DONE GIRL

 

 

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated. Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.   

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

 

The awesome co-hosts for the January 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren , J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner Sandra Cox, and Louise - Fundy Blue!

 January 6 question - Being a writer, when you’re reading someone else’s work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people’s books. 

First HAPPY NEW WRITING YEAR!

Now on to answer this month's question:

When reading someone else’s book...

And I’m talking only fiction...

I want to be entertained... 

Give me humor, romance, horror, murder mysteries, thrillers, historical, fantasy, sci-fi, or even dystopian... 

But please...

Don't give me boredom!

To be fair though...

I will give a book a few-chapters-chance...

But if the plot and characters continue to be boring...

DONE! 

 

Podiums and soapboxes have their place...

But not in fiction... 

If an author tries to sway me...

With their views on religion, politics, or a social issue...

DONE!

 

Repetitive, repetitive, repetitive words...

Break my reality... 

It’s like a car racing to the finish line...

Only to have to slow down to avoid hitting a squirrel...

And I’m not talking about any ordinary word... 

But a word that is quirky at best... 

Annoying at worst.  

One millionaire author, who I will not name...

Used the word “hitch” so many times in her famous book... 

My eyes hitched!

DONE!

 

Bad research might happen in junior high...

But shouldn’t be in a book...

Especially if it's by a well known author. 

Recently... 

I read a book set at the end of the eighteen hundreds ...

The author said a character took a transatlantic flight...

HUH?  

So I Googled it...

Oops! 

The author and editors got it wrong.

DONE!  

Well, Almost... 

The story was so good I finished the book.

And as authors...

Don’t we all love research?

But all of those facts don’t need to be included... 

If they don’t advance the story... 

Um...excuse me...

***personal break ***

OK I'm back and...

OMG! 

Do you believe in synchronicity? 

I do and now even more so...

Ya see...

During my “break” ...

I continued  reading CAMINO ISLAND by John Grisham...

. 

So while on my 'break'I was reading a chapter where the characters are writers and were talking about what they don't like about another author's writing. The main character gave his opinion.

Here's the excerpt:

 

Synchronicity right?

So?

What makes you put down a book?

And...

Do you believe in synchronicity?

Always,

Em-Musing

 

P.S. No matter how bad a book is, I could never throw it  away. Instead, I give it away. 

      

JUST SO, HO, HO, HO

I was researching the poem:      

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

I was unsure of one of the reindeer’s name—Donner... 

So I Googled it...

Actually, it's not Donner but either Dunder or Donder...

Hmm?

So, I dug a little further and discovered... 

That this classic poem...

Is a two-hundred-year-old great mystery. 

The poem first appeared anonymously... 

On December 23, 1823...

In the New York’s Troy Sentinel newspaper. 

Years later, one man claimed to be the author...

Ah ha! But was he? 

There's still quite a controversy...

Is the author Clement Clarke Moore?

His title is: The Night Before Christmas

Or Henry Livingston Jr.?

His title is: Twas The Night Before Christmas

If you like fun or interesting research...

Here are two links to sink your Christmas candy-coated teeth in: 

Clement Clarke Moore

 

Henry Livingston Jr.

What I found interesting was that... 

Both men’s writing styles have been forensically analyzed... 

Looking for certain rhythms to the men's writing...

And usages of certain words and phraseology. 

Hmm? 

And that got me wondering...

What if analysts were to forensically look at my writing...

What would they find?

And just so I won’t keep you guessing...

They’d find over usages of these two words: JUST & SO... 

 I just don't know why I like them so much.

And it may be OK to overuse them in my blog posts...

But not in a novel.

Which I've been guilty of...

And thank goodness for editors.

So?

What about you?

Do you have any rhythms, words or phraseology in your writing?

And who do you think real author is?  

Always,

Em-Musing

                                                 

         

  

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.   Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.   

  

The awesome co-hosts this month are Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre!

 December 2 question - Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why? 

Oh wow!

It would be fab...

If there were specific months or times of the year...

When I’d be more productive with my writing...

I could then look forward to these times...

Grab a cuppa, cozy up and hunker down... 

And write my little heart out. 

But my creativity doesn’t play that way... 

My muse determines my writing moments...

Sometimes she inspires  me for just a paragraph...

Sometimes a chapter or two...

