Never Stop Writing

Posted on June 6, 2023 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This month’s question is: If you ever did stop writing, what would you replace it with?

Never Stop Writing

At a recent monthly writer’s meeting, where we were going around updating members on what we were doing writing-wise, I made the announcement of:

After 53 years of writing, I have finally found my niche.

My announcement got a laugh. It was the truth, and I know others could probably relate, though I doubt any of the others were older than me or have been writing as long as I have.

I started writing when I was 19. I received my first byline when I was 25. The genres and fields of writing, most of which include more bylines and publications have been in:

  • Poetry
  • Nonfiction how-to book
  • How-to articles
  • Short stories – romances, mysteries
  • Erma Bombeck-like essays about life, motherhood, and marriage, which became a weekly newspaper column for five years
  • Children’s novel.
  • Romance novels
  • National organization in-house magazine columns
  • Mystery novel, series
  • Screenplays – I LOVE writing screenplays!
  • More poetry, with some education behind it
  • Playwriting
  • Flash Fiction
  • Literary fiction – short stories
  • Creative nonfiction
  • Academic papers – oh dear god, there were so many
  • Ph.D. Dissertation – nonfiction at its most boring.
  • Epic Fantasy novel – would be my first book published as an indie publisher
  • Cookbook
  • Anthology – both as an editor and contributor
  • Romance novella series
  • How-to resource books for writers
  • Psychological thrillers aka Gothic mystery

It’s this last genre where I am enraptured, enthused, impassioned, and excited beyond measure to be writing. I toyed with the genre while working on my cop suspense script and my horror script, but right now, these two projects are worlds away from what I’ve done in the past.

After 53 years of writing, I have finally found my niche. My advice for any writer is, if you love writing, don’t ever stop. You never know when you’ve finally hit your stride. The thought of replacing that writing time with something else was never appealing enough. It only made me write more.

To appear in fall 2023 in the Greater Detroit Romance Writers’ anthology:

Harbor House: Say You Will

A Historical Gothic Romance Novella

1922 – Two men want her. One she proposed to years ago; the other she’s about to marry. Both are telling lies. Both become involved when she starts to repair and restore the isolated Lake Huron Island home her lumber baron grandfather deserted when his wife died giving birth to her father, and which she wants to turn into a luxury vacation hotel. One of the two men is secretly scandalizing her family, using the home for unlawful activities. The other can save her family and reveal the crimes. During the restoration, she happens upon a mysterious locked door that puts her life in danger.

To appear in 2024:

Harbor House: Last Blood

A Gothic Psychological Paranormal Thriller

When she discovers, via a DNA test her boyfriend gifts her with, that she’s the last relative of a lumber baron who lived in northern Michigan on the shores of Lake Huron, she wants to restore the large island home to its former glory and turn it into a vacation B&B. Shortly upon her arrival, the home’s ghostly past makes itself known, putting her life in danger, forcing her to question everything, including her own sanity.

What do you think? Are you excited, too?

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 writers. This group is all about connecting!

Posted in #IWSG, Procrastination | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Art of Mastering (or Avoiding) Procrastination

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Dr. Diana Stout

Are you thinking about the novel (or any project) you want to start or finish but you find yourself procrastinating about it? Or, is it writer’s block that has you pausing?

Do you find yourself wondering if procrastination and writer’s block are one and the same, or could they be kissing cousins?

Do you ever wonder why you’re procrastinating?

What would you say to learning that there’s a science and purpose to procrastination no matter how much you desire in accomplishing it?

Did you know that different brain waves affect your creativity?

Did you know procrastination can be dealt with head-on or subtly without anguish and pain?

Want to uncover the roots of your procrastination, so that you can get writing again or move forward on your dream desire?

Got a project that you’ve been struggling with in either finishing or starting? If so, come join my June 5-16 Master Class, Using (& Avoiding) Procrastination.

By using any or all of my methods offered, procrastination will never be your master again.

