Insecure Writer's Group: Feeling Disillusioned

It's time for another installment of the insecure writer's support group. For more information about this wonderful group, please click the following link: Alex J. Cavanaugh

Hello all, I hope you had a productive writing month. I keep hoping to find time to make headway with my new novel, but life keeps getting in the way. I'm insecure that neglecting it will cause me to throw my hands in the air and give up. I love writing, but lately, I feel like it's not meant to be. The more time that passes between writing sessions, the more disillusioned I feel. Have any of you gone through these conflicts? If so, how did you overcome them? Until next time, my friends. Happy writing.

Comments

You Never Fail Until You Stop Trying

Back in December, I learned about an unpublished novel contest that assessed the following criteria: characterization, setting, plot, dialogue, voice and writing skill. In addition to all this, the MS would receive feedback from the judges. Not a bad deal, right? Although my draft was far from complete, I decided to enter it anyway, reasoning that the critique would identify areas of weakness in my writing. Well, needless to say, I finally heard back last week. The first forty pages of my draft were returned with the following letter attached: The judges had mixed reactions to this particular manuscript, with some feeling it was well- paced and another saying there was not enough plot movement! One questioned whether the dialogue fit the time/ year/culture, while others felt it did. They all agreed on liking the expository details and descriptions, but wondered where the story was going. Consider beginnin...

Insecure Writer's Support Group- Are you a Negative Nelly???

I t's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. I am always amazed at how easily I can list the things I'm insecure about, but ask me to add something positive, and I'm at a loss for words. No matter how much I accomplish, I never stop to enjoy the spoils of my hard work. Instead, I tend to focus on the obstacles I've yet to overcome. After giving this some thought, I concluded that I am a Negative Nelly. For some reason, which is beyond me, I find that it's often easier to see the bad, than to acknowledge the good. For example, if my son brings home a B on a test, I say, "Next time, lets try for an A." Wouldn't it be better to acknowledge his effort, and be happy it wasn't a "C"? If another writer praises my work-in-progress, I immediately think they didn't read it. Wouldn't it be better to say thank you and enjoy the compliment? Life's too short to look down on ourselves. How can we e...

Anti-Procrastination Challenge/Giveaway

Hello Everyone and Welcome, Sorry for the delay in posting this thread, but I was busy grilling some shish kabobs for Karen G’s Labor Day barbeque at Coming Down the Mountain . Everyone’s invited so be sure and drop in for some mouth watering eats, and a friendly chat with your fellow bloggers. Hopefully interacting with other writer’s will motivate me to get cracking on my novel. I’ve been quite lax in my authorial duties lately. Yesterday, I headed to inspiration station to catch the Writing train. However, I got lost along the way and wound up at Procrastination place. I must have turned left when I should have gone right, because I wound up in a chat jam, and there was no end in sight. As I lumbered through the writing threads, I realized my plight, I lacked motivation and my mind was wound too tight. So I took another right and stopped for the night to think up a way to turn on my light. Okay, Okay, I’ll refrain from imposing anymore metaphors on you. I’m sure you ge...

Aspiring Novelists

Search This Blog