The awesome co-hosts for the May 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Janet Alcorn, Rebecca Douglass, Jemima Pett, and Pat Garcia!
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Remember, the question is optional!
May 7 question - Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?
When I first started writing for publication, I could write “all of the above,” but that’s not true anymore.
I don’t fear rejection. I just don’t like it. When it happens, I find a safe place to hang out for a while, then I set out again.
I haven’t failed because I'm still writing and publishing, so I can’t fear that.
Too much success? Is that possible?
But now we get to something that does keep me on the ropes. There are times I’m sure I’ll never write the story I want to because I don’t have the talent or ability, and I'll add knowledge because that's a huge chunk of what writing well is all about. I’m dealing with a lack of knowledge right now as I work on a new story that I want to write.
The problem is I keep running into barriers—gaps in what I know. My only recourse is to fall back on research, so I’m not making a lot of progress on the book, but my knowledge base has increased in several different areas: maritime research, cybersecurity, and Alaska. I've even learned how to make a wireless telegraph and a smoke bomb. You never know when you're going to need some of those.
I read a post by Jacqui Murray on research that inspired me to continue my efforts to learn as much about my topic as possible. You might enjoy reading her POST, if you haven't already.
If I manage to successfully combine all that I've learned into a cohesive story, I hope to come up with something that people will want to read. I'll probably be posting about this newest challenge for a while.
Now, I'm off to see how other members have answered this month's question.
Have a wonderful May!