But, act fast! Don’t procrastinate about signing up! The class is limited to 25 people!

I WANT TO KNOW MORE

From time to time, Dr. Stout acknowledges that she procrastinates, but now, she knows exactly why she’s doing it. Considering she published 4 books last year and is on her way to publishing 4 or 5 this year, she feels she’s mastered the beast. Procrastinating is now a choice with reason. Her classes and presentations are about sharing what she’s learned, wanting to help others reach their greatest desires.

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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Posted in #IWSG, Goals, Motivation, Procrastination | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Writing Career Path: Finding the Joy

Posted on April 4, 2023 by Dr. Diana Stout

While writing a book wasn’t the start of my writing career, I do remember when I decided to write a book and how the excitement of possibilities appealed to me.

At the time, I was reading a book a day—mostly romances. Those slim, Silhouette and Harlequin romance books that had new titles every month. The books read fast and left me feeling good and filled with hope.

How hard could it be to write them?

Actually, it was way harder than I had imagined. While it looks easy, it really isn’t. It took me a year and a half to write that first book. Selling it was another matter altogether.

It took writing five books to learn about determination, needing a plan (more like an outline), diligence, and sheer grit. Along with agony and disappointment.

I was writing the first few books in an era where there were no computers, only typewriters. Where you had to have an agent in order to submit your manuscript to the publisher. And, where all manuscripts were mailed via USPS, where it could take months or a year to hear back from the agent, let alone the publisher.

Thankfully, the computer came into being amid writing those books. Rewriting became easier. Not much else became easier, though.

Early in my career, I was successful in writing short nonfiction via a newspaper column and then magazine articles. Writing nonfiction, whether creative nonfiction, academic, or technical came easy and still does. I was published in nonfiction within a couple years.

Writing fiction, however, was much harder and required a lot of trial and error. I wrote piles of romance short stories before attempting my first novel.

I remember taking one of those Harlequin books and wrapping it using the brown paper from a paper bag like we used to do with school textbooks, and I put my book’s title on the cover along with my name. I planted that book in front of my typewriter.

I had a goal.

It would take 12 years before I would publish my first book. I nearly gave up in the 10th year. Why? I had sworn that if I hadn’t published a book by the time I was 40, I’d stop trying. When I turned 40, I was too close to quit.

In fact, one author friend said, “Diana, it’s like your heels are on the edge of the cliff and yet you don’t fall off the cliff. I don’t get why you aren’t published.” My heels had been on that cliff for over seven years.

I didn’t get it either. I’d had two agents come and go, I placed in contests, and every editor said they loved my writing, but…

At 42, it took my being in the right place at the right time to connect with an editor whose publication house was entering the romance genre for me to become a published author. My book was their introduction into the field and they hyped that book heavily.

Two more books published with another house followed quickly, with a sale of a fourth book to yet another house.

Since then, it’s been a fun-filled journey of writing—screenplays, stage plays, poetry, academic writing, a dissertation, more contests, more awards, blogging, and becoming an indie publisher where I’ve now published 14 books, with plans for several more publications this year; Tangled Passions, the fifth book in a series of seven was published on Valentine’s Day.

My writing career has endured the highs and the lows for over fifty years, and finally, after much experimentation and meeting various challenges, I’m finding the genres where my writing joy truly thrives.

Looking back, I’m grateful for the entire journey. It’s been quite the process where the joys outweighed the disappointments. Even the frustrations were short-lived.

May everyone experience such joy.

*****

This year, Dr. Stout expects to publish the last two romance novellas in the Laurel Ridge Novella series, a writer’s resource book, a historical Gothic romance for an anthology, along with a comedy screenplay. Additionally, she’s plotting a Gothic novel and finishing up several other writer resource books. In June, she’ll be teaching a two-week Master Class, “Using (& Avoiding) Procrastination.” To learn more, click here. If interested, sign up soon! Class is limited to 25.

