Wednesday 6 May 2015

IWSG: Getting Back to Business


It's the first Wednesday of the month, and time for members of the Insecure Writer's Support Group to share their writerly insecurities. The group was started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and those interested in joining in can visit www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com for more information.

Last month (as most of you undoubtedly know) was the 2015 Blogging from A to Z Challenge, and I had opted not to post as part of the IWSG, mainly because I felt I didn't have anything related to my writing worth sharing at the time. I'd spent my last two IWSG posts talking about the Challenge, and it is somewhat unavoidable to mention it again today. The Challenge itself was a success, and I had a lot of fun meeting new bloggers and reconnecting with old ones, but it all came at the expense of my writing.

I didn't get much (read: any) writing done last month, and there's a lot going on right now, some of which I might announce on this blog when the time is right, but none of which has anything to do with writing. I stated at the start of the year that my sole writerly goal for 2015 was to complete my next book. Well, it's now four months later, and I am starting to wonder when and how exactly that book is going to be written.

I know I have said all this or some variation of the same before, but this is precisely where I am as a writer right now. Perhaps it is a position that can't be avoided, or completely overcome. I'd like to believe that even the Stephen Kings of this world go through the same thing from time to time. Or maybe I am just here trying to justify my recent lack of meaningful output, instead of using my precious butt-in-chair time to, you know, actually write something. Either way, I could really use a turnaround right about now.

27 comments:

  1. This seems to be a common theme, for me as well. Maybe that's an unknown hazard of participating in A to Z: you don't get anything else done.

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    1. Well, I hope we all get to make up for the month away from writing somehow. Thanks for chiming in, Melanie. :)

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  2. I like to believe that of the Stephen Kings of the world too. It makes it feel a little better as one of the NOT Stephen Kings! Good luck getting back to it Michael!

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    1. Thanks, Lauren. And who knows, we just might be the future Stephen Kings and perhaps one day we'll look back to this particular post and smile. :)

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  3. I went eight months without writing anything. It will come back to you.
    And how anyone can write during the Challenge is beyond me.

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    1. For a while, I thought that scheduling my posts would help me free up enough time to squeeze in some writing sessions. Boy was I wrong. :)

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  4. I got virtually nothing done writing wise during the challenge. My house is pretty much a disaster as well. This month I will be playing catch up on both.Wishing you a turn around real soon!

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    1. Thanks, Jaybird. And I'm certain you'll get everything sorted out pretty soon. :)

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  5. My writing goes through many ups and downs, productivity-wise. I'll never be one of those people who can guarantee 2 books a year (or more, in some cases I've heard of). It will happen when you're ready for it!

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    1. Thanks, Annalisa. But at this rate, I'll settle for being able to churn out one (quality) book a year. :D

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  6. Hope you bounce back and keep writing! :)

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    1. Thanks, Mithila. I am sincerely counting on it. :)

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  7. Congrats on surviving another A-Z! I didn't get much 'real' writing done last month either, unless I decide to do something with the piece I wrote for A-Z. Hopefully this month is productive for us both! :)

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    1. Amen to that, AJ. And at least you got some form of writing done last month. That counts for something. :)

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  8. The Challenge does eat up a lot of time, both writing posts and visiting people. Good luck getting things finished.

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    1. Thanks. Keeping my fingers crossed that it happens sometime tho year. :)

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  9. I don't trust a writer who thinks writing every day is an absolute must. So don't worry about it, Michael.

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    1. LOL. Thanks. It seems to be working fine for him (Stephen King) though, given his proven track record. :)

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  10. I think it's only normal that you didn't get any official writing done last month. I participated in the A to Z challenge last year and it was a challenge indeed :)

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    1. I guess it is, Vanessa. Still can't shake that feeling of lost time and productivity though.

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  11. You'll get there. I'm supposed to do the last book of my series this year and somehow nothing has happened, I did NaNo last November and I think I'm still recovering from that! Six months ago, sheesh. Still, I've got some good ideas from my A-Z stories that I could work on, so at least I've technically done some fiction writing.

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    1. Thanks, Nick. I sincerely hope so. And yes, that definitely counts as getting some writing done. :)

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  12. I'm not a writer, but I am an artist and have to use will power to get myself to do work because there is no "boss" watching over me. I have self-imposed deadlines + some client deadlines and one thing I've learned is that I always get them done.

    However, early on in my career I would get very nervous when I would "procrastinate" but I started to notice a pattern. I would have periods of unproductivity that would explode into periods of great productivity.

    That is when I started to realize that the periods of "unproductivity" were directly related to, or dare I say, necessary for the productive periods. It's like my brain was putting all the pieces of the puzzle together somewhere in the background. So now I do not force myself to work during unproductive times because I realize it is all a part of the greater puzzle-- I just allow.

    Parkinson's law is the adage that "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion".

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    1. You might be on to something there, Lauren. I've also noticed a similar pattern with my writing, where I find myself unable to write anything remotely publishable, right after a period of productivity. I guess the key is finding a way to really tap into those periods of productivity, while also finding a way to minimize/shorten the length of those periods of "unproductivity" as you put it. :)

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