.png)
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! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the May 3 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Meka James, Victoria Marie Lees, and M Louise Barbour!
The following link will allow you to peruse everyone in the Blog Hop.
Link | ISWG Blog Hop Participants
***************
May 3 question - When you are working on a story, what inspires you?
***************
Hello, friends!
How was everyone's April? Mine was quite busy. I'm a Municipal Liaison (fancy term for community organizer) for a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) region and April is a Camp NaNoWriMo month! Camp NaNo is a smaller version of the November NaNoWriMo during which you get to Choose Your Own Adventure. Instead of the typical 50k word goal, you can set your own word goal or an editing goal!
I'd set a 25k word goal for Camp, but this has been a slow month for me writing-wise since I finished my holiday romance draft! WHOOP WHOOP If you didn't see about me finally getting the draft finished you can read about it here: Finished First Draft + Excerpt
So that was a big accomplishment! Now I have to edit it! If you don't have time to check out the blog, one thing I was wondering about was what process you all like to follow to edit your first drafts? I'm looking for any tips and tricks to help me get through this editing process!
Editing is where I often fail in my path to publication process. I can finish the draft no problem! But then I put it on the proverbial shelf never to be seen again.
With finishing the draft, I also had a full week where I was in rehearsals all week for a two-night performance of Mozart's Requiem! I live an hour from the performance group so that involved at least 2 hours of driving each night. If you're a fan of classical music, I urge you to take a look at the blog I posted about it. We sang a different version of the Requiem than is typically heard! Link | Rosie sings Mozart's Requiem
So April was another busy month!
Professional News
This isn't really writing related, but in my day job life as an Instructional Designer, I have been asked to present at my first professional conference! It is related to my writing in
the sense that I feel a bit like an IMPOSTER.
Yes. The Imposter Syndrome has hit really hard with this invitation.
Why? Well, I just graduated with my Master's degree in December, and I've barely been in my job in the field for a year. In fact, it's only been 10 months.
So why would professionals in the field want to hear from me? What can I possibly say that they would be interested in or be able to learn from little ol' me?
Who knows?!
I know we writers know a thing about Imposter Syndrome!
But I was invited to submit a proposal for a presentation. The proposal was well-received, and now I'm presenting at a conference in June! Actually on the first anniversary of when I started my job. So how's that for serendipity?
I have to start thinking about my presentation and making a slide deck for it and whatnot. But I have almost two months to get ready for that. I'm sure I'll procrastinate about it though!
WIP Update
I don't really have any work in progress right now! After I finished my draft I took some time off for my brain to reset and have been trying to figure out what to work on next. I've had some ideas bouncing around in my brain. Also, I'm trying to work on a ghostwriting portfolio to try to land some romance ghostwriting gigs. My friend, Mai, has a Romance Ghostwriting Bootcamp that I'm participating in. We'll see how that goes! She also has a lot of great resources on her website, some of which are free, if you want to check her out. She sends out a lot of great freebies with her newsletter and also does some awesome lives on Instagram. Link | Romance Fiction Queen
Twitch Writing Sprints
I absolutely love doing my Writing & Productivity/Coworking sprints
on Twitch every week! Come join me to hang out, have fun, and get shit done!
Wednesdays at 8 pm EDT and
Fridays at 1 pm EDT
on Twitch!
Having an accountability group is so wonderful! If you're not into Twitch, but are on Discord, I also have a group there that has a lot of writers, artists, musicians, gamers, etc., who support each other. We talk writing on a regular basis and generally have a good time! Feel free to join The Rose Garden on Discord!
Goals for May
This month, I want to start reading my holiday romance draft for revisions. I may consider rewriting it from first person instead of third person, but I will definitely be reading it for continuity and plot holes and to make a list of edits that definitely need to happen.
I also need to get together a 3-sample portfolio to try to land some ghostwriting gigs. I'm working with my friend at Romance Fiction Queen, who I mentioned up above, on that endeavor.
So those are my main goals for the month. I also need to finish my Works-In-Progress page on my website here as well!
IWSG Monthly Question
The question this month asks about inspiration. When you're working on a story, what inspires you?
That's a good question. For me it heavily depends. Also, are we asking about what inspires me to keep writing or what inspires the story itself? So thinking about inspiration is two-fold in my opinion.
The easier one to answer I think is what inspires me to keep writing. I try to hold on to the vision of where I want to be one day, holding a book in my hand with my name on it. Sitting on panels at Cons talking about my books and my process and helping others on their journey. Maybe one day supporting myself through writing -- with a dash of music thrown in on the side -- and living that creative life I've always wanted to live.
As far as what inspires me for a specific project, that heavily depends on the project. I have a fantasy WIP that is heavily inspired by my love of the video game Bloodborne. I actually wrote a blog about that a while ago! You can find it here: Link | Unexpected Inspirations
I haven't finished that WiP yet. I got distracted from it because of life and am now finding that I need to go back and read it all to set up a character bible and outline because I have no clue what I was doing pantsing a high fantasy that I had to step away from for a year!
Otherwise, sometimes my romance scenarios are inspired by media I've watched or books I've read or interactions I've observed in my daily life. (Cue the idea I have running around in my head for a romance novel because of something I saw happen watching football one day...)
And then, once I get into a WiP, the characters inspire me! Their interactions. Their motivations and goals. Their lives. Figuring out more about them and what makes them tick and what makes them do the things they do. And sometimes things people do in real life inspire me for things to include in my works!
I think that pretty much sums up what inspires me! It's really hard to put it into words sometimes because inspiration comes from so many different places.
Thanks for stopping by and let me know in the comments about what inspires you or tell me about your general writing goals for May or what's happening in your writer life!
Be sure to see my links down below for other places to keep up with me online and other related blog posts!
For now,
Rosie J.
Link | Rose on Twitch
Link | The Rose Garden on Discord
Link | IWSG April - Spring has Sprung!
Link | IWSG March - Author Envy
Link | IWSG February - Writing Update and Cover Art
Link | IWSG January - Theme Word for the Year
Link | Linktree
Did you enjoy this blog? Follow me on Twitter or Instagram for regular updates on my life and my writing.
Want to support my 2023 goals to publish my first book(s)?
Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi!
It helps fuel my Counter Culture coffee addiction, which helps fuel my writing!
May 2023 #IWSG