The Insecure Writer’s Support Group
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.
His awesome co-host for March 2 posting of the IWSG are
My #IWSG post for March 2016
Before I could think of publishing my next Pepper Bibeau mystery, there were 3 questions I had to answer about my purpose in writing novels.
After writing and publishing three novels in my planned Pepper Bibeau mystery series, I allowed “second thoughts” to erode my confidence in writing a fourth. My marketing for the third novel never really got off the ground. I lost faith in my writing, in the worth of the stories, and in myself as a writer. It was easier to promote authors more imaginative than myself and novels containing "more important" characters than mine.
A lot of soul-searching followed the publication of my third novel.
And 3 questions plagued me!
* Why had I chosen to set my stories in the near-past (beginning with the late 60s and early 70s) after reading advice that said such novels didn’t sell? Maybe it would be better to write stories occurring in the present.
* Why was my protagonist a female with a backstory of service as a nurse in the Vietnam War? I had never been in the military, and current bestselling novels focused on action in Afghanistan or other parts of the Middle East.
* Why did I think the life of an insurance investigator would play well in the Mystery genre? Such a career could never carry a series (or so I had been informed by a well-meaning publisher.)
Once I formed concrete questions to get a handle on my concerns, I considered the answers. For question one, my original plan was to look back on those years in my life when I was too busy to absorb life's pleasures. I relished the research required in developing a character whose story spanned the years missed while I was “too busy living.” Once I indulged that need, I could change direction.
This insight resolved my concerns about why to write something “they” say won’t sell.
I wasn't ready to writing for a specific audience yet.
This decision had also offered me the freedom to write the next novel in the series.
The answer to the second question, about using a female protagonist with a backstory as a nurse in the Vietnam War, was quickly obvious. The first novel is set in 1968. Nurses returning from field hospitals were expected to resume the life they left as though they had never been gone. Emotions of war were concealed and experiences locked away.
I wanted to explore this unrealistic expectation.
Unexplained changes in personality, such as nervous reactions or more subdued personality, were treated with the expectation that things would return to "normal" soon. This was the conflicting personality I wanted to portray in my protagonist: someone who was more introverted after the experience of war, having a slight nervousness exhibited by a startle-reflex, but generally happy about life.
Until questioned about my protagonist's career as an insurance investigator, I was convinced this was the perfect job for an amateur sleuth. It took some digging to determine that the objection arose from a misinterpretation of the job responsibilities, due to my less than illustrious descriptions.
Having satisfied my concerns over my protagonist's era, career choice, and sex (gender, not proclivity), I am eager to tackle my next Pepper Bibeau mystery.
Did you ever have misgivings about your choice of genre, protagonist, or story line?
