Tag Archives: #IWSG

Are You a New Writer?

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The January 3 question: Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors?

Are You a New Writer?

Rather than talk about who I follow on BookBub, because it’s the new year, I decided to address new writers, instead. I guess that’s the teacher in me: new year, new semester, ­new students.

I remember back to when I was a new writer, too. What I share with you are the things that best helped me as a new writer.

Read anything and everything. Read from writers you admire, notice their style, their voice. Read specific genres. Read across the genres. Read all the how-to books you can. Not only the newest publications, but older books, too.

Write a lot. Don’t worry about structure with your first drafts. Don’t edit or delete; just write. Write scenes of your desired genre. Or, just write whatever comes to mind and not worry about genre. Don’t worry about completing a book at this point. Instead, concentrate on making the dialogue sound true and creating believable characters.

Follow writers you admire. Learn about their process, any advice they offer. Take everything with a grain of salt, however, because no two writers follow the same process.

Subscribe to writing newsletters and writing blog; they’ll provide how-to information you need. Use that which sounds good for you.

Look for a critique partner or critique group you can join. In the beginning, you’ll be swapping writings with anyone and everyone. In time, you’ll want to vet them just as they should be vetting you. You want someone who will be honest, telling you what doesn’t work and why. Ideally, you want someone who writes in your genre or is knowledgeable about your genre.

Above all else, be open to hearing comments about your work and suggestions of how you can improve it. You don’t have to like everything suggested or even use it; and, don’t defend your work either. Just say thank you. What they provide and how they provide it will determine if you want to continue critiquing with them.

Attend conferences and make connections. Attending a conference is no place to be shy. Introduce yourself and then ask about their writing. People love to talk about themselves! Create elevator pitches, too. Don’t know what they are? Google elevator pitch. If you go with a group, don’t sit with them at every event. Sit away from them from so you can meet new people.

Create a business card. Make it simple. List yourself as a writer with contact information. That’s all you need.

Don’t think about a publisher or agent, yet. It’s too early. You’re just getting started. That said, any opportunity to hear an agent or publisher talk, sign up! Call it research; it’s a way to determine what kind of agent you want and what kind house you want to publish with. Don’t discount becoming an indie publisher, though. Do the research to compare your options.

Enter contests: local, regional, and national. Choose those that provide some kind of feedback. Consider who’s judging the contests, too. Consider if you were to win, would you get to meet with an agent, publisher, or production companies?

Find a writer’s group nearby or online and attend regularly. Check out past meetings to see what presentations they offered. You want a writer’s group that will help you grow as a writer, a group that provides you with quality takeaway.

If you are in a writing group, consider becoming a volunteer. It’s a great way to make connections. However, any volunteer work you do will take time away from your writing. Be prepared.

Learn and master basic grammar and punctuation. Both agents and publishers want polished work; meaning, reasonably clean work, not work riddled with errors on every page.

And, I can’t repeat this direction often enough: WRITE A LOT! The more you write, the better you’ll become. Practice writing is no different from practicing the piano, hitting the ball, or riding the wave. Dedicated, regular practice improves!

Check out my Recommended Reading page on my website! I’ve got a great list of how-to resources and am adding to the list every month.

And, one last reminder about my two-week Master Class, Punctuation and Grammar Made Easy, starting Jan 6, 2024 with limited seating. So, sign up now! There may still be a seat or two left.

*****

Dr. Diana Stout appreciates her readers and fans and would love for you to sign up for her announcement only newsletter. She promises that your mailbox will love you because the newsletter is only sent out with new release information, discounts, freebies, and giveaways. And, if the season is right, she might provide a recipe from her own cookbook.

Learn more about Dr. Stout at her website, Sharpened Pencils Productions.

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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.

The One Book Review Every Author Wants

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

The December 6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book review, do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

The One Book Review Every Author Wants

In my opinion, book reviews are for readers.

Ideally, the reviews should be about the writing: is the plot good, are the characters likable? Is it a book you enjoyed?

If you didn’t enjoy it, what in particular didn’t you like about it? How it ended? That words unknown to you were used? That there were grammar and punctuation errors on every page?

What’s sad is when a reviewer leaves a 1 star and states that the package arrived torn and the book destroyed. That review has nothing to do with the writing and everything to do with the shipping, of which the author has no control or involvement. So why penalize the author with that type of review?

