Hello and Happy October! It's officially my favorite time of the year as I love the period from October through December. So many things to love! Cool temperatures, sweater weather, football, holidays - I could go on and on.
Today is the day for the monthly meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group. The group was founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.
I'm trying something new with my writing this month and I'm definitely insecure about it, but I also feel like it's the best move for me to make right now.
I've always been a "pantser" when writing and have only made the most basic of outlines. This has worked for me in the past and I loved writing this way. But it's not working now as I'm continuing to struggle with getting my Paris story together. I've been playing with this story for more than two years now and have made so little progress I decided something has to give. This story has significantly more characters and time periods than I have ever attempted to write before and it's become a jumbled mess in my head.
My friend Madeline at The Shellshank Redemption recommended the book Story Genius to me several months ago and I kept meaning to give it a try but never did. I was intimidated by the idea and kept thinking my tried and true "pants" method would eventually kick in and work. Then when I was once again feeling frustrated with my writing I saw another author recommending this same book on Twitter. It seemed like the universe was trying to tell me something!
So I got the book and am now committed to giving it a try, even though I am still intimidated by the idea of totally changing my writing process.
Have you ever changed your writing method to suit a new project? Are there any craft books you recommend?
Happy October, all!
