Posted by : Loren E. Pryce Wednesday, December 7, 2016

A big Thank You!  goes out to Alex J. Cavanaugh for creating the Insecure Writers' Support Group, to everyone who helps make this monthly blog hop so uniquely awesome and to everyone who participates in this event. What an inspiring group of writers - All in one place! 

IWSG's awesome co-hosts for the December 7th posting will be Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford, Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!
The topic for this month is, "In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?"

Bottom line . . . I want to be see myself published in five years (but don't we all), preferably with a series of 4 - 6 books lined up to be promoted by one of the Big Six (I know, ambitious much?😉). And now, thanks to NaNoWriMo, I've got an almost completed first draft! That's a huge step for me because, e
ven though I didn't reach my 50,000 word goal, I still accomplished more writing during the month of November than I'd ever done since the beginning of my current WIP. Also, as an added bonus, I had an epiphany.
This may be because I'm primarily a Panster (we don't need no stinkin' outline is our motto) or maybe it's just a rookie mistake but, in the past, I've always allowed myself to get sucked into that deep, dark "editing" black hole. You know the one - When you open up your WIP doc and start from the beginning, reading everything you've written so far (telling yourself you're just going to "pick up the flow"). Then, of course, you see a word that could be changed to something, hmmm, maybe a little more descriptive; or the structure of that sentence is awkward; or you decide that whole chunks of writing have to be rewritten or moved to another point in the story or worse yet (gasp) completely deleted.

The thing that NaNoWriMo forced me to realize was that I just need to sit down and write the dang story; To just work on the creative process; To just get it on digital paper (with a secure backup copy); To not even think about doing any editing, because it's an entirely different part of the writing process. There's a place and time for editing and it isn't every single time you open the file. Holy crow (forehead slap), I was able to climb out of the editing hole and ignore it completely - I was free to "butt in chair" write, and boy did I ever! 


Now, I know that some of you have either already realized this or maybe you've known it all along, but it was (as I said before) a process-altering epiphany for me, hopefully one of many to come during the next five years. 

I also know that, after I get this draft finished, it's going to be an uphill endeavor from that point forward - Edits, beta reads, edits, trying to contract an agent, edits, getting a publisher to fall in love with my story, edits, cover design and then probably more edits, followed by almost the same process for the rest of the series, but I'd like to think that the momentum I built in November will carry me through to see my story(ies) published . . . With a little help and encouragement from my friends😍.

Thanks for stopping by - Leave a comment and I'll reciprocate!

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.

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!


Twitter hashtag is #IWSG 


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Leave a Reply

Subscribe to Posts | Subscribe to Comments

- Copyright © Loren E. Pryce - Powered by Blogger - Site Design by Florence Price - Virtual Assistant -