​Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question meant to inspire and encourage other writers. Special thanks to founder Alex Cavanaugh and to this month’s co-hosts, J Lenni Dorner, Sonia Dogra, Pat Garcia, Sarah - The Faux Fountain Pen, and Meka James.
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I learned about IWSG from member (and long-time writer friend) C. Lee McKenzie, and my first IWSG blog post was in February 2017 about Reading as a Writer. Besides the monthly blog hop, I completed the A to Z Blog Challenge a few times, including on my favorite theme of Productivity for Writers. My short stories have been included in two IWSG anthologies: Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life and Voyagers: The Third Ghost.  

Over the years, I’ve connected with other members through the blog hop and the IWSG FB group. It’s great to read the monthly posts and share the creative journey with other writers. Overall, IWSG is a source of knowledge, opportunity, and writerly camaraderie.

One last thing....
Here's an inspirational quote in honor of IWSG's dozen years:
“Life is an ongoing process of choosing between safety (out of fear and need for defense) and risk (for the sake of progress and growth). Make the growth choice a dozen times a day.” ~Abraham Maslow​

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Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. Special thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and to this month’s co-hosts, Patricia Josephine, Diedre Knight, Olga Godim, J. Lenni Dorner, and Cathrina Constantine.

If I had to stop creating stories, my top career choice would be to teach writing craft instead. But a possible second choice would be . . .
Professional Organizer! 

Several times a month, I volunteer to organize donations for a place that allows people in need to select items for free. The room I set up focuses on bedding, towels, and curtains.
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When I arrive it looks like this:

When I leave, it looks like this:

It's rewarding to organize the chaos, knowing clients will be able to easily find the items they want. ​

Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. Special thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and to this month’s co-hosts, Joylene Nowell Butler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Meka James, Diane Burton, Victoria Marie Lees, and M Louise Barbour.

When I begin a story, I'm often inspired by a character's emotional reaction and growth in the face of a difficult situation.

But an additional spin on the question is what inspires us to keep going?

When I'm working on a first draft, I set time goals. I want to make steady progress each week toward reaching some version of a completed draft (beginning, middle, and end). I find word count goals frustrating, personally, because cutting words means backward progress, so I always use time. Knowing that I'm reaching the amount of hours designated for that week inspires me to keep working.

Once I've completed a very rough first draft, I set times goals for revision, as well. Each layer of revision has a specific focus (pacing, characterization, etc) and again, I use the idea of completing a certain number of hours a week to get through each pass. It doesn't matter how long it takes, by the way -- I just plan to achieve the number of hours I've dedicated to the project for the week. (It also helps to have a weekly back-up slot as productivity expert Laura Vanderkam advises, in case a day is derailed by unexpected events.)
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I might not always feel like writing when I sit down at the laptop, starting the day's work. But if I've mentally committed to say, three hours of revision, it tends to get done on the day I planned. I think the showing up at the page is what's important.
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As Elizabeth Gilbert says in Big Magic, ". . . I don't sit around waiting to write until my genius decides to pay me a visit. If anything, I have come to believe that my genius spends a lot of time waiting around for me--waiting to see if I'm truly serious about this line of work."

For more thoughts on inspiration and creativity, check out my blog post, The Myth of the Creative Muse. And ICYMI, author Lyn Fairchild Hawks wrote an April guest post, 4 Productivity Hacks for Colorful Writing.
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In For Better Creativity, Spring Clean Your Brain, Kelsey Allagood suggests various ways to declutter your mind, including cleaning your workspace. She says, "I can absolutely tell the difference in my ability to focus when I’m in a clean and organized environment." I agree! How about you?

If you've written short fiction, finding a place to publish it can be time-consuming. Here are four resources to help:

The Practicing Writer. One of the best free newsletters. Erika Dreifus curates markets monthly, focusing on those that are fee-free.
Authors Publish. Free newsletter that often offers round-ups of markets by theme.
Duotrope: One-month free trial, then subscription-based, $50/yr. Weekly newsletter plus database searchable by various categories.
Funds for Writers. Free weekly newsletter from C. Hope Clark. The contests, markets, and grants section is at the end. 

I hope you find these helpful! Mention your own favorite resources in the comments.

My first attempt at a novel was THE FLOOD. I was in 5th grade or 6th grade. The fictional water kept rising and rising, but I gave up after a chapter or two because I didn’t know anything about a river flooding, or how to tell such a big story.

