It's the first Wednesday, and that means time for our monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post!
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 - and return comments. This group is all about
connecting--click the image to find the sign-up page and blog list.
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
Every month, the IWSG announces 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.
July 5 question - 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?
Right up front: the "me" in that question is definitely not me. I seldom dream in any coherent fashion, and when I do, they are usually the sorts of dreams you want to wash out of your brain as quickly as possible (so might be useful if I wrote horror? or surreal horror?).
My ideas come from little sparks--a snapshot of a scene or character that just pops into my mind, or a title that I think up and like. Seriously, after Death By Ice Cream, the rest of the Pismawallops PTA mysteries started with titles, sometimes dreamed up on my own, some in jesting conversations with others. The germ of A Coastal Corpse was an image of my main character thumping her wire shopping basket down the front steps of a charming cottage and heading into the village. I had a pretty good idea where the corpse would turn up, and from there I started brainstorming.
When I write short fiction it's a bit of a different process--a lot is written to prompts or calls for stories; I struggle more when I simply decide I want to write a short story and try to come up with something out of whole cloth. I guess that's no surprise. It would be nice to wait for inspiration, but that's not always how it works.
Writer's update:
I'm excited to announce that A Coastal Corpse has gone to the proofreader, and my new young cover artist is at work, so I do hope to be able to release the book by the end of the summer. Certainly before Xmas. Time to get motivated about marketing (okay, way past time, but I can't fix that).
Short story writing is struggling, but I'm not giving up. I got one back with comments, which are helping me rethink it; I just need to do the hard work of actually rewriting the thing.
I'm a little disappointed in myself, to be honest. I expected these 3 months of being laid up to heal my broken foot would be a great time to get lots of writing done, but I've continued to struggle. At least some work has gotten accomplished.
Why I'm not doing the Smashwords Summer/Winter sale this time
I have been diligently listing books in the Smashwords sales for years, usually following their advice about setting the first in a series as free. And here's the thing: I think sales like that set up an expectation of free books. The last few times I have "sold" only free books, nor has there been any bump in sales in the month or so following. Maybe my first-in-series books aren't good enough to trigger follow-on purchases, or maybe people are just downloading free books they never look at. But I'm done with giving books away, and I don't think the effort required to do marketing for the sale is worth it if I'm not likely to sell any books anyway.
Opinions? Do you do sales, free books, etc? Do they work for you (and if so, any idea why?).
Or tell me about where your ideas come from, or how your work is going.
©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2023
As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated.
Congrats on your book being published soon. Don't be too hard on yourself for not writing much while you've got down time while your broken foot heals. You're always working and on the go. Maybe you need some time to rest and enjoy a slower pace of life.
ReplyDeleteYou may be right, but I feel like when I have down time I spend far too much of it playing solitaire and doomscrolling the internet--definitely not things that are great for the mental health!
DeleteCongrats on publication and covers.
ReplyDeleteNo google, proton, so anonymously East of the Sun. Just found a title for my WIP, and now idea for a new book arrived. Will I write about a hostile takeover, new regime, unhappy locals, lamenting the old days. First covid meant closed libraries, on and off for a year. Now, and possibly even worse, an aggressive makeover/redevelopment. Half the library's vanished !
Esther
* weeks and weeks and weeks in hospital, as a kid, while broken bits mended.
Closing/censoring libraries certainly makes for a dystopian tale right there! And I don't know why Blogger/google can't get back to letting people post with their name even if they aren't members.
DeleteGreat news about the new book. Congratulations. As to the source of stories...as long as they come is my motto. :-)
ReplyDeleteMost of my dreams make me fear for my sanity as well. There have been a few, though, that ended up inspiring a story and weren't to weird or crazy.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely in favor of grabbing good ideas, wherever they come from. In the end, I guess they all come from our unconscious minds, just some of us have to go there while awake :D
DeleteAnd dang, I couldn't seem to make the little imps inside the computer cooperate to respond to your post!
DeleteI couldn't/wouldn't write about my dreams either - way too scary and messed up to write about! I love your titles and can imagine how those fun ones would spark all kinds of ideas!
ReplyDeleteIt's worked for me.
DeleteI get your problem with dreams. The only dreams I do remember are unpleasant ones, so no inspiration for my fiction there. Wacky titles though - I could see how it would work.
ReplyDeleteI'm like you--I remember the ones that scare me awake. Even if they'd work for stories, I just don't want to spend any more time there.
DeleteI think we are to the point that everyone has a bunch of free books and they expect to get them all for free or dirt cheap.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't know if refusing to play along does any good---but I feel like if we are to maintain writing as an endeavor that can make any money, we have to fight the trend.
DeleteCongratulations on your book!
ReplyDeleteThat's cool you'll have a book out this year.
ReplyDeleteI never even remember my dreams.
Only the ones I'd rather forget :(
DeleteHi Rebecca. Great that you'll have a new book out this year. Keep your eyes posted to WEP. We'll be offering a chance for WEP writers to promote their new release.
ReplyDeleteI dream about my characters after I've begun writing my book. A lot of my plots come from dreams.
I'll keep my eyes peeled!
Delete"A Coastal Corpse" sounds like a good read Rebecca! I'll keep my eyes open for it. I'm sorry to hear that you've been laid up for three months because of a broken foot. I broke my right foot last fall: a Jones fracture. Such a small break, but it threw my gait off and froze my left hip. I found practicing walking and doing exercises in a pool really helped me to recover, especially slowly rolling each foot from heel to toe. I'll be in the pool this afternoon walking and swimming. If you have access to a pool, it might help you too. Wishing you all the best! Take care!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I saw my doc yesterday and the fracture is essentially healed. I do still have a little pain from the stuff I tore while breaking the foot, but I'm free to do any activities. I'm ramping up my walking and even got on my bike yesterday (after months of not riding various body parts that are not my foot limited that!).
DeleteI'm starting to believe that there needs to be a "cost" for someone's work. Even if it's only a $.25, a measly quarter, or a donation to a cause, I think there needs to be a sense that you value your work. I tend to avoid "free" books, unless I know the author already and then I often get just one free and buy another (so it gets to be a Buy 1, Get 1 sort of thing).
ReplyDelete