Insecure Writer's Group - March

I can't believe it's already March, and time for another post in the Insecure Writer's Support Group. I know I still have many insecurities floating around, but at the moment I feel too swamped with work to actually allow myself to feel those insecurities.

So, what am I going to talk about today? This is a topic that keeps coming up with me - a lot. And that is: Time Management. This can be an insecurity, a panic or just a bother to me in both my writing life, my work life and my personal life (all of which do not have enough hours in the day to get everything done), but it's also a problem that a lot of people either are trying to manage or will have to overcome at some time in their life (otherwise they are very lucky).

This week I've just started university, and pack that with a photography course I'm trying to finish, as well as working 4 days a week, I'm just finding myself falling behind with time - or just wanting to crawl up in bed and sleep, which is probably just the preferable thing to do - and haven't had much time in the way of writing, or reading, or doing much else in the line of entertainment.

So, how can we choose to manage time better when it feels as though there are too many things to be done and not enough time to achieve everything?

1. Create priorities - yes it does seem as though there are a lot of things to do, but do all of them have to be done today? prioritise time to help decide what really needs to be done and what can be put off.
2. Create a schedule - this is one thing I like to do. I'm terrible when it comes to time management because I start a project and can be there all day doing that one thing because I become obsessed. Schedules at least tell you that you can only spend two hours writing, or reading, and you can split your time into all the things that need to be done.
3. Create deadlines - give yourself something to aim for as this will help keep you motivated on the task.
4. Give yourself incentives - Reward yourself with something good, even if it's a night off, or just a bit of chocolate, for achieving set targets. This will ensure you try to complete those targets.

Now, I just have to try and stick to some of those tips. So what is your insecurity for March?

Insecure Writer's Group - February

Alex's awesome co-hosts for February are:
Sheena-kay Graham, Julie Musil, Jamie Ayres, 
and Mike Swift!   
 Please stop by their blogs and say thank you.

Today I listened to a really inspiring video podcast which really helped me identify this month's topic - fear of rejection. 

I've been working hard on getting my second novel ready to be released, and this is even scarier than last year when Shadow Embraced was released into the world. I think it's scarier for me because this novel is one that is really close to my interests, but also one outside my comfort area (since it's situated in a foreign country), and now I have all those nagging thoughts rolling around my head - will people like it? will people want to read it? what will they say about it? is it too different that they won't like it??? But I guess everyone has those thoughts - or similar thoughts - when handing over something they have worked hard on to the public for review.

In this podcast, the speaker says what it takes to keep personal expression, no matter what anyone says, or the weird reactions you get because people don't understand (or like) what you wear/say/write is to ask what you really want (do you want to write for fame & money... perhaps that's not exactly the right motive to be writing for, or do you just write because you love writing and need to write?), and ask whether you should care about what people say. Yes, it's good to accept some of the feedback that you receive from your writing, but let's face it, not everyone is going to be a fan of your work, and negative reviews are inevitable, but so are the good.

I know the fear of rejection is a major part of writing, but one thing I know is true... if you don't put your work out there, if no one gets the chance to read it, you will never know whether anyone will like it. And yes, there will be people out there that will like your work.

So, one thing I can say about rejection is to learn from it. If the negative review offers any constructive criticism, any suggestions or feedback as to what they would have liked to see improve, then you can work on improving that in your next work. If the negative review offers nothing but harsh comments, then just push it under the rug, and move on. There's no point lingering on negativity when you have something else you can be writing.

What's your insecurity for this month?

For a last piece of inspiration, here's the podcast I found so inspiring :D

Insecure Writers Support Group

It's that time of the month again, time for another Insecure Writers Support Group. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for hosting this fantastic group.

Okay, this is an insecurity that usually pops up when I reach the middle of the novel (although I've been feeling it lately at the beginning when I'm staring into the vast unknown), what if this idea doesn't go anywhere? What if I'm excited about the beginning but then I realise that's the only part of the story that I'm actually excited about? All the time I've spent writing, working on the characters, on the backstory, on trying to put in some twists and turns and just come to the middle lag and realise the idea is a 'meh'. If I think it's 'meh', then certainly the people who take the time to pick it up and attempt to read it will also come to that conclusion.

Okay, so I could just give it up, toss it out, start a new. Yeah, like all those family dinners missed and missed housework (like that's a problem) will be all for nothing because I can't even be bothered to stick with the story. But here's also my problem. I can't give up my babies so easily. Yep, I'm persistent if anything else, and I usually spend so long staring at blank pages and then rewriting until the beginning chapters doesn't look anything like what I started with.

Today I actually found out a little solution to help keep motivated with the story, and it will also help provide characters with little twists that you didn't even think about beforehand. I'm writing a story based around a family of monster hunters and a girl with the ability to see (and feel) anyone's death with just a single touch. I don't know how many times I've rewritten the start just to find the right starting point, but today I thought I'd go and create a hunters journal from the perspective of my main character's older brother. I had only intended to write a short description of each monster with how to kill and a bit of character perspective, but instead I ended up writing an entire short story that takes place twelve years prior to the story's beginning, and this not only helped motivate me with providing me with possible storylines, but I've also got an interesting backstory for the brother being developed that I hadn't thought about before. Now I'm all stoked to jump into this story, and hopefully more short stories will also come out of it (I've still got lots of creatures to write about).

So, that's my big insecurity. What's yours?

Insecure Writers Support Group

It's that time of the month again, time for another Insecure Writers Support Group. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for hosting this fantastic group.

I think my big insecurity this month is that I won't have enough time to write, period. There are a lot of commitments in life, I bet everyone has the same problem at times, and sometimes all I want to do is come home and collapse in bed (seriously, that's exactly what I did yesterday afternoon, just getting up to have dinner). I have so many things I need to get done, and that's just with my job, that I really need to find time to get to those revisions, as well as finishing the first draft of another WiP I'm in the middle of.

I know I just have to take everything in my stride and learn how to prioritise. Sometimes I will have to ignore those revisions or postpone writing just to get my work done, and I'm sure life will calm down so I can get back to writing.

So, that's my big insecurity. What's yours?

Insecure Writers Support Group

After such a hectic month of the A-Z challenge, and actually finishing (YAY), I learned there are so much more monsters out there than I could have thought. I even succeeded in not using the most common, no vampires, werewolves or zombies around here (although, some of the ones I did sneak in were actually described like that... but so much more cooler).

Thinking I was going to get a nice, well deserved break, I stumbled upon Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group and thought, what they hey, this is something that I need to join.

At the present time, my insecurities revolve around time. I'm only four months into being a full-time teacher and I'm already as tired as anything. Sometimes I just don't know whether my time can be split any further. I'm already devising lesson plans for 7 classes, as well as trying to figure out how to control the students (or even if I can control the students), then I'm trying to read as much as possible, blog and keep up with social networking, participate in my critique group and write. I'm sure there's not enough hours in the day, especially when all I want to do when I come home is crawl up in bed.

I'm sure once I've been at the teaching thing longer I'll be able to get my schedule in order, but in the mean time I really don't want to 'not' have time for any writing, apart from the need to finish and perfect my novels, writing is also a means of escape for me and I'd think I'd go crazy if I didn't have that.

Well, that's my insecurities on a plate. What are some of your insecurities today?