#ISWG - Insecure Writers' Support Group - March 2016

Rules (from the ISWG site):

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time.

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I start out projects like gangbusters, but fizzle out before the end.  It's like I go through all the training for the Olympics and then stop just before the finish line.  Not all the time, of course, but often enough to be a cause of concern.

Someone in my area who knows my struggles, asked me to write a one-page 'story' and give it to her the next week.  I thought about it every day, but only forced myself to sit down two days before we were to meet again.  I wrote it in cursive, and my daughter complained that she could not read my handwriting.  (She should have seen my mother's...who wrote like a doctor.)  So I typed it to her in an email.

On the upside, a quote from my review of a recent read was featured in several other stops on the tour, so I gave myself a small 'woohoo' for that one.

Motivation has been harder than normal this week because between last Wednesday and Thursday we had to bury two family pets.

Chilihead was a kitten.  She used to stick her head into chili cans to get a little taste and because of her fur, had trouble getting the can off again, so she would twist and turn, and the effect was quite comical.  My daughter (12 yoa) found her.

Mac was born to another dog of ours, and was about four years old.  He was sick two days before (Tuesday), was ok on Wednesday, and woke me up at about 4am on Thursday.  Within about 10 minutes he was gone.  We are all stunned right now.

I've done some writing on the blog this last week and had better motivation.... for writing and just about everything else.  So that's another plus.

Take care, y'all, and happy writing! :O)

#IWSG January 6, 2016

The "Insecure Writer's Support Group", or #IWSG as the hashtag goes, is a site dedicated to helping people who like to write get over their fears of:

1.  not being enough
2.  being too much,
3.  not smart enough
4.  not interesting.
5.  (fill in your favorite "not enough" or "too much")

It is hosted by Alex Cavenaugh, and this month's co-hosts are:  L.G. Keltner, Denise Covey. Sheri Larsen, J.Q. Rose, Chemist Ken, and Michelle Wallace.

~~~oOo~~~

One of my earliest memories is of my mother saying she didn't want me to apply to be in a children's 'beauty pagent'.  For all I know, we may not have had enough disposable income at the time.  Hey, I was a kid ... and this was a lo-o-ong time ago.  What I heard was:  "You're not (pretty) enough to win."

So I've dealt with these feelings a long time.

I still get those feelings sometimes, when I've started out like gangbusters and then the "not good enough" monster pops up so his cousin monster "what's the use" can slide in and get to work undermining whatever I'm working on at the moment.

The funny things is last November I got in a couple of day's worth of 'just getting the words on the paper' and turning off the inner critic (and let me tell you, I can be harsh on me) - and it was wonderfully liberating.  I am determined to have more of those days this year!

IWSG - Starting Over...Again

Every 1st Wednesday of the month, writers of all kinds from all over 'meet' through the "Insecure Writer's Support Group" (or #IWSG, for short), to learn, to share and to support.  It is also a good sounding board for anyone who writes, insecure or not.  Click the button above and go explore the site!

~~~oOo~~~

I was a member of IWSG before it had it's own dedicated website.  I missed a few times and was *ahem* purged.  I don't have a problem with that.  People in the group shouldn't have to visit blogs that aren't participating.  I may have joined again, and deopped it...again.

But I still subscribe to the IWSG blog.  I still follow lots and lots of bloggers who are part of the group.  I still write.  And I'm still insecure about it, so here I am ... again.  

I let my fears and insecurities get to me every once in a while, and 'knock me down'.  So far, I've always gotten back up.  I figure as long as I do that, I have not failed. :O)

Late in December of 2013, I joined SCADS of online Reading Challenges.  Probably too many, but they all seemed so interesting.  From that, I started doing a fair number of book reviews and book tours, including these two in the last couple of weeks that I have REALLY ENJOYED:

"Big Money" by Jack Getze, and

"Murder at HoneyChurch Hall" by Hannah Dennison

Half of what I write is on my blog.  Half is for my college courses.  Notice what's missing?  Any work on my story or book or play ideas.  The part I'm having the most trouble with right now is just starting.  Does anyone know of any programs that lock your computer to other processes until you have written "x" number of words on your current WIP?

I'm starting an organization challenge next week that will hopefully help me focus more on the work at hand and less on the numerous distractions in my life.