*****

Purpose of The Insecure Writer’s Group: 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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #IWSG, Inspiration, Motivation, Publishing books, Writer at Work, writing, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Author Envy?

Posted on March 1, 2023 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This month’s question for March 1 is: Have you ever read a line in a novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy?

Author Envy?

I read sentences and phrases in books all the time that stop me in my tracks, where I’ll reread the sentence several times, soaking up its art and beauty, its construction and perfection. But, envy? No. Never. Admiration? Always!

An unforgettable read in January comes from Verity by Colleen Hoover. She’s describing the house and ends the paragraph, page 44 with:

Ivy covers the left side of the house, but instead of charming, it’s threatening—like a slow-moving cancer.

And then, the end of the next paragraph, same page:

My mother used to say that houses have a soul, and if that is true, the soul of Verity Crawford’s house is as dark as they come.

I was hooked by the promised creepiness of a dark ride into the terror of Gothic fiction.

My intent when writing is that I, too, can create that kind of artistic beauty for my readers, catching them unaware, anticipating the journey before them.

Currently, I’m finishing the last two novellas in my romance series of Lauren Ridge and am working on a nonfiction book that will help writers, but at the same time, I’m also plotting out a new Nicholas Sparks-like romance and two different Gothic suspense stories. I’m excited to be writing all of these stories.

That said, it’s time for me to return to my word for the year: FOCUS! Get that writing done!

*****

Purpose of The Insecure Writer’s Group: 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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #amwriting, #IWSG, Blogging | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Cover Adventures: Creating Covers

Posted on January 31, 2023 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This month’s question for February 1 is: If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?

Cover Adventures: Creating Covers

My first three books were traditionally published in the 1990s with two different publishers.

While I wasn’t thrilled with the cover of my first book, The Man on the Romance Cover (’93), at least the faces matched the magazine pictures I had sent them, providing a sense of how I saw the characters.

With the second and third books, Tomorrow’s Wishes (’94) and New Beginnings (’96) published by Avalon Books, who sold books chiefly to libraries, I had no say in the covers and wasn’t consulted. I mailed them the manuscript each time, and then one day a box of books would appear on my doorstep.

When I began to write fulltime—my dream come true—and became an indie author/publisher, I already had the rights back from those first three published books, so I updated the books’ text, retitled them, and created new covers, using my artistic background and formatting education.

My designs were okay but needed something more. I found a cover designer, loving her work. She took my designs and improved them, then created Grendel’s Mother from just an idea. I provided the stock photos for my seven Laurel Ridge novella covers, along with three other books. She did a fantastic job with all the covers and was a joy to work with. She left the business upon the birth of her second child.

A designer from a writer’s group I recently joined introduced herself with a redo cover of that nonfiction Fire book—a cover that was gorgeous, but the design didn’t fit my overall series design. Quickly, through a Zoom meeting, we became friends and I mentioned that I needed a cover for my Christmas story screenplay that I was publishing, Charlie’s Christmas Carole. She’s an absolute delight to work with, so I’ll be using her for future books.

With the help of a good friend, we redid Love’s New Beginnings, and then she helped me create the template for my non-fiction, Finding Your Fire & Keeping It Hot, which is the first in a series of books that writers will find helpful. I’ll be creating the other covers now that I have the template

With the anthology, Lost and Found that I edited and was a contributing author, the lead author and I designed that book’s front cover, which then I finished the spine and the back.

As an indie author/publisher, all of my covers have been a collaboration, where I find the main stock photo, relay my idea for additions, and then the designer takes what I’ve presented and runs with it, adding their spin, which is always perfect.

I enjoy seeing my visions come to life, and it allows me a bit of artistry playtime now that I’m not painting or sketching anymore. I put that hobby aside in favor of writing decades ago because I saw writing as a career, wanting to devote the bulk of my time to it.

