Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Wednesday. Thank you again to Alex J. Cavanaugh, the creator of the group. The first Wednesday of every month is dedicated to this group of supportive writers. If it's something you're not familiar with, then please click on Alex's link above for more information and to sign up!
I know many of you have spent the past month in the April A to Z challenge. For those who did, I remember how challenging, yet rewarding it was. I hope you enjoyed it. You deserve an blogging break.
I took my blogging break this past month, planning to spend it writing with the goal of finishing my WIP's first draft. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I let my insecurities get the best of me, and had a difficult time getting new words down on the page. I also saw where my initial planning failed me, by reaching a point where I had no idea how to get from point A to B, wasting a lot of time (including designated writing time) trying to figure it out.
For my next book, I plan to write a more detailed outline to try and improve my writing process. For my first two books, I wrote a very basic outline and then "went with the flow," creatively went where the story took me The process was romantic and worked relatively well for those books. With my increased work schedule and family demands, the need has never been greater for me to budget my time wisely, and with that, I'm seeing my creative flow approach is not the most efficient process. And I need to become more efficient as a writer and self publishing entrepreneur.
Instead of wasting my whole month in a paralyzed state, I shifted gears and edited what I had written instead. Editing can be often times tedious and frustrating, but I found it refreshing in this case. I had become so frustrated with my writing paralysis that editing provided a win.
With the first two-thirds of my manuscript now decently edited (just by me thus far), I'm ready to finish the adventure, getting Oliver one step closer to the end of his journey.
And re-reading the first part probably ignited your drive for the story. Bet you finish it now.
ReplyDeleteI tend to spend a lot of time on outlines. Sometimes more than writing the first draft...
I'm glad you were able to use your time for editing even though it wasn't your initial intention. I hope the writing will pick up now for you!
ReplyDeleteThose insecurities always creep in when we have extra time - I guess because it also gives us more time to over-analyze!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad editing got you over the slump!
Oh how exciting there's a sequel in the works. I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo on getting yourself unstuck. I find I'm more efficient with sequels. With book one of something new... I flounder... outline or not.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great idea to switch gears to something you felt accomplished a goal. Hopefully that helped you get new ideas of how to move forward with the story. I've realized that whenever a reach such a problem, changing to another story (either editing or writing) helps clear my mind. Best of luck, Michael!
ReplyDeleteSmart to shift gears. Sometimes "we" get so suck on wanting to do one thing - but can't for whatever reason and just stop.
ReplyDeleteUgh, it is so tough when you get stuck like that, but glad you shifted gears into editing!
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