Any tips gratefully accepted.  Also occasions kicks in the...but not with steel-tipped boots. :p

-LuAnn #IWSG 323

AJ's Hooligans @AtoZChallenge

Back Porchervations

#31 Days - Site of Our 2014 Garden

   

  

OK, for Wordless Wednesday I try most often to be actually wordless in the body of the post, but this month that is just NOT going to work.

In the foreground of the picture is an early shot of our 2013 garden.  Back when there was still hope for the tomatoes.  Back when there weren't even flowers on the pepper plant at the end (from which we actually got several usable peppers - yay!).  Back when you could actually see the dirt around the pumpkin plants and their little cardboard sprout cups had not yet disintegrated.

In 2014, we will have pretty much the entire field - a couple of acres if we need/want it.  Where our property ends, my FIL's begins.

We're hoping to put in a variety of vegetables, fruits, herbs, some grain and some animals.

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The October Daily Challenge prompt for the day is:

"Get a certain or favorite lyrics from your favorite song and tell us how it inspires or describes you."

"Amazing Grace" 3rd verse:

"Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home."

I'm  52 years old today.  I've been through some things, and done some things that ... well, didn't make the world a better place; let's put it that way.  But I'm here, and I'm learning.  Plain and simple, if not for God's grace, I would not be here.

Also, I like a line from "Sweet Hour of Prayer" -  "...that saves me from a world of care..."

On my rebel side, I love Little Big Town's "Boondocks":

"I feel no shame, I'm proud of where I came from,

I was born and raised in the boondocks.

One thing I know, no matter where I go,

I leave my heart and soul in the boondocks."

In fact, I like that song so much, I went and watched in on YouTube.   Check it out here if you like.  Don't be surprised if your toes 'commence a-tappin'. 

I like the song because it expresses who I am and how I feel about that.  Now some people, if they are rich enough, or educated enough or high enough on the social register might look down on a simple country woman like myself.  Their loss.  I know who I am and these days I quite like me. :O)

Thanks to blog recipe challenges and the like, I'm developing a like for and comfortableness in my kitchen.  And although I hope to have animals on the farm for eggs, wool and even some meat, I don't think I'll ever get comfortable with 'cleaning' them myself.  And I love live theatre, ballet and opera ... which is something of which we don't get a lot around here.  But when my plays start being produced on Broadway, my compensation package should include a helicopter ride to the top of the theatre building, cause Mama doesn't do big city driving.

So while my practices may be simple, I am far from it.  I'm like a patchwork quilt - bits and pieces of a lot of different fabrics, stitched to God (my backing) with a lot of love.

Question:

How would you describe yourself in terms of your favorite craft or hobby?

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And, as it is the first Wednesday of the month, it's time for the IWSG (Insecure Writer's Support Group), hosted at Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog until the dedicated site is up.  See/use the link button to visit more ISWG-ers (Insecure Writer's Support Groupies). *lol*

The hardest thing for me about writing is sitting down and starting.  The negative voices start in early, and continue to haunt me in constant 'psycho-babble'.  For instance, I am not satisfied with this post.  I think it conveys the idea(s) I intended, but the writing is not 'tight'.  And right now, I'm not sure what I could do to make it better.  But, as my 11th grade English teacher once said, "For every great line of poetry you write, you will write at least one line of utter garbage."  So I'll keep writing.

Fear of Failure vs Fear of Success

Click this button to visit the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted on Alex J Cavanaugh's blog.

I know I have a story or two to tell.  Everybody does.  So why don't I see something I've written on a book store shelf?  Why am I not attending a play which I have written?  Why do I sabotage myself from the get go?  I have two main theories:

1. I am afraid of failure.
2. I am afraid of success.

The world has tricked us into believing that if something isn't perfect, it isn't worthwhile.  One memory that sticks out from my youth is taking a math test on which I'd scored 97 to my father, who was a chemical engineer.  I had worked hard and thought that was a good grade.  His response upon seeing the paper was, "What happened to the other three points?"  Ouch!

Once we achieve some success, what then?  Can we repeat it, or do we need to head in a different direction?  "One-trick pony" is not a name to which most people aspire.  There is so much emphasis put on getting that manuscript published, but not so much on what happens next.

I had someone tell me once that I tended to "catastrophize" things, or to think in terms of extreme examples.  Maybe I just need to step back from the edge and revel in the process.