Today, I would have trouble handing over total design of my covers to a publisher, even one of the big five publishers. I would always want to have a voice, even if only a small one.

*****

Purpose of The Insecure Writer’s Group: 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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

The awesome co-hosts for the February 1 posting of the IWSG are Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner!

Posted in #IWSG, Covers, Laurel Ridge novellas, Publishing books, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

My Word for the Year

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This month’s question for January 4 is: Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year?

My Word for the Year

I’m a spreadsheet geek.

It’s a new year, so I set up my 2023 spreadsheet and because I’m an analytical geek, as well, I calculated my 2022 writing hours. Here’s how I spent last year’s writing time:

  • 22.18% promoting
  • 15.75% teaching, coaching & mentoring
  • 13.03% in meetings
  • 9.298% on writing tasks

for a total of 60.24% of time spent on writing-related activities other than actual writing.

That meant I was only writing new words, rewriting, editing, polishing, and formatting for only 39.76% of the time.

Eye-opening for sure! Surprising, too, considering I had published five books in 2022 but wasn’t seeing good outcomes in the promotions. As a result, in 2023, I will work to reverse those two numbers. Why? Chiefly, because I recognize that ads don’t really sell books. Readers, via their word-of-mouth accolades, sell books.

So, to spend more time in actual writing and publishing to build up my body of work and less on promoting and other writing tasks, I need to be better focused.

And, that’s how my word for the year became:

FOCUS

I know I’ll be publishing the last three novellas to my romance series, another non-fiction motivational / how-to book—this one on grammar and punctuation, and I have ideas for other projects I want to start plotting. This focus should better help me manifest my writing desires, which means producing more product, which then should attract more readers.

But, wouldn’t you know it. Since I just released my newest book, Charlie’s Christmas Carole, a family Christmas screenplay with paranormal moments that readers say should be a movie, I need to do some promotional work. All the while, I’m whispering, focus, focus, focus, which makes me eager to get back to producing the last three Laurel Ridge novellas.

By the way, Shattered Dreams, the first story in the series, will be free for all readers on Jan 10-14.

How about you? Have you read Shattered Dreams, yet? A second-chance story of love, about two high school sweethearts who were brutally separated and have met up again a decade later?

Also, what’s your word for 2023? What’s the inspiration behind it? I’d like to know!

*****

Purpose of The Insecure Writer’s Group: 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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

The next IWSGTwitter Pitch will be January 25, 2023!
Check out details on our #IWSGPit page.
Posted in #IWSG, Motivation | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Writing Through the Holidays

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This month’s question for Dec 7 is: It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

Writing Through the Holidays

Over 50 years ago, I dreamed of the day when I would be writing full-time, surrounded by books. For most of those years, I was writing on holidays.

In my 20s & 30s: Christmas school vacations meant no writing during the day as the kids were home. We’d fill our time with fun activities and major writing would wait until school started again in the new year. My office was a spare bedroom that also served as a storage room, and I had a couple bookcases in the living room.

In my 40s: This decade was a mixed bag of events of non-writing jobs where I worked on both sides of any holiday, writing on the holiday. Once I became an empty-nester, if I wasn’t traveling during Christmas, I spent it writing. One of the three bedrooms became my office and contained a few bookcases.

In my 50s: Major writing transitions occurred in this decade. From writing a few hours a week because I worked full-time in business to working full-time and going to school full-time. I traded creative writing for academic writing. Midway through the decade, I began teaching full-time while still a full-time student. I collected research and reference books—filling my one-bedroom apartment with 17 double-stacked bookcases. My office was a corner in the living room. During the holidays, I was either writing academic papers or grading student paper, writing comments on them.

In my 60s: Life-altering events filled this decade. Two years after receiving my Ph.D., the campus where I chaired the English department closed, so I retired and became a full-time indie author and publisher, living the dream of writing full-time while surrounded by books. Most Christmases, I was writing while my kids and their families celebrated the day with in-laws.