And if she truly blesses me—it’s a whole day of writing.

Of course, there are always short bouts of drought... 

(where’d you go?)

But never for too long so I can’t complain. 

Certainly though... 

The winter holidays...

Put a kybosh on my writing... 

With all the: 

Present buying, cookie baking, house decorating, holiday feasting, party going, & traveling here and there...

My brain cannot settle down... 

Until I’ve made my list and checked it twice...

And then maybe, just maybe...

A little piece of writing to my wondering eyes will appear. 

So?

How about you?

Are there certain months you are more productive?

 Aways, 

Em-musing

TO WRITE OR NOT TO WRITE - THAT IS NEVER THE QUESTION

This post is part of the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as the 
Insecure Writers Support Group founded by the one and only, Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you're a writer, insecure, or just supportive of writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated.  Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.   

 

My awesome co-hosts for the November 4 posting of the IWSG are Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria!

November 4 question - Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write?

To me... 

Writing is like breathing...

I have no choice...

Ideas come to me from out of nowhere...

And I don’t even get to choose the format or genre. 

When I was young it was poetry...

Next came short stories... 

And then my first novel came to me... 

In the shower no less...

Random bits and pieces flowed to me...

And I had no idea where they were coming from...

But I felt compelled to write them down...

So, wrapped in a towel, I ran run to my computer... 

And wrote everything that was coming into my head...

It felt like I was taking dictation.

After a year of this...

I looked at what I’d written and thought...

I have a book here...

And I did.

But after clumsy submissions and scads of rejections...

My insecurities took over...

And I closed the file and didn't open it for over a decade. 

Then...

With the encouragement from writer friends...

I opened the file again...

And after editing until my eyeballs fell out...

I sent out more queries...

Then more rejections...

But I wasn't going to give up...

I decided to Self-publish. And here is the fruit of my labor.

And still...

Every morning while I'm writing on my computer...

I thank my muse... 

Because if it was up to me and my brain...

I couldn’t write a word. 

And yup...

I still get inspiration in the shower.

So?

 What about you?

Why do you write what you write?

 

Always,

Em-Musing 

P.S. AZAEL'S LOT  is available on Amazon under my pen name: 

Karen Lee Baldwin. And surprisingly the genre is supernatural thriller...

not humorous women's fiction.

ALL- WRITER?

This is the monthly blog hop/therapy session known as  the  

Insecure Writers Support Group 

founded by the  one and  only, 

Alex J. Cavanaugh.  

If  you are  a writer, insecure,  or  just  supportive  of  writers—insecure or not—please join us. It happens the first Wednesday of each month. It would be sweet of you to visit at least a dozen or so new blogs and leave a comment. Your words will be appreciated. 

The awesome co-hosts for the October 7 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner!

October 7 question:

 When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like? 

Hmm? 

Interesting question.

I have been a copywriter for many years...

For video, film, TV, radio, and print...

And have won awards too...

So, I’ve always known I am a writer­...

But author?

Well, that took years...

Before I would consider myself that...

And only after I was published.

For me...

There’s an emotional difference... 

Between being a writer and being an author.

Copywriters, whether freelance or inhouse, 

Write “copy” for a specific job or assignment. 

They're given the subject to write about...

Or at least know the direction the writing must go.

When the editing is done and job approved... 

It's handed over to the client or boss..

And the writer’s part is done. 👍 

Shortly after, they can see or hear their work and are paid.

But authors... 

Whether they’re writing a novel, poem, short story, nonfiction or whatever... 

Start from scratch...

The whole process is up to them to figure out...

And when finished...

They have to find their own path to publication.

If going the traditional route...

It starts with the query process... 🙏

Searching for an agent and/or publisher... 

With all those emotional twists, turns, and detours...

(at least for me)

And if they don’t get picked up...

It’s on to the self-pub’d trail 😬

And Lord!! 

That’s an arduous journey of considerations:

Editors, book covers, marketing, advertising, reviews and everything else, 😱h my!!

Just to make sales...

 Though I've heard some say: 

“I write for the pleasure and not for the money.”

Wow! I had to think about that one. 

Guess I write for my passion of writing, the kudos too...

And in my perfect word...

Millions of sales.

So? 

What’s your writing experience like?

 

Always,

Em-Musing