IWSG - It's Writing Time!

 Ack! I'm late getting this up, but caught up in work on the podcast last night and totally forgot to get the post written ahead.

Soooo...it's the first Wednesday of September, which means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group exists to seek and provide support to insecure writers. Anyone can join. Just click on Alex's name above and put your blog on the linky list. Then hop around and visit your fellow IWSG'ers. 

The co-hosts this month are:

Rebecca Douglass, T. Powell Coltrin @Journaling Woman, Natalie Aguirre, Karen Lynn, and C. Lee McKenzie!

Since it's mid-afternoon and I'm just getting this post up, I'm going to keep it brief. 

I FINISHED SCHOOL!!!!

I'm just waiting to get that shiny diploma in the mail. 

That also means I've started planning out writing-related business, but I'm also trying to take it easy for a bit. Completing a Bachelor's in less than a year has left me in a weird sort of mental limbo. It was the only thing I could focus on if I wanted to make it happen, and now with that removed my brain is just kind of twitching in my skull, because it doesn't know what to do. But I've already sat down and set some deadlines, plus started a plan, and I'm looking forward to doing all the writing things!

My submission stats this month (you'll notice there's quite a difference from past months):

In August, there were:

16 submissions

2 acceptances

6 rejections

21 stories currently on submission

I hope your summer was magnificent, as it draws to a close. 

Have you been submitting? What are your stats? Any good news to share? What are your insecurities?

May you find your Muse.

IWSG - School, Marketing, & Getting Pumped

 It's July! Time for the next Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG exists to give writers a forum to air their insecurities in order to seek and provide support. All are welcome to join. Simply click on Alex's name and sign up, then be sure to post the first Wednesday of each month.

This month's co-hosts are:

 Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise – Fundy Blue!

This month's optional question is: What would make you quit writing?

I'd say school, but I've slipped a few new stories in here and there, so that wouldn't be true. It has made me set it aside temporarily, for the most part, though.

The "political" climate in speculative fiction is off-putting in many ways right now, with people who don't share certain ideas being ganged up on by other writers, and some even being pushed out entirely. That won't stop me from writing, but it's certainly making me narrow my circles and be cautious.

If family needed me and I had to give it up, I'd do it then. Until I could return to it.

As far as insecurities this month, I'm actually feeling pretty hyped up. I'm just about finished with a digital marketing class, and my brain is burgeoning with ways to incorporate what I've learned. I also intend to share a lot of it once I've worked out how to apply it all to the business of writing. I've started jotting down ideas to update my various platforms, including my website, and I've planted some ideas in my husband's head so he can start thinking about how to make the technical parts happen so he can help me rebrand. That will be the first thing I do when I finish my degree, and I'm absolutely pumped to get started. Not only that, but I feel like once I have a firmer grasp on how to make it all work for writers, I can help other people, too.

Onto submission stats. In June, my stats were:

2 submissions

7 rejections

0 acceptances

12 stories currently on submission

I need to turn around those 7 that are just sitting there and get them submitted

One of the stories on submission has been out to that market since August. It's at 308 days out. The longest I've ever had a story out before this was 324 days before receiving a rejection. It's looking like this one will set a new record. 

What would make you stop writing? What are your insecurities? What's making you excited right now? Are you submitting?

May you find your Muse.