Thank you to Alex and his wonderful team of co-hosts for all that they do. You guys are super amazing.
As artistic individuals, we live a tortured life. We create wonderful pieces of art, composed of the written word and most of us are at our happiest doing that. But then…there comes a time when we need to share our work with others, to get the exposure we require to give our work the attention it deserves. That of course is the most difficult part, when we start comparing our work to that of others, wondering whether our creations are good enough and we end up seeking the approval of our peers to validate the success of our creations.
As artistic individuals, we live a tortured life. We create wonderful pieces of art, composed of the written word and most of us are at our happiest doing that. But then…there comes a time when we need to share our work with others, to get the exposure we require to give our work the attention it deserves. That of course is the most difficult part, when we start comparing our work to that of others, wondering whether our creations are good enough and we end up seeking the approval of our peers to validate the success of our creations.
The life of a writer is never easy. We go through this
rollercoaster of emotions, feeling happy about what we created, doubting
ourselves and feeling insecure and then we start hating what we had created. It
is a vicious cycle that most of us are always on, sometimes all in a matter of
days.
My cure? I think we should have a great support system.
Whether it is a family member, a good friend or a fellow writer that will step
in when you are on the negative side of that emotional rollercoaster. It should
be someone that will keep you on course and focused on what matters most.
Someone who can make you smile even when you want to cry. Find one of those
people and your creative journey could be a lot less lonely and stressful and who knows, maybe it could even be more fun.
The Insecure Writers Support Group
was created by the wonderfully talented Mr Alex J. Cavanaugh, so that writers
could talk and communicate to others about the fears and insecurities that they
might have. You can visit Alex Here,
or if you want to join us in discussing our insecurities on the first Wednesday
of each month, you are welcome to join by going Here.
I most definitely agree with this! Finding another writer, not just someone who agrees with me because they care about me, but who sees the value in what I'm doing has been such a huge boost!
ReplyDeleteYes, very true. And it's so much easier to create that support network than ever before. Years ago meeting another author would have been near impossible.
ReplyDeleteHi Murees - so much easier with a support group or just one or two very helpful writers ..
ReplyDeleteDefinitely must help - cheers Hilary
"The Doubt Monster"! I love that! Yes, I'm definitely being chased around by that guy this month. Thanks for the encouragement! :-)
ReplyDeleteHe! he!
ReplyDeleteI've been submitting lots of flash fiction pieces to various literary e-zines. After receiving approximately 6 rejections over the last few weeks, that "Doubt Monster" is a weight on my back... but not for too long...
I'm made of stronger stuff than he is!
When I begin to put the pieces of scratch into a book, I personally, will not be comparing myself to anyone. I feel support is important, most certainly, but my critique person would be a male, and I say that because I feel they look at things a bit differently. I find that to be true in alot of areas of interest in general. Just my opinion. I read a book once about a woman that wrote a story, a sister in law I believe was an accomplished author. She naturally handed her manuscript over for her review. Time and time again she was put down for various reasons. Felt her time was wasted with writing, etc. She felt otherwise and decided not to let the people she trusted and believed in the most to stomp on her dream to get her writing published. She took a giant leap and took her work to a publishing firm and her work was one in which intrigued this man she had her appointment with, and he turned her work into a multimillion dollar contract and a movie. Support is one aspect in building the confidence needed in writing, and this is a fantastic group to get that from.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I can feel the difference in my confidence when I walk away from the blogging world. This is where I get most of my support. Not to say family isn't supportive, but honestly, it takes other writers to truly "get it".
ReplyDeleteKirsten - Definitely. Finding a kindred spirit is just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteAnnalisa - Very true. It is wonderful being able to know and interact with other writers.
Hilary - So true. Knowing other writers always helps.
Lexa - You are so welcome. Don't worry, he is chasing me too.
Michelle - You go girl! You have a great attitude.
Sandy - I agree. IWSG is a fantastic group of people.
Elizabeth - I agree. Other writers just know what you are going through. They get why we feel or think what we do.
IWSG is a great support network!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. IWSG is great for support.
ReplyDeleteNas
Great post! So excited for the IWSG website so we can connect all month :-)
ReplyDeleteDoubt Monster, Murees, we actually live together!
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Murees! It's true, we all need friends who support us when we're uncertain about our work. We are blessed to have a whole group of authors who will lift our spirits.
ReplyDeleteThere's no point in talking about the attention your book deserves, or the respect. Those are all in the hands of other people, and you can't control it. The trick to keeping your sanity in this business – and probably in life – is to focus on the thing you can control and letting go of the things you can't.
ReplyDeleteWhen you send your book off to an agent or editor, you can't control how they're feeling that day, whether they just had a fight with a spouse or got yelled at by their boss or couldn't sleep last night. You can't control what they like, or whether they're sick to their stomach over something they had at lunch.
But you there are things you can control, and if you focus on them you'll improve your chances of any or all of the above happening. When you send your query off, you can make sure it's the very best work you can do. You can read deeply in your genre so that there's a place in the market for you. You can research how to write a query, and what agents/editors are looking for work like yours.
Be open to the possibilities of fame and fortunate, if they come, but don't waste time worrying about it because most of the factors affecting it are out of your hands. You CAN control the quality of the work you do. If the work is good, it improves the chance to get those other things, but it doesn't guarantee it, so try not to worry about it.
Write your ass off every day to please yourself – the rest will follow, or it won't. But you'll at least have done your best, pleased yourself, and maybe pleased your mother as well.
Charmaine - It definitely is.
ReplyDeleteEditors at work - Thank you. IWSG is awesome.
Jamie - Thank you. The website looks really great. This group has helped me a lot.
Carole - The doubt monster has surely been chasing me around the house. I hope it leaves you alone though. It is not nice of it to pick on you.
Deanie - Thank you. It is so true. I don't know what I would have done without the support of my fellow bloggers and writers.
John - Thank you for the powerful words. You are so right. It is more logical to focus on the factors that one can control, than the ones you can't. I love the idea of writing to please yourself.
Thank you so much for your support, much needed right now.
ReplyDeleteCarole - You are welcome.
ReplyDelete