It's that time again.
The 1st Wednesday of the month is Insecure Writers Support Group, the
brainchild Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
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!
Thanks, Alex, for
starting this group and keeping it going. And thanks to this month's awesome
hosts: Jennifer Hawes, Jen Chandler, Nick Wilford, Juneta Key, JH Moncrieff, Diane Burton, and MJ Fifield!
Have you heard of BIAW (Book in a Week)? It’s a challenge
like NaNo, only a week long instead of a whole month. The
main premise of this challenge (offered by the Kiss of Death RWA online
chapter four times a year) is “to get a solid storyline
down, a good rough draft of your beginning, middle and ending, and an in-depth
idea of your main characters, so by the end of the week you'll have ‘a novel
idea’ you can flesh-out and build upon.” It runs for seven days, Monday
through Sunday. No word count goals, except what you set for yourself.
In October, I participated and wrote over 8k words. My goal
this time was 10k. I wrote over 11,000 words from November 28th
through December 4th. This was exactly what I needed to give me a
good kick in the pants to finish the PI mystery I’ve been dogging around on
most of the year. I didn’t do all the advance prep that they suggest since I
had a good chunk of the story already written.
I’m not sure why I’ve had such difficulties with this story.
It might be because I’m normally a pantser, and I’d figured out the whole story before writing. I knew what would happen in scenes. I knew most of the characters
well. Just like a good plotter (even if I didn’t write everything down). Perhaps
that was the problem. I’d already “told” the story. There were very few
surprises.
Whatever the cause, as you can see off to the right, I’m
nearly finished with The Case of the
Meddling Mama. Thanks to BIAW.
December 7 Question: In terms of your writing career, where do you
see yourself five years from now, and what’s your plan to get there?
What a great question. I’ve planned one year ahead but not
five before—although if you treat writing as your business, which I do, you
should have a five-year plan. I plan to get one of my books into the Top 100 on
Amazon. How? Another good question and the hardest. Active marketing (paid and
free) and, most importantly, by writing stronger books.
As you see above, I have the privilege of being one of the
co-hosts this month. I’m looking forward to getting around to seeing those on
my list, as well as everyone I can get to.
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.
