It’s the first Wednesday of the month and time for another posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.
Once upon a time, there was an IWSG question…
What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing?
Fake it ‘til you make it.
Being awesome, that is. Some days writing is hard. Some days you’d rather watch a Legends of Tomorrow marathon than tackle the rewrite of chapter ten. Again… (Remember: a reward system does work when you’re a reluctant writer.)
Having a to-do list also works – especially when I do the hardest thing first every day. You only have so much energy to spend each day, so doing the important things (usually the hardest things) first, means you can do the drudgery work if there’s time left (like answering those pesky emails). Doing it like that, you’ll magically have written more than if you did it the other way around.
Some things are harder than I thought it’d be when starting out. Some projects take years of writing, rewriting, beta readers, rejections, critique partners and more rewriting to get right. So when something feels overwhelming, I follow this advice:
I’ve been pretending to be different people looong before I heard this advice… LOL.
For more inspiration, check out this 19 minute video. I like watching it every now and then to feel good about what I’m doing with my writing.
Neil Gaiman 2012 Commencement speech: Make Good Art
Any valuable lessons you’d like to share?
IWSG BOOK CLUB ON GOODREADS:
Our book club is changing things up!
We will have quarterly book selections now, giving us more time to read. We will also have one fiction book selection and one writing craft book selection. Members can read both or choose between them. Finally, we won’t be offering 5 optional discussion questions anymore. Instead, we will be utilizing the polls that our members enjoy, so there will be one poll question for the fiction book and one for the non-fiction book on Discussion Day.
Our December/January/February reads are…
Ghost Light by Joseph O’Connor, a book written in second person. Since many readers haven’t read a book in second person, and many writers haven’t written in second person, we figured this is a great chance to explore something new.
Preparing to Write Settings that Feel Like Characters by J Lenni Dorner. This will be our writing craft book, with a focus on settings.
Discussion Day for both books will be February 24, 2021!
Yes, some days it is hard to be a writer. I like your idea of a to-do list when you’re struggling. I will try that the next time I can’t get into writing. Thanks!
All good advice. Keep writing, rewriting, and publishing!
Mary at Play off the Page
Great inspirational quotes. I hadn’t yet listened to that Neil Gaiman speech, so thanks much for sharing it. I wish you happy writing in February.
Fun quotes. I loved House. I guess the writers just ran out of odd diseases.
The Kristen Lamb quote hit home. 😉
To-do lists help me a lot. I made them all the time. Weekly, if not daily, and especially for projects and releases.
I have two to-do lists. One is for books, the other is for around the house, including gardening.
And then I have the pile of things beside me that I have to do, some of which have mental deadlines like ‘I must do the first three this week or else.’ And that is why the other to-do lists never get anything crossed off…. well, they get crossed off much later than planned. But this weekend, I’ve actioned a whole load of things sitting in that pile, and the pile is now only three papers high 🙂
So, I’m pretending to be organised.
I’m pretending to be up to date.
I’m pretending to be on top of things.
And it seems to fool a lot of people lol
Neil is a wonderful teacher isn’t he? Thanks for dropping by my blog. 🙂
I like the quote by Neil Gaiman “Pretend to be someone who can do it.” During the hard days I’ll go to this quote.
Great advice. The to-do list is particularly helpful for me.
Hi Ronel! Sorry, this just showed up in my Feedly today. (Along with about a dozen others from you.)
I’m in the middle of revisions and it does seem to be taking forever.
I think “fake it ’till you make it” is great advice, and I’ve certainly done that throughout my career! I struggle with imposter syndrome when it comes to my writing, so have to try hard to imagine that I am a confident, competent writer. Thanks for sharing Neil Gaiman’s speech. I hadn’t heard that before but I love it.
The Neil Gaiman “pretend” quote is the best one to me. Imposter syndrome can be worked through. Sometimes people aren’t good at things, but they like to do it, and that’s okay. I also think it’s important to listen to your feelings instead of going through the motions. Self-care is important.