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Wednesday, October 5, 2016

#IWSG: A Great Month


It's that time again. The 1st Wednesday of the month is Insecure Writers Support Group, the brainchild 
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. And thanks to this month's awesome hosts:   Beverly Stowe McClure, Megan Morgan, Viola Fury, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Angela Wooldridge, and Susan Gourley!

Don't forget to check out the guidelines for this year's IWSG Anthology Contest!

September was a terrific month. I was more productive those 30 days than most of 2016. And it felt wonderful. As I wrote last time, I released MISSION TO NEW EARTH on August 31st. To promote it, I planned a blog tour. I wrote articles, visited 22 blogs, and met great people (some of whom are here in ISWG). A huge thank you to all my hosts and to those who visited.

I didn’t just promote a published book. I wrote over 11k words on my WIP. That felt really good. It’s like I got a second wind after completing MISSION. Last week, I participated in Kiss of Death RWA’s Book in a Week. While I didn't actually write a 75,000 word story, having to report in each night made me want to write instead of following social media or playing computer games. I was embarrassed the two days I had to write 0 words. Still, over 8k words in 5 days felt great.

Returning to physical therapy for my back might have given me that extra bit of mental energy. Or maybe it was a conscious effort to finish the 3rd book in my Alex O’Hara PI mystery series. I still have a long way to go on this story (51k). For much of this year, I waffled between three WIPs. Because I couldn’t decide, I didn’t get down to work. I’d find all kinds of ways to procrastinate.

Making the decision to finish the one closest to the end made me buckle down. Completing MISSION brought the other two to the fore. Which to choose? The one that’s farthest along.

Finish, move on. That’s my motto these days. Quit waffling, write.

This month’s question: how do you know your story is ready? It’s a feeling in my gut. Deadlines help. I’m more a pantser than a plotter, but I do know how the story will end. When I get there, I revise, edit, proof. Repeat. Let go. That last is the hardest. I can always find something to add, something to change, a typo, a better word. 

Letting go is like putting your kindergartener on the school bus. Hard to do. But a must.


Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today.

82 comments:

  1. Hooray!! Congrats on such a wonderful month. Always great to read when fellow IWSG members are feeling so good!

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    1. Thanks, Julie. Too often I've moaned & groaned. LOL

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  2. Awesome wordage! Whew! I can't imagine running a blog tour AND writing at the same time...but then I tend to take on too much. *sigh* Hey, way to go.

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    1. Thanks, Crystal. Blog tours can be exhausting but exhilarating at the same time.

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  3. I like your statement: Quit waffling, write! Congrats on a good writing month and book release.
    Mary at Play off the Page

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    1. Thanks, Mary. I hope I can keep the writing momentum going.

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  4. Wow! You DID get a lot done this past month. Congratulations! I'm not sure any writer is completely sure when a story is finished, we simply have to let go and move on to the next story.

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  5. You did have a great month. Go you! I hope October continues to be awesome. :)

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  6. September was a great month for you! Way to go! Congratulations on your new book! All that promoting and still finding time to write is awesome. I wish I had known about that Book-in-Week challenge. I love joining those kinds of things. I'll have to keep a watch for the next one.

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    1. Thanks, Tricia. I never tried BIAW before. It's a great motivator.

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  7. Congratulations, Diane. Happy to hear you are back into the swing of things. Your September month was exactly what you needed to get you back in touch with your writing.
    All the best.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Patricia

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    1. You're right, Pat. It was just what I needed. Thanks.

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  8. I'm clapping - can you hear me!! I'm so pleased for you Diane. Sounds like you've had a great month. It is so exhilirating when that happens - I'm hoping this month will be my turn :) Congratulations on everything you've achieved, thus far!! Keep enjoying the journey and the writing. Take care.

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    1. Is that what the noise was? I thought it was thunder. LOL Thanks, Nicola.

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  9. Diane, it's great to have those months! I hope to have a similar month during NaNoWriMo next month.

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    1. I hope you do have a great November. It's a great boost.

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  10. You did great! Always good to appreciate and celebrate our accomplishments instead of beat ourselves up for what we failed to do.

    Good luck and God's blessings
    PamT

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  11. I envy your ability to handle more than one WIP. It made my head spin reading the list of things you've been working on. Well done.

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  12. Productivity thy name art Diane! Go you!

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  13. Congrats on an awesome September! I'm going to try to take your advice, "Quit waffling, write!", to heart. Here's to another good month!

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  14. This is so encouraging! I love that you had a productive month not just launching a book but working on another one. I am so motivated by writers who can get things done. congrats!

    Here's my October IWSG post: Top 10 Ways to know if you're ready to share your writing

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    1. Thanks, Steph. Getting things done hasn't always been the case. It felt good celebrating.

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  15. I'm glad you had such a productive month. You should feel great. You've earned each and every smile. :-)

    Anna from elements of emaginette

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  16. I'm so glad you had such a fantastic month. Go you! Also glad you're in PT for your back. Wishing you continued success!

