Insecure Writers: How to Find a Writing Group, Contd.

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for The Insecure Writers! The IWSG is an online group created by Alex J. Cavanaugh for writers. You, too, can join us anytime!

A briefy (yes, I made up a word) today, in honor of my resolution to stop overwriting so damn much:

I am NOT insecure today. I know - can you believe it??? It's a Christmas miracle. Or, a July miracle. Whatever.

I am NOT insecure this month because I am instead excited, inspired, and feeling accomplished!

Why, you ask? (Go on - ask. No, really. It'll make me happy.)

Because I have a writing group!!!

Some of you might remember me bleating on about this a few months ago, wishing I had such a group. A few of you might even remember that I took a non-fiction writing class this spring - but if you don't, that's OK. I barely remember my own life, much less anyone else's.

Well, I took the class in part to get better at writing personal essays, but also to see if I could find some cool, talented writers who might also be interested in forming a group.

And guess what?? I DID AND THEY DID! Our class is over, but more than half of us decided we wanted to keep going. We had our first meeting last week, and it was wonderful. Productive and inspiring and fun. I can't believe that I found these talented and smart people, and that they wanted to write with me. How lucky am I??

What are you insecure about? Do you have a group that inspires you?

Insecure Writers: More TIME, Please!

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for The Insecure Writers! The IWSG is an online group created by Alex J. Cavanaugh for writers. You, too, can join us anytime!

I have to give a huge CONGRATULATIONS to all of you who completed the A-Z Challenge this year. It's a huge accomplishment, and I'm sorry I missed a couple of weeks of it! Give yourselves a huge round of applause, and then go sleep for a week.

In fact, I think that's what I did last year. I also shut down my computer, because I couldn't bear to look at the screen for one damn second longer than necessary.

Yes, you can begin to see why I didn't participate this year...

Anyway, I took a slightly longer hiatus there than I planned to. Oops. Sorry about that. Vacation is wonderful but work has this annoying habit of continuing even when you stop for a break, so that you come back from your refreshing travels only to find a mountain of work waiting for you. Isn't that ridiculous? Clearly, everything else should stop when I do. I mean, obviously.

I'm still catching up - I also happen to be taking another writing class right now, which is adding to the mountain of work - so I will attempt to be brief.

I make no promises about my success, but I will attempt.

Most of my insecurity this month is coming from time - as in not having enough of it. Normally, when I take a writing class, I like to really dig in and give as much to it as I possibly can. But life has been extra specially nuts these past few weeks, vacation notwithstanding, so I find myself in a sweating panic the day before my class meets, desperately trying to cram in some writing and finish a piece in time for class. It doesn't help that all of my classmates are really, truly gifted writers, and I keep feeling like I'm not doing my best work and not impressing anyone and need to work harder or better or more originally or with more humor and should perhaps just give up and curl into a ball and disappear.

Whew, that was a whole giant truck-load of insecurity, wasn't it? Sounds a little high-pressure there, doesn't it? Hmm. Maybe I should cut myself a break, shouldn't I?

I should, I think. And so, I think, should all of the other insecure writers out there. We give ourselves a very hard time sometimes.

What are you feeling all IWSG-ish about this month? Are you recovering from the A-Z Challenge?

Insecure Writers: Extra Specially Insecure Non-Fiction

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for The Insecure Writers! For those who don't remember, it's an online group created by Alex J. Cavanaugh for writers. You, too, can join us anytime!

Hello ISWG-ers! I'm sorry I missed you last time. Don't worry, I've saved up my anxieties, and to make up for it, I am going to be extra insecure for you this month. Isn't that exciting??

Truthfully, I hesitated about posting this today. Mostly, it felt so new that I wasn't sure I was ready to share it with all the Internets. Then I remembered that I really only know a few people online, and felt better about it!

So, here's the deal: I'm taking a Grub Street class on writing...non-fiction.

Yes, that's right: I'm trying to learn how write about real events and people. I'm sure all you non-fiction writers out there are shrugging, wondering what the big deal is, but trust me: when you're used to making up an entire world of people, it feels very naked and scary to suddenly just talk about yourself. I can't hide behind my characters or my plot, or, to be a little fairer in how I present this, express myself via a situation that I myself have created. Instead, I have only me: my thoughts, my experiences. Where do I start? What story do I even tell?