I may read a book that isn’t my cup of tea but that doesn’t mean the writing isn’t any good. In most cases, the writing is incredible; it’s just that I’m becoming bored because as a writer, I know how it’s going to end. So, I skip to the last chapter and read it. Yup, sure enough. I want to read a book that stirs my emotions or has me guessing as to its outcome.

The thing is, I would never leave a bad review because of my own biases. I leave a review because the writing is good, giving it a good score, putting my bias aside. I know many other readers would enjoy it.

I’ll promote good writing every time. Reviews are subjective and each review is just one person’s opinion, that person’s opinion.

I’ve learned if one friend recommends a book, I probably won’t read it. Her likes and mine aren’t the same. However, if another friend recommends a book, I’ll check it out; she and I are reading similar genres and get excited about the same type of book—the psychological thriller.

The one review that can’t be bought is the word-of-mouth review. When your friend excitedly calls you and asks: Have you read XYZ yet? OMG, I couldn’t put it down. I was up until 3 a.m. last night finishing it!

The last books I read like that were The Martian by Andy Wier, Verity by Colleen Hoover, and Never Lie by Frieda McFadden. These are books I’d like to write; they’re intense and page-turners! They’re the standard I’d like to achieve and books that I highly recommend word-of-mouth.

For some fun reading, to clear my reading palette from the thriller intensity, I enjoy reading Amish romances by Mindy Steel and Sarah Price whose books are based on Jane Austen’s books and a few fairy tales.

What were your last few page-turner books?

*****

Dr. Diana Stout appreciates her readers and fans. One day she hopes to write a book that generates so much word-of-mouth advertising, thus motivating sales that she finally hits the milestone of earning the title of best-selling author and cross that goal off her bucket list.

Learn more about Dr. Stout at her website, Sharpened Pencils Productions.

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!

A Community of Writers

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Congratulations, Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh, as you celebrate IWSG’s 12th anniversary, achieving the status as one of Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers!

The question this month asks: When did you discover the IWSG, how do you connect, and how has it helped you?

A Community of Writers

I started a writing blog on May 13, 2010. Called Only for the Brave, originally that was the name of my five-year, weekly newspaper blog-like column I wrote back in the ’70s. Only for the Brave was about life as a writer.

A few years later, I started a second blog, Behind the Scenes, with a focus on the craft of writing. Around 2019, I combined the two into this blog you’re reading now.

During that same time period, my attention was drawn to the IWSG blog as two writer friends—Nancy Gideon and Diane Burton—had posts with the IWSG insignia and linking website each month. By May 2019, I was a member and have been writing monthly IWSG blog posts ever since.

What I like most about this group is that they’re all writers. They’re my tribe of people even though we’re in different seasons of success or angst. It’s comforting knowing that I’m not alone.

The benefits of belonging to this group of writers outweigh what can be seen as a negative for some—having to write a post each month, but that requirement is a positive actually. That have-to becomes motivation; it acts as an accountability partner. Any month I don’t post, I’ll lose my spot and be removed from the list, immediately. Those at the top of the list have been blogging since the group’s inception—12 years of monthly blogs!

Joining this group of bloggers motivates me to put my butt in the chair regularly. Any help we writers can get in that regard is always a plus.

I belong to a number of different communities of writers; this is just one kind of community that can help you as a writer.

*****

Dr. Diana Stout is an award-winning writer in multiple genres and media who enjoys helping other writers. She just published the last book of her Laurel Ridge romance series, Sweet Craving #7. The print book of all seven stories will be published later this month. Also, she’s working on a plotting workbook for writers.

In January 2024, she’ll be teaching a Master Class, Punctuation and Grammar Made Easy, with limited seating, so enroll now!

To receive updates and announcements subscribe to her newsletter. Learn more about Dr. Stout at her website, Sharpened Pencils Productions.

Her other blogs are:

  • Into the Core – a blog about her paranormal experiences and from time to time shares how you can strengthen your intuitive abilities.
  • Featured Guests with Diana Stout – an interview blog that features writers, editors, publishers, producers, and other guests who work in the writing industry.

*****

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!

How to Become Obsessed With Your WIP Again

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

How to Become Obsessed With Your WIP Again

(WIP = work in progress)

As a new writer, every story I started began with excitement for either the character, the plot, or both.

