It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month! Time to rock The Blog Father’s neurotic writing world.
Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. To join us click https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html
The awesome co-hosts for the July 7 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, Chemist Ken, and Louise – Fundy Blue!
July 7 question – What would make you quit writing?
Nothing. Reading and writing since I can remember, I’ve given up on projects. I’ve let collaboration opportunities with potential slide. Wrote and failed to create. Shine has come through cracks here and there. Despite all the ridicule and rejection I never quit writing.
After 8-year-old shoulder knots from carrying piles of books became unbearable I now buy a monthly, weekly and daily sectioned all-in-one planner. I need room to record dreams, detail deadlines and set goals while keeping my more mundane appointments. Working at indie bookstores made me a Moleskin addict.
Cheryl Strayed said, “Write like a motherfucker.”
Faulkner said, “Read everything.” Oh, Faulkner. You permission giving southern gothic mother-lover.
Ray Bradbury said, “You fail only if you stop writing.”
I want to obliterate my first two books out of the cybersphere. I wish I could squash published articles forever one click away, but I’ve been paid. The money spent. I look at my MFA degree and see a seriously expensive piece of paper declaring I survived bootcamp. Ugh.
Even with the growing plethora of reasons to put down the pen, projects and rejoin the corpo world, I never stop writing. I try to hide my insecurity under a mask of enthusiasm due to dumb stubborn pride. Funny how quickly pride and shame alternate.
What would make you quit writing? Happy IWSG Day. Hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend!
#IWSG #AmWriting #CherylStrayed #WilliamFaulkner #RayBradbury #CIIS #MFA #novels #journalism #writing #AlexCavanaugh
We all start and stop, quit and cry, want to burn our first novels and then claw them out of the ashes. It’s what we do. And we also never stop. Writer’s write and that’s what makes us writers. And if Faulkner told me to read everything, then I guess I have an excellent excuse to do so!
Great post!
Jen x
Truth. Writers. Write. Period. It’s a way to make sense of the world, or something. BIG, “or something”. Happy IWSG Day Jen. Hope you had a great holiday weekend.
I don’t think I could ever stop writing. Publishing, maybe. But not writing.
“Write like a motherfucker.” I like that. LOL!
I was at Hayes Theatre in San Francisco when Cheryl Strayed was interviewed by my mentor, Carolyn Cooke. She’s amazing. Happy IWSG Day!
I love the Ray Bradbury quote! He’s one of my favorites.
What’s not to love? I highly recommend the graphic novel made of, Fahrenheit 451. Very cool! I was worried I’d be disappointed, but it did his work justice.
Nothing will stop me from writing. Now, submitting is another thing all together. 😉
Anna from elements of emaginette
Agreed. Submitting is not the fun part.
Same
Don’t lose that stubbornness! It’s gotten you this far.
Thanks Alex! I sometimes need the reminder to take a moment and think, “Look how far I’ve come.”
Your comments made me realize something is threatening to make me quit writing. I am on the verge of no longer writing because there is just so much good stuff out there to read. If I’m reading all the time, there is no time left to write.
If all I did was read the stuff written by the authors I know, I would not have any time left to write.
Sorry, you authors I am acquainted with, I can’t read your stuff and write too.
The elusive state of balance. I catch myself reading and helping others with their work as a form of procrastination. I also read to unwind. Get inspired. Find new source material. Hope you had a good holiday weekend!
Thank you. We did, one of the best. Three generations of us attended an outdoor John Fogerty concert and watched probably the biggest fireworks display any of us have ever seen immediately after the concert ended and before we went back to our cars.
Since it was a three-day weekend we had a two-hour tubing trip down the river on Monday. A great thing to do when it was so hot!
I hope you had a great holiday weekend too.
Sounds awesome. I was in San Diego so got a great kaboom display as well. See family was worth the traffic, but happy to be home.
Nothing! Exactly, Adrienne! No matter what, I’m going to keep writing! I love the Faulkner quote. I can relate to the shoulder knots. Now that Covid isolation is over, I can finally have my biweekly massage to slowly eliminate those painful chestnuts! Happy writing and reading in July!
You as well, Louise! June gloom crept into July a bit, but it’s all sun now. Ready to reinstate a self care routine for those writers knots. 🙂 Thanks again for co-hosting. Every month I look forward to reading IWSG posts.
Great quotes! I love reading as well. I try to save reading for my unproductive or overwhelmed days. It is a break, but a productive one.
Yes. Reading is a necessity. I usually wake up with a book on my chest. Now with isolation over I might need to scale back and socialize more than just at the dog park. Ha.
I think all writers have to be stubborn to succeed. It just goes with the territory. I’m glad you can keep coming back over and over again. Good luck!
Thanks Ken. And thanks again for co-hosting this month. 😉
Adrienne, the call of the wild page is definitely a call worth answering.
Giving up writing would be like dying for me.
Thanks for your post.
Quenntis
Agreed, Quenntis. When I’m feeling blah about it I refer back to the source material. The ‘thing’ or ‘things’ which inspired me to start the project in the first place.
Ah, yes, those early books. I’ve had to do a minor edit on each of the first three to have them done as audiobooks, but, oh, how I wish I could rewrite them!
But I couldn’t because while it would remove some of the gauche errors, it would lose some of the magic in them.
Lovely post. Keep up the good work!
That’s heartening, Jemma Pett. Thank you for sharing. I’m thinking of taking my first series and combining it into one big heavily edited noir piece. Unfortunately, what’s one the internet stays on the internet. Thank God I’m a nobody. 😉
Writing is my life. In fact, I reward myself for at least sitting at my computer and attempting to get something worthwhile on the page by reading other writing in the evening. More power to you to continue to come back to writing. Bravo! All best to you!
Butt in chair is half the battle. Sitting at my desk scribbling, editing audio, video and written content. Playing with graphic design software. It all deserves rewards. Still, it’s amazing how much I can run myself ragged yet make such little progress. Ha!
Love the quotes!
I agree-the writing is always there, even if we look away for a bit.
If you come up with a way to obliterate the old stuff, be sure to share your secrets with us!
Will do, Lori!
The general consensus is to bury the garbage under a bunch of gold star work.
Easy. Lol.