In the decades that followed, I spent time learning how to research and write a novel. I didn't realize at first how winding the career path could be, but along the way I wrote freelance articles, two nonfiction books for kids (Publishing and Avril Lavigne), and two "in the drawer" novels that won't be published.

But the intrigue with a fictional disaster remained. Fast forward to 2014: My debut YA novel, Pandemic was published by Sky Pony Press. And since the actual pandemic occurred, they released a new edition in 2022. Black Flowers, White Lies and several short stories have followed.

Now, to help other young writers, I collect information on my Resources for Teen and Tween Writers page. Some of the info is helpful for adult writers, too. :) It's been recently updated, so please check it out.

Writers often talk about waiting for inspiration or a visit from the muse before they sit down to work. They delay the creative process, perhaps inevitably, and definitely longer than necessary. But the best tip is this: Don’t Wait. As Pablo Picasso said, "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working."
 
If you wait until you’re inspired to create something, days and weeks can pass without doing anything. A better approach is to make a routine that triggers your brain when it’s time to create. Setting up habits takes away the burden of deciding to begin.
 
For example, you could try to write at the same time each day, if possible. Sit in the same place. Lots of writers have a favorite mug filled with coffee or tea nearby. Light a candle or listen to the same music. Have your laptop open and ready to go or write by hand with a favorite pen. (Purple ones are my personal favorite.)
 
Whichever ritual you create, choose something that signals it’s time to begin, even if you don’t feel like it. Particularly then! At the appointed time, get to work. As Stephen King says in On Writing, “This isn't the Ouija board or the spirit-world we're talking about here, but just another job like laying pipe or driving long-haul trucks.”
 
Your routine might change for different parts of the process, and that variety can be a good thing. For example, I might brainstorm ideas outside or a café, draft by hand in my favorite comfy chair, and proofread at a desk which signals focused concentration.
 
But what if you are just . . . stuck?
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Try one of these: Reread a page from yesterday. Answer a writing prompt. Ask one of your characters how they feel about a scene and record their response. Jot down some random thoughts about your work-in-progress. Re-type the ending of your last scene. Do anything to get over the hurdle of beginning.
 
Because when you start, a funny thing happens: the inspiration you are waiting for arrives. This is more reliable than any fickle muse. You are training yourself to work, and your rituals will create their own magic. A routine will guarantee you more success than inspiration every time.

All the time! A poetic turn of phrase, a cry-worthy scene, a surprising sequence of events -- that's why I love to read. "Comparison is the thief of joy," Theodore Roosevelt said, but good writing can also bring happiness. Mary Oliver's poetry is a current favorite. How about you?

​Pandemic and Black Flowers, White Lies were traditionally published by Sky Pony Press. I’ll use Pandemic's cover as an example of the process. First, my editor asked me to come up with a mood board of images, along with a mood board of covers. Here are the covers I chose:
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We agreed early on that the cover should be blue, since the deadly fictional disease in the book is called the Blue Flu. Because there is a backstory element relating to sexual assault, a teal shade was chosen, which is a nod to the teal ribbon for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
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I love the concept of a new year and a fresh start. And I love the idea of self-improvement: I want to "be healthier" and "write more." But in practicality, these types of vague goals don't work out so well. Studies show that 80% of people give up on their resolutions by the second Friday in January (otherwise known as Quitters Day.)
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But how else can we create meaningful change, if not over midnight champagne?

First, reflect on last year's accomplishments. What did you get right in 2022? (See Why You Should Ditch Depressing New Year's Resolutions and Do This Instead for further motivation.) Celebrate those successes!

Second, plan shorter term goals instead of heavy-handed resolutions. Quarterly planning works well for me, and based on productivity expert Laura Vanderkam's advice, I focus on three areas: professional, family, and personal. I began this process in 2022 and found that three months is a long enough time to achieve significant goals and habit change. Bonus: it also allows for multiple areas of focus throughout the year, which is satisfying and more adaptible.
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Third, consider NOT publicly mentioning your goals. While accountability can be helpful, especially if the goals are specific and measurable, announcing them can sometimes backfire. In The Case for Keeping Your Goals to Yourself, Vanderkam explains, "Announcing that you’re writing a screenplay, for example, is already a positive indicator of your screenwriter status. No need to spend an hour today actually writing." (Positive indicator in this instance means you feel fulfilled positively about the identity as a writer after talking about it.) "Or, in the case of the psychology students," she explains, referring to a published study, "talking about studying to become a psychologist can sap away the motivation to actually do the studying."

Obviously, individual results can vary. But if you find that proclaiming your goals decreases your motivation, try keeping them under wraps.