Then, too, there's the sheer terror of being a beginner. I hate being a beginner. I'm so much happier being the comfortable expert. As a beginner, I fumble and make mistakes and do stupid things, and then I have to learn from all of that and forgive myself for it and really, it's exhausting.

And finally...I'm taking this class, not for fun, but because I'm hoping it will help me on my road to publication. I need some writing credits, friends, and you only get those by writing things and submitting them. Funny how that works, huh? I thought for a while that I would write and submit short stories...but they don't come naturally to me. First of all, as you know, I have a brevity problem. Second, when I create fiction, my mind naturally bends towards intricate ideas that require a longer format. This isn't to say that I can't write short stories, just that I don't have a natural bend towards them.

If I had tons of free time, I'd learn how to write them, anyway. But given the constraints most of us have, of day job plus family plus friends plus social media plus writing a novel, I have very little time. So I figured I should try for something that seems to come more naturally to me: and hence the reason I'm taking a class on writing personal essays.

So there you go, a nice insecure package wrapped up in an anxious bow. Yep, that's the kind of gift I give on this blog.

What about you? Are you trying something new, and feeling insecure about it?

A Few Words of Wisdom on Point of View

I mentioned last week that I recently went to a writing class, which made me feel both stupid and excited to learn at the same time. Ah, to be a student again...

I also promised to share some of what I learned, because it was, all insecurities aside, a really great class. It was called "Picking Your Perspective: How To Make the Best of Narrative Point of View", and it was held by Grub Street. Which, for anyone who lives in the Boston area, as well as for anyone with a computer (they have online classes) is a great organization for writers that's well worth joining, or at least looking into some of their classes. And no, unfortunately, they don't pay me to say these things, so you can believe my non-sponsored enthusiasm.

As I've discussed here on this blog, I'm trying to push the boundaries of my point of view comfort zone: I'm moving away from the comfy, cozy bathrobe of close limited third person, and trying on the maybe-too-tight skinny jeans of first person, and I'm even considering the too-fancy-for-everyday-what-will-I-wear-this-to evening gown of third person omniscient. So, this class was a welcome help.

But enough introductory drabble. Here are some brief notes and thoughts on perspective, straight from the brain of the great teacher, in outline form, 'cause you know that's how I roll:

• Point of view is all about information, and power. When trying to pick one, consider:
• Amount and Rate of Information
• In other words, how much knowledge does the POV you choose give the reader, and at what rate does it give that knowledge? How can you control the release of information, and through whose eyes?
• As an example, a strict limited third person or a present-tense first person would give the reader a relatively slow rate of information release, since the reader gains knowledge as the character gains it. This is a great choice for a mystery, or a situation where you want to be able to surprise the reader.
• On the other hand, a first person narrator who is telling a story that has already happened has a lot more power, and can choose to manipulate not only the information, but how to give it to the reader.
• At the far opposite end of the spectrum from close, limited third, an omniscient third person narrator would have access to all information about everything in your story - including the past and the future - and would also be able to control and manipulate the flow of information as needed. 
• Language
• What kind of language do you want narrator to have at his/her disposal? Formal, elevated, immediate, slang, dialect, etc. 
• As an example, this will be much more limited, but also much more specific, if you have a first person narrator: the voice of the narrator must match that person's background, education, etc., but it's also the only reasonable way to get away with using dialect.
• Character and Story
• Given the character you have, what is the best POV choice? If you have a very vivid character - which doesn't necessarily mean a big personality, just a very clear one - first person is a great choice. 
• Think about the kind of story you'r telling. If you have a sweeping family saga, omniscient third will give you the best access to that long history, and to all of the characters' inner lives.

We also spent some time discussing the different POVs, of course, and then did a common writing exercise, which I do recommend. We took a simple prompt - in this case, "A young woman sits down on the subway, not too crowded of a car, reading a book and frequently looking up at another passenger" - and wrote a brief scene in one perspective. We read and workshopped these, then took a few minutes to rewrite the scene in another perspective. 

Highly informative, to switch things around like that - and because the scene was short, MUCH easier than rewriting oh, I don't know, your entire manuscript, for example. I'm planning on doing the same to some scenes in my WIP, before I write too much, to see if I've chosen the right POV.

I hope this helps! Happy perspective-ing...