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.
Visit Alex J. Cavanaugh’s blog for more information and to sign up!
So I'm excited and a bit nervous about participating in WriteOnCon this year. The query and first page are up as I'm writing this. I've already revised the query TWICE! The good thing is that I'm getting fabulous advice. I mean, really good suggestions. But it drives me crazy that I seriously can't write my own query. I love critiquing other queries. I easily find things that can be cut, or punched up a bit. But for whatever reason, when it comes to my query I just ain't got it. I wish I could figure out why that is. Maybe I'm just too close to the book, or maybe I just psych myself out. Whatever the reason it drives me crazy that I'm mortal enemies with my queries.
I've been working on changing the POV in my MS. Talk about a challenge. But I've gotten enough feedback suggesting it, that it was warranted. I'm still tweaking here and there trying to get it right. I really never want to do this again, but I'm sure I will.
I really look forward to the live workshops. I did a Twitter pitch one last year that was good. It's definitely a bit scary to put your work out there so publicly (at least in a contest it's usually anonymous), but it's also worth it. So, as your reading this I'm sure my nerves are shot and I'm hitting refresh every sixty seconds to see if someone likes or doesn't like what I've posted. At least I get to be stressed out in my pjs!
Is anyone else out there participating in WriteOnCon this year? I'd love to check out your work, just let me know the title. And if you get the time, please check out my query and first page. Comments are always appreciated.
You've been brave and taken the step, I'm sure you will reap the rewards. Feedback is so useful. I think you might be right with your comment about being 'too close' to see what needs fixing. It's always easier to sort out other people's problems than our own!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a great experience so far and technically the conference hasn't even started. My query is just so much better. The support from the writing community is amazing.
DeleteHi! I've not heard of WriteOnCon, will check it out, thanks for the heads up :) Sounds daunting but worthwhile:)
ReplyDeleteSuzanne @ Suzannes-Tribe
It's a lot of fun. When the conference starts, the workshops/forums are amazing. It's definitely worth attending whether you post your work or not :)
Deleteit's weird how we can't see things in our own work. Nothing wrong with needing a little help though. I've even had someone help me with an outline before.
ReplyDeleteGlad you've gotten so much out of the IWSG. That's why I started this group - for people like you!
It's been wonderful. I've met so many amazing writers. Of course, I followed IWSG for a long time before I finally jumped in. So glad I did :)
DeleteI. Hate. Writing. Queries.
ReplyDeleteYour post so resonated with me; I feel the same way. I can edit other people's, but my own is one giant blind spot. I swear, we should all write queries for each other... if only the query wasn't supposed to be an insight into how you write, eh? Sigh. We'll get there!
Thank goodness I'm not alone! LOL. I love to critique them, but trying to write my own is the worst form of torture!
DeleteGood for you for putting it out there. :)
ReplyDeleteAugust co-host and IWSG #110
Thanks for co-hosting!
Delete