IWSG August 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 Shannon Lawrence, Diedre Knight, Liza and Pat Garcia. 

This month's optional IWSG question is: As a writer/author what is something you regret? Or something that you wish you'd done differently in your writing process?

Hmm, that's a tough one - I try not to have too many regrets but I suppose there are loads of things I could have done differently, or could still do differently. I could regret not starting younger, in my teens, but then again I probably didn't have the experience to produce anything worthwhile. Practice is always good though. I could regret taking so long to write, and to edit, but then I'm also kind of cool with being a slow coach in that respect. It's who I am. I could regret not planning more, because flying blind can lead to several knots and tangles in my plot that are difficult to unpick, but I also love the freedom and unpredictabilty of pantsing it. Having every scene mapped out before writing a single word isn't something I could imagine. My current WIP is my loosest yet and I'm loving that I don't know where it's going next - I started out with only a scene of a girl waking up in a forest with no memory of how she got there, and I've now taken in several universes, otherworldly dimensions, and a historical aspect - currently I'm writing from the POV of a previous incarnation of the MC during the witch trials in 17th century England. I could never have envisaged that at the beginning!

I've made a few mistakes, for sure - I've had info dumps, I've had characters without readily discernible flaws, and these have even been pointed out by reviewers of published work. But we can't learn and move forward without making those mistakes. It all makes for a rich tapestry of experience that we can draw from to try and do better.

How about a writing update? My aforementioned WIP is currently at 76k without an end in sight, so this will definitely be my longest draft yet (I write short, another thing I could regret, but I've always wanted to produce something weightier). Six weeks ago, I started in a new job in an office for which I must commute five days a week - I worried this would slow me down but I've adapted quite well to writing on the train, it's a nice change of scene and something about the movement and the rhythm lends itself well to busting out a few hundred words.

Is there anything you'd like to change in your writing process? As ever you can find others' answers and more among the IWSG list to be found here! See you next month.