A lot of crime/thriller stuff as I read a lot of those sort of books at the time, but I realised it's not my forte.

As for the present day, I'm still sketching out my parallel universe-based WIP, and "sketching" is a good way to describe it as I've been jumping about in the story, leaving placeholders and making broad brushstrokes, with a lot of stuff taking place in different universes and metapysical realms. This is definitely different to how I used to write early on as I would edit at the same time as writing and do a lot of work on scenes before moving on. I'm less precious about that stuff now and I'm fine about just getting down vague impressions that can be improved on later. Apart from that, I've recruited some beta readers for my previously completed book and anxiously awaiting their feedback while trying not to suffer imposter syndrome from critiquing their wonderful work.

 Of course, as ever you can find other entrants to the IWSG at the sign-up list. Have you read back over your early work? 

IWSG January 2026

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful and rejuvenating holiday season, whatever and however you celebrate. Now it's time to reconvene for the first Insecure Writer's Support Group meeting of the year. Hosted as ever by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers can share doubts and insecurities without fear of being judged. This month's co-hosts are Shannon Lawrence, Olga Godim, Jean Davis, and Jacqui Murray. 

Let's have a look at this month's IWSG question.

Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn't get done in 2025?

Well, I guess this will handily double up as a 2025 roundup and a look towards plans for 2026. There's loads I planned to do last year, and I just hope this is the year I can get them wrapped up! The first month of 2025 I was still laid up in hospital having suffered a mini stroke and a leaky heart valve. Upon release it took a couple of months to get myself together to think about writing again. It started with gaining feedback from critique partners on the book I had previously finished. That was encouraging enough to make me start a brand new project, based on a vision I had of a girl waking up in a forest with no memory of how she got there. I optimistically hoped I could get a first draft down by the end of the year, but around September I set it aside to work on edits for my previous WIP. (One thing I'd like to achieve for 2026 is to learn to juggle multiple projects, but it's looking less and less likely!) I have now made two intensive passes and this week I returned to my unfinished draft. Surprisingly I had got as far as 40,000 words, and it goes to some very strange places. I've already got ideas for how to make the opening stronger. 

So - I have my plan for 2026, to finish that draft and continue refining Artificial Life. Yes, I have a title now - it might stick around, it might not. This is where I'd like to call upon the assistance of my dear IWSG friends. I have never used beta readers before, but I think I'm going to need them to get this book over the line. I would be honoured if you would consider beta reading Artificial Life. Here is a (hastily knocked together) blurb:

As a superfan of the hit teen show Blue Heart Bay and an influencer posting content based on her favourite character, the charismatic Randall, Corin has one thing on her bucket list: to enter a VR experience based on the show and meet her idol in the flesh. Or as close to it as the AI will allow. But she’s also a struggling student working two jobs, and the admission price is tantalisingly out of her reach. That is until she unexpectedly receives a complementary ticket from a mysterious benefactor.

Despite some reservations, this is an opportunity Corin simply can’t pass up. After being hooked up to a feeding tube in a Glasgow townhouse holding the mainframe that supports the program, she enters the world and meets Randall, and they become closer than she could ever have imagined. But when a mystery she’s tasked with solving takes a dark turn, she finds herself trapped in a universe where everything is turning against her. To escape and save her own life, she’ll have to take on a murderous artificial entity that’s become far too intelligent for its own – or anyone else’s – good. 

Genre: YA sci-fi

Length: Approx. 70,000 words

Mainly, I would be looking for advice on pacing (do any parts need tightened up, do any paragraphs need shortened), characterisation and authenticity of dialogue, but all comments are welcome. I would ask for all feedback to be in by February 28th, but just let me know if you need more time. Hopefully, this will be on a reciprocal basis, so if you've got anything for me to take a look at, I would be more than happy to. Drop a comment below or email me at mcwilfo(at)gmail(dot)com.

Well, that's it. I hope in 2026 all your plans come to fruition! As ever, the full list of fabulous IWSG contributors can be found here. See you next month.