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    1. Thanks, Elsie. After today's PT, I'm not so sure about it. LOL The therapist pushes to the edge. He says I need to do the home exercises more. I tried telling him it cuts into my writing time. He didn't buy it.

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  17. What an amazing month! And you're right--it is like putting your little one on the bus.

    @mirymom1 from
    Balancing Act

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    1. THanks, Samantha. Pushing that ms out the door is hard.

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  18. Congrats on your great month. I wish I had accomplished half so much.

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    1. Thanks, Susan. After months of doing little, this felt good.

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  19. Wow! Congratulations on all of your hard work!!!
    And yes, we have to let go of our stories . . .

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  20. Yay for having such a great month! A book release and lots of writing progress at the same time. Can't beat that. "Quit waffling, write." Short and to the point. Love it.

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    1. Easy to say, hard to do, Lori. I can be such a waffler. LOL

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  21. I can't wait to read the next Alex O'Hara book! So glad you had a super productive month.

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    1. Thanks, Patty. That's my I Will Write a Book entry. I'd sure like to finish it in time.

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  22. You were beyond productive in September! I feel like such a slug.
    Cool your main character is named Alex.

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    1. Thanks, Alex. I've been a slug most of this year. My Alex is Alexandra. Hope you don't mind.

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  24. Congratulations on a super productive month and the progress on your 3rd book in the Alex O’Hara PI mystery series. Words to tape over my computer: Qit waffling, just write." I love it!

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    1. Thanks, Lee. The progress slowed yesterday with visiting blogs. I need to ramp it up today.

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  25. quit, not qit. I cannot get this right tonight.

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  26. Wow, September was awesome for you. Here's hoping October will be just as productive.

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    1. Thanks, Lynda. Best wishes on your new release.

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  27. Wow! I am inspired. What a productive month. I always have trouble when I try to work on too many projects at once.

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    1. Thanks, Doreen. Too many projects means nothing gets done.

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  28. Hooray on all the progress! I have many projects, so I figure out which I want to focus on on a sliding scale, month to month. It's great to find what works for you!

    I don't know about that analogy with the bus, though - my kids are 15 and 12 now, and we've never put either of them on the bus. It's a whole different kind of adventure!

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    1. Thanks, Shan. My Hubs never rode a school bus, either. He walked to school. But our kids did and the grandkidies do, too. As you say, another kind of adventure.

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  29. Congrats on such an awesome month - perhaps you're one of those people who thrive on pressure?

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    1. Exactly. Give me a deadline and I'll work extra hard to meet it. Thanks, Angela. And thanks for co-hosting this month.

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  30. Your productivity is definitely inspiring! Congrats! Love your motto, and so true, the comparison between letting children go and letting the writing BE in the end. Christy

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  31. Congrats on that third book! I'm still in low gear and going uphill on mine. The third one seems to be the hardest. I'm best under pressure, too.

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    1. Thanks. I agree about the 3rd book in a series.

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  32. Wow, Diane! Kudos to you for your productive month! Wishing you an October just as fulfilling! It's that gut feeling about a story that is usually spot on. You're process is a lot like mine except that I never know the ending. It's revealed to me as I write. I may have a vague ending, like she dies or they marry, but that's about it. Good luck with your newest book!

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    1. Thank you. My endings are vague, too, before I get there. Or maybe it's the way I get to the ending that's vague. :)

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  33. Congratulations, Diane you did have a productive month with lots of great things to celebrate. Hope this month is a good one too.

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  34. Yep, it's that letting 'baby' go that is proving pretty tough for me.

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    1. This is our baby we're throwing out there. Of course, it's hard. Think Elsa and let it go.

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  35. I've got to get better at pushing the work through to 'polished' then 'out'! Maybe the deadline idea would work for me too :)

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    1. I usually don't hit my original (self-imposed) deadlines. But they are something to aim for. Can't hurt to try it.

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  36. That's a lot of work!
    I hope you're feeling better!
    Heather

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  37. Wow--you have been really productive, not just busy, in September. Good for you! Love the analogy about letting go of your story. Thanks for sharing.

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  38. Seems like a great month all around. And I love your motto: Quit waffling, write. I will adopt it.

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  39. You did have a good month. 11K word count is super. My September was kind of okay where writing was concerned.

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    1. Thanks, Rachna. I've had great months, okay months, and not-good months. I like this one best. :)

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  40. Wow - you had a fantastic month! I can't believe you did your book release, blog tour and wrote so many words. Well done :-)

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    1. Thanks, Ellen. This month is going a lot slower.

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  41. Congratulations on a great month, Diane! You deserve it.

    Letting go is the hardest part of the process for me as well. Still working on that.

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    1. Thanks, J.H. We're all working on that hard part.

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  42. Thanks for visiting my blog. I survived Hurricane Matthew and the move. Glad to be back online. I'm more a panster than plotter too. Congrats on such a successful month too.

    Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

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