After a few chapters, though, the writing became a chore. Soon, writer’s block would set in. It pained me to not be working on it. Not wanting to work on it.

Sound like where you’ve been or where you are now?

Through trial and error, I discovered the secret to finding excitement again for every project should I lose interest. To finding that original fire I started with.

Now, anytime I’m struggling with any WIP, I know exactly what to do, which are two things, and they’re tied together.

  1. Go back to the characters
  2. Go back to the plot

Going back to the characters

The characters and I sit down for a long meeting. Sometimes these meetings take several days. I let them talk on paper, while I record what they’re saying. They can talk about anything they desire.

After a while, I’m noticing that their mood is changing. They’re remembering…events where I can see hidden emotions, so I start probing with questions like:  How did you feel about that? Did you ever resolve your feeling or talk to that person later? Why not? What would they have done differently if given the opportunity? And, so forth.

Soon, they’re talking about their wounds, the hurt(s) they’ve suffered. In talking about them, we can both see how the hurt led to their beliefs, their goals, and even their choice of partners and friends. They have their aha moments in these discussions.

Which leads us to going back to plot

We become a team as we examine the plotline and how we can have them butt up against their wound several times. What events we need to include.

They want to overcome that which has been holding them back. They want to become a better person. So, they help me layer in the emotions, the plants and payoffs, and create the necessary tension that leads to page-turning stories.

As I write the story, they become actors in their own stories. Interesting scenario, right?

Of course, we’re all crossing our fingers that we’ve created a memorable story, both in my writing and their acting.

*****

As I finish writing Sweet Cravings #7 of the Laurel Ridge romance series, the last book, I find myself saddened that my adventures with these seven couples is coming to an end. They’ve become a family of friends, strongly connected for past last few years, making me laugh at their hijinks and teasing. Me wishing I could run around with them.

But now, new characters in new projects are waiting backstage, eager to make their appearance. These new characters know the drill. They know we’ll be chatting for several days first, building both their arc and the plotline before word one is written.

No more getting stuck in the middle anymore for this writer.

It’s my secret to staying obsessed with every story I write. Wanna give it a try?

*****

Dr. Diana Stout is an award-winning writer in multiple genres and media who enjoys helping other writers.

She’s teaching a Master Class, Punctuation and Grammar Made Easy, in January 2024, with limited seating. Enroll now if you’re interested!

Be sure to subscribe to her From the Desk of Diana Stout MFA PhD newsletter to receive updates and announcements on her classes and publications.

Learn more about Dr. Stout at her website, Sharpened Pencils Productions.

Follow her new Facebook account here: DrDiana Stout. (She’s the only Dr Diana in Facebook – Her Diana Stout account was hacked where she no longer has access, so you’ll want to unfollow that account.)

*****

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!

Where Do My Story Ideas Come From?

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

This month’s question revolves around someone saying, “99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?”

Where Do My Story Ideas Come From?

I’m frequently asked where I get my story ideas and the answer can be covered in one word:

Everywhere

Here’s a sampling of some of the places I get my ideas from.

  • Dreams – but only two ideas have come from a dream. Really dark crime-filled dreams, one of which had me questioning reality. So vivid, I woke up wondering how it was that no one had found the body yet.
  • Conversations – mostly those I overhear in the booth next to me.
  • Books – a location, situation, or just a sentence can send me on a what if adventure.
  • Movies – especially those that have been redone in a creatively different way. I’m spurred by the originality that has me going down the what if rabbit hole.
  • Voices – yes, the ones I hear. It’s amazing how a character starts whispering in my ear, inspired by any of these other ideas, and starts laying out their idea of the storyline.
  • Landscapes & locations – the possibilities that pop up are magical
  • Old Houses – I don’t know what it is, but the minute I see certain old houses, lighthouses, bridges, and other structures, I hear/see the story too. It’s as if I’ve stepped into another era.

If you see me reading, then suddenly looking up and staring out the window… a new story has come to mind.

If I lived to be 300, I would never get to write all the stories that have been gifted to me.

So many stories to tell, so little time.

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!

Never Stop Writing

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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!

The Art of Mastering (or Avoiding) Procrastination

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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!

A Writing Career Path: Finding the Joy

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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.

Author Envy?

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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.

Cover Adventures: Creating Covers

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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.

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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!