In my 70s: A new decade for me, where I continue living my dream. I have fewer bookcases, though, having downsized my living space. My daughter says that I’m the only one she knows who has an office that comes with a bedroom and kitchen as the living room is my office.

Hard to believe I’ve been writing for over 50 years. Most of my writing was performed in spare moments: editing at stop lights, playgrounds, airports, or dictating while driving. Huge chunks of creative writing time before retirement were rare. Plus, I sacrificed a social life in exchange for a writing life.

These days, every day is a writing day, even the holidays. In fact, I rarely know what day it is.

The journey getting here is all the sweeter because I recognize writing full-time wasn’t the actual dream. Getting the writing done and published was the dream. From that perspective, I’ve done well.

A dream can come true if you want it bad enough to take advantage of the small moments and keep that dream forever forward in your thoughts and plans.

Merry Christmas!

*****

Purpose of The Insecure Writer’s Group: 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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #IWSG, Persistance | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

7 Reasons Why I Love NaNoWriMo

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The question for this month is: November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

7 Reasons Why I Love NaNoWriMo

The first year I participated in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or Nano) was in 2013.

I didn’t participate in 2014, but I’ve participated every year since 2015. Only in the last two years have I been able to meet the goal of writing 50,000 words, because I discovered a secret about Nano that isn’t highly advertised—my #1 reason for loving Nano.

 My 7 Reasons

  1. I can edit for 50 hours instead of writing 50,000 new words. One hour of editing is the equivalent of writing 1,000 words.
  2. I’m forced to concentrate on just one project rather than my usual 2, 3, or 4 projects.
  3. Forced to concentrate on only one project, it’s likely to be finished and published soon.
  4. My daily writing habits are reinforced.
  5. I work best with deadlines and since I’m an indie author, I have only self-determined deadlines… rarely met. Weekly and monthly deadlines I can handle, but end-date deadlines, I blow right past them. Participating in Nano provides that 50 hours/50,000 words deadline.
  6. I know that thousands of other writers are huddled over the keyboard, doing the same as I am. It’s comforting knowing that.
  7. I enjoy seeing projects I started years ago come to the forefront again and become published books or screenplays.

*****

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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #IWSG | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

October’s Glory

Posted on October 4, 2022 by Dr. Diana Stout

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The question for this month is: What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

Because I have a number of favorite genres, that question becomes long in answering. Instead, I’m choosing to write about my favorite month of the year: October.

October’s Glory

As much as I had to see summer end because it means having to shut the windows and doors and blocking the sounds of nature—mostly the birds—I am absolutely thrilled when October arrives. Here are the many reasons why I love it so.

My favorite season, fall, is finally here!

The vibrant and picture-worth colors start arriving. Reds, orange, yellow, lots of various greens and browns, where the trees become a fashion parade of brilliance. Breathtaking around every corner and at every glance. If only those colors could last longer than just a couple weeks.

The air becomes crisp, requiring a light jacket in the morning and evenings. If the temps do warm up a bit, there’s a cool undertone just waiting for the warmer temp to slip up so that it can sneak in again.

The food – Candy corn! Pumpkin pie, the bounty of vegetables from the garden, casseroles, soups, chili!

Cuddling up under a blanket.

SWEATERS! Need I say more?

And, it’s my birthday month. What better way than to celebrate my favorite month, my favorite season, right?

How about you? Do you enjoy October?

*****

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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

Posted in #amwriting, #IWSG, Writer at Work, Writing Behind the Scenes | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Why You Want to Be Passionate About Your Writing: (and 9 suggestions on how to find that passion)

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Dr. Diana Stout

Writing with Passion

By Diana Stout, MFA, PhD

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The question for this month is: What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?

I write in multiple genres. Basically, I could write in any genre I chose provided my passion remains high; therefore, there isn’t any one genre that would be worse than another, but It wasn’t always that way. In the beginning, I struggled in the fiction genre and had to learn how to find and keep my passion high for those projects.