I like to come up with a word or phrase for each week, depending on my focus for that time. For the year, my broad concept is "forward motion," which sums up the incremental steps I hope to achieve.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Alfred Lord Tennyson from "Ring Out, Wild Bells"

The thing about productivity for creative people is that the focus is not traditional efficiency. Of course, ideas like avoiding social media first thing in the morning and not falling for the myth of multitasking still apply. But the goal of productivity is to make the most of your creative time, and one way to do that is through the of use rituals.

Using rituals can help you over the hurdle of getting started, which is often the hardest part. ​James Clear says that "the key to any good ritual is that it removes the need to make a decision: What should I do first? When should I do this? How should I do this? Most people never get moving because they can’t decide how to get started. Having a ritual takes that burden off your shoulders."

Your starting-to-write ritual might be as simple as drinking from a distinct mug and using a special notebook. Maybe the ritual is based on location--you could move your laptop to a different place from where you pay your bills or do other non-creative work. It might also include listening to a playlist or lighting a special candle. Try combining several of these to create a unique signal to your brain that it’s time to create.

In Productivity for Creative People, Mark McGuinness says to use any new rituals (or “anchors”) for at least ten days, “so that the associations become automatic . . . an easy and familiar way to slip into the creative zone and get to work.”

My current ritual involves my desk, my favorite candle, and coffee, but I might change it up this month and swap typing on my laptop with writing by hand. Do you have a writing ritual? Share in the comments. :)

Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. Special thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for creating IWSG and to this month’s co-hosts: Kim Lajevardi, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Olga Godim, Michelle Wallace, and Louise - Fundy Blue.

This month's question:
What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?
Erotica would not be a good genre choice for me as a writer. My stories tend to be more PG-13.

​Being productive isn’t just about getting more done. It’s about carefully choosing the activities you want to accomplish. If one of those activities is creating or improving an author newsletter, this post is for you.
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​Newsletters are a way to directly connect with an audience who wants to hear from you. In her Email Newsletters for Authors: Get Started Guide, Jane Friedman summarizes the main newsletter benefit: “. . . email has so far proven to be a more long-term and stable tool than social media, which is constantly shifting. . . .You truly own your email list, unlike Facebook or Twitter accounts. And if you use people’s email addresses with respect . . . those addresses can become resources that grow more valuable over time.” 

This doesn't mean an author newsletter is the best use of your time. But if you do decide to create one, here are five steps with resources to guide you.

On to the IWSG Blog Hop. . . .
Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. I'm skipping this month's question (When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?) but sending many thanks to founder Alex Cavanaugh and to this month’s blog co-hosts: Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery.

"It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: What are we busy about?" ~Henry David Thoreau

Three productivity articles that might be of interest:

Declutter Your Brain by Decluttering Your Calendar by John Hall
Calendars (and by association, our time) can become cluttered just the way physical spaces can, so we need to prioritize how we spend our hours. (The article suggests focusing on the three most important things each day.) When possible, get rid of activities that don’t spark joy, the same way Marie Kondo recommends to get rid of non-joy-sparking objects.
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How to Stop Busywork from Stealing Your Productive Writing Time by Writing and Wellness
“The problem is that organized people, in particular, tend to be drawn to busywork. It makes you happy.” These busywork tasks can make us feel good in the short term as we accomplish them, especially if we value organization. But we can’t sacrifice the harder, focused work of writing for the fun of say, organized files. “You may love to have a perfectly organized desk and filing system, but be more passionate about finishing your novel.” Writing can be the more challenging choice of how to spend time, but leads to more meaningful long term accomplishments.
What often works for me: I save some of the busywork tasks for in between projects as a reward. If I’ve finished a round of revisions, for example, I then tackle some organizational projects. I set a specific time for the "busywork," then get back to the writing.

The First Step Isn’t the Problem, the 356,751st One Is by Laura Vanderkam
Choose your long-term project with care, since you’ll be dedicated to it for quite some time. Figure out how long  the goalwill take to complete, and if that can be broken down into short segments that easily fit into your routine. (She uses reading one chapter a day of War and Peace as an example.) Then just keep going: “Time keeps passing, so if you have a map, and a pace, and you stick with the pace, you will in fact finish.”

On to the IWSG Blog Hop. . . .
Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. I'm skipping this month's question, but sending thanks to founder Alex Cavanaugh to this month’s blog co-hosts: J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton. 

In case you missed it, my last blog post was a review of the productivity book by Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before.
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Happy Writing!