Time for the monthly IWSG blog hop. Find the entire list of participating blogs here. As always, many thanks to our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and the administrators of this awesomely supportive group.
This month's optional question:
For how long do you shelve your first draft, before reading it and re-drafting? Is this dependent on your writing experience and the number of stories/books under your belt?A minimum of two weeks, but maybe longer. I usually use the time between when I finish and when I look at it again, to do a rough outline of the next novel and catch up on reading. When I wrote my first novel, I rewrote and edited as I went. Mistake. It took me forever to finish and then I still had to rewrite a bunch of times.
The Pennwriters Virtual Conference went off without any major hitches. We had well over a hundred people in attendance and amazing workshops. It was a great time, but I can do without that stress again.
On a personal note, during all the conference planning and execution, we put our house up for sale and sold it within three days. Next month, you can read my complaints about packing up.
On another personal note, Boston University approved my daughter's fieldwork in Jordan for two months starting in July. There is no end to my stress.
My current insecurity, after so much work on the computer and every waking moment thinking about the conference, I'm having a lot of difficulty sitting down to write.
I apologize ahead of time for not visiting enough blogs. I will try harder.
"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity." Amelia Earhart
Do you set your writing aside for a bit between drafts? How is the writing going for you? And don't forget the next anthology contest opportunity sponsored by the IWSG admin.
The Seventh Annual IWSG Anthology Contest!
Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 5000-6000
Genre: Sweet Romance
Theme: First Love
Submissions accepted: May 7 - September 1, 2021
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.
Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.
Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 5000-6000
Genre: Sweet Romance
Theme: First Love
Submissions accepted: May 7 - September 1, 2021
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.
Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.
18 comments:
In this market, a home can sell in a snap. I hope you have a great place to move to! I hear your stress. Jordan is way too far. Two months though. My hope for you is that those two months fly by.
Hi,
Happy to hear that the Penn Writers Conference went off well. I attended the RWA virtual conference last year and it was great. Because I live in Europe and cannot always go to a conference, I find virtual conferences wonderful.
I'm still thinking over entering the Anthology contest. I think that they want First love and only young people. I write first love but my characters are older. So I'm not sure whether I should enter.
Wishing you a lovely June.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Wow! You've had a lot on your plate! Your daughter going off to Jordan is such an accomplishment, and I can only imagine some of the concerns going through your mind.
I can only imagine the stress of putting on a writing conference virtually. I "attended" one recently, and I was exhausted just watching and taking notes!
I find revising while I write works because I love to revise and can get into the next chapter I need to write easier. But I still need to do a major revision. Congrats on selling your house. I hope your move goes smoothly.
That's a lot all at once! I dread ever having to move again.
My writing (or lack thereof) is all screwy right now. Too many mental issues have put up a roadblock. I'll be glad when I can clear the way!
I was impressed that, upon finishing the draft of one book, you outline the next one. My brain is too stewed and too caught up in one story to think of doing that. Though, I can see how it would be nice to turn your attention to something different. I hope you find your writing mojo again soon.
I guess you just have to wait until you're ready to edit. That seems the best rule to follow.
Two weeks? Holy schmoly. It's because you're a seasoned writer.
I love the way one of the writers put it: "each story sort of has a life of its own and “tells” me how it wants to be treated."
So wonderful about the virtual conference! Congrats on it being such a success. I've definitely made that grave error of rewriting directly after finishing a manuscript. Learned my lesson.
I just bought a house and moved. I haven't been a good blog visitor either. Visit when you can. No pressure.
You've been busy, and you are about to stay busy! Congratulations on the successful conference and good luck with the move.
You've accomplished a lot IMO. I agree wait until your ready you have a lot going on.
It sounds like good things going on in your life, even if stressful. I can understand the write it all first, rather than keep rewriting the pieces you've already written. Get it down all at once then 'dissect'. :)
Man, that sounds like a rough time with all the stress. I hope you have less stress ahead of you!
I haven't been by in a bit but you have some new books. Great.
I am more impressed that you have prepped and sold your house. That is wow, wow, wow. Good luck with the move.
I bought a house and moved two months ago. It's one Maalox moment after another. But the end result is nice. :)
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