I’m in a lot of writing forums online, where a good number of the members are relatively new writers. The comments I see repeatedly are:

  • I’m bored with my characters. What should I do?
  • I can’t think of anything to write about. Can you (meaning all of us) give me some ideas?
  • I don’t read [insert genre, like romance, mysteries, sci-fi] and I’m writing one. Is that a problem?
  • I only write now and then, when I feel like it. How do I become more interested?
  • What must I do to write every day?

You get the idea. They sound a bit lost, don’t they?

I remember when I first started writing feeling that same way.

  • I didn’t write every day.
  • Halfway through a manuscript, I became bored with my characters.
  • Writer’s block became a constant companion.

My one redemption was that I read a lot. Basically, a book a day, reading both fiction and non-fiction. And when I started writing, I was reading in the genres I wanted to write.

While reading can broaden and deepen your writing skills to a point, it’s about the practice of writing that creates the difference between an experienced writer and an aspiring writer.

Suggestion #1 – If you’re going to be a writer, you need to read more than just the genre you’re writing in. Read fiction and nonfiction, read how-to books about the craft of writing. Read articles and books about writers. Read their blogs. Read everything.

Suggestion #2 – While you’re reading, pay attention to the writing structure, the use of the authors’ words and phrases. Reread passages that take your breath away or have you nodding your head. What are they doing that you’re not doing? I learned more about how to write fiction by reading screenplays than I did by reading other novels. Be willing to diversify.

Suggestion #3 – Write every day. Every. Single. Day. Even if it’s only ten or fifteen minutes to start with. Even if you don’t want to do it. Just do it.

Suggestion #4 – Write every day using the same tools, in the same place. What you’re doing is creating a habit. When I sit at my desk every day, I know that while I may dink around a bit cleaning my desk and answering emails, I will be writing eventually. Even if only for ten minutes on certain days. Most days, once I settle in, I’m writing anywhere from 3-10 hours—writing new words, editing, or polishing.

Suggestion #5 – If you’re not interested in writing in your current WIP, then write something else. Write a blog, or a letter to the universe (no one in particular) where you rant about a problem, which then you destroy the letter afterward. Or better yet, turn your rant into a blog, putting a positive spin on it. Write a list of questions that you then find answers by researching qualitative websites.

Suggestion #6 – Have no ideas on what to write? Then create a list of everything that interests you, or list your complaints, list what you’d love to share with other writers, characters you love, books you love, then list why you love them. Guess what? In generating a list, you’ve spent time writing! Ideas will come from the list-making.

Suggestion #7 – Bored with your characters or their story? Guess what? If you’re bored, so will be your readers. When I’ve lost interest in my characters, that tells me that I don’t know them well enough, yet. As a result, I get stuck (some call it writer’s block) in my story, not knowing what should come next. It means, I need to go back to the beginning and add to their character development, dig deeper into their personalities, ask questions until they’re spilling their guts.

Suggestion #8 – Being stuck means I need to go back and create more conflict for those characters based on their decisions. Once my characters can make me laugh out loud as they dictate dialogue or because of their actions, I know my readers will laugh too. My characters’ ability to make me laugh or turn the page—no matter how many times I’ve read the pages—tells me I have found my passion for that project again.

Suggestion #9 – If none of these suggestions are working for you, have you considered reading my book, Finding Your Fire & Keeping It Hot? (available at any bookseller). In it, I share a lot of reasons why your passion has disappeared, more than I could list here.

This book was the foundation of a class I just finished teaching, and where students were saying that my book had changed their lives. They had found their passion to write again.

My desire in writing the book was to share with other writers the research I had done and the steps I took to find and maintain my writing passion, keeping it hot most days.

What’s your writing passion level these days?

  • Cold and dead?
  • Somewhat warm?
  • Or hot like mine?

*****

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 – and return comments. This group is all about connecting.

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

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