Apr 2023 – Fiction Can Be Fun

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. It’s an opportunity to talk about doubts and fears you have conquered. To discuss your struggles and triumphs and to offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.

The awesome co-hosts for the April 5 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Nancy Gideon, and Natalie Aguirre– do take a moment to visit them.

April 5 question – Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? If you’re at the start of the journey, what are your goals?

Yes, I’ll never forget the experience of writing my first (co-written) book. The first 40k words were written during the April AtoZ challenge some years back, the intensity of which enabled us to write our hearts out, and I loved every minute of it

Once we decided to take it to full length, that proved to be a greater challenge. Our partners and families had given us the space and grace to completely focus on the April challenge, and to get a ton of prep done ahead of time, but real life and responsibilities had to return.

The novel has been completed, and we’ve had feedback from a development editor. That’s been both useful, and caused us to stop and do lots of thinking. I believe we are aligned in our view of what needs doing, but it’s going to involve a significant re-write. And so we’re back to that real life issue once more.

Each of us has had ‘day job’ career issues to face, and those changes haven’t been easy to navigate. I believe we’re both coming out the other side, but there’s still a lot of juggling to do.

That said, we’ve a ton of ideas for more books in the series, as well as ideas for standalone novellas with some of the minor characters which we’d like to develop – so there’s lots more there.

Anyone else desperate to have Hermione Grainger‘s Time Turner – or just me?

Famous writers had their writing places: Roald Dahl with his infamous shed, Maya Angelou in hotel rooms, Agatha Christie is said to have honed her plots while in the bath, while Sarah Parry, Naomi Alderton and Jesse Burton all had the benefit of being writers in residence at Gladstone’s Library.

But is there any one right place to write?

Over the past year, I’ve fallen off the fiction writing wagon. Lots of ‘stuff’ has been going on and, being very time squeezed has led to me not making time to sit down at my desk and think story-telling. Sure, I’ve written blog posts, social media posts, website content and all that kind of stuff, just no fiction – not even flash fiction. And I miss it – a whole lot.

So, when I saw a writing and publishing coach in my network advertise a group programme, I was first on the list to sign up, for I realised that I need that level of accountability to make myself make time to do it.

The first prompt she provided got me writing like crazy, as it tied in with a family memoir I’ve had on the back-burner for a while. The minute I put my hands on the keyboard, words just poured out, and I kept on typing until I was due at a meeting. I can’t deny that it felt good – really, really good.

She’s been challenging us is so many ways – trying out different POVs and tenses to see how it might change the feel or atmosphere of our writing. She’s also suggested we try to write using different mediums to our usual – so pencil instead of pen, phone instead of laptop (I seem to be the only one using a desktop).

But the other thing she’s challenged us to do is to consider where we write – and to try out different places. Now I always write at my desk, on my desktop. I’ll tap ideas into the notes app on my phone, and I have – once – rushed into a shop to buy a notebook and pen to jot down an idea when I had 30 minutes to spare before an appointment. But, generally, I wait till I’m at that desk.

I have an understanding with myself that when I sit at the keyboard and tell myself it’s time to write – I write. I allow myself the latitude of not limiting what it is I have to write, so long as I write something. I’ve tried having a set time of day when I write, but that’s been a failure. For me, it’s been the place that’s the trigger.

So it’s going to be interesting to see how the “try a new place to write” exercise goes… especially as it will also involve using a new ‘what I write with’ method, as I can’t exactly take my desktop to a park bench, the seaside or my local coffee shop.

Do you have a writing place? Or are you happy writing wherever you are when the muse strikes?

Month: Apr 2023

#IWSG: Where to from here?

#SecondThoughts: The best place to write