IWSG & Writing Goals

by Jemi Fraser

Welcome to another fabulous IWSG day! Thanks to the amazing Alex J. Cavanaugh and his merry band of delightful minions and clones, we have a day where we can support and encourage each other as we travel this fascinating journey of publication.

Check out the list of other IWSG writers here and find some new friends to visit this month!

July's question: What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?

My writing goals have definitely changed over time.

1st Level Goal: Write for fun! (= 2 or 3 drafts)

2nd Level Goals: Meet other writers and learn things (= AgentQueryConnect.com, incredible crit buddies, and the realization that I knew nothing!!)

3rd Level Goals: Learn more things & write a draft that someone else might want to read (= learned the rudiments of editing, social media, & more drafts ... I can first draft forever!!!)

4th Level Goals: Learn more things, polish a story, & query (= sent out a few queries, some full requests, excellent feedback, learned more about pacing & conflict)

5th Level Goals: Learn more things, learn to plot (= so much angst over plotting!!!, several more drafts)

6th Level Goals: Learn more things, take some risks (= enter a #Pitchwars contest where I made awesome new friends & got excellent feedback, enter a IWSG contest and got a story chosen for the Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime anthology!)

7th Level Goals: Learn more things, take more risks, finish a good draft using an outline, write more short stories, get my stories ready to head out into the world, consider querying & self-publishing 

And that's where I am today. Still learning, still growing, still risking, still thinking about publishing paths, and (most importantly) still having fun writing!

How about you? Have your goals evolved with time? Doesn't it feel great when you achieve a goal? (I know I'm still Happy Dancing over UNTIL RELEASE being out and about in the world!)

Just Jemi

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                                                         WHAT ARE HEROES MADE OF by Jessica R. Ferguson
?

When I learned my story, The Little Girl in the Bayou, had been accepted for publication in the IWSG Anthology, I was sitting in a hospital bed awaiting heart surgery. For an instant, it seemed like a cruel joke—after all, how would I do the edits or meet any other publishing or marketing requirements? As you can see, all worked out. I’m alive, doing well, and to the best of my ability I’m meeting my obligations. I’m thrilled to be a part of this collection.

About my hero:

Construction worker Joe Mack Crawford (known as Mack in this story) came into my life in the mid-eighties. He’s a composite of all the heroes I’ve ever known: my quiet introspective dad along with his own hero Matt Dillon of Gunsmoke; the neighbor across the street who lifted me high over his head, muscles bulging; the pastor who baptized me in our little country church, and my grandpa who always knelt beside the pew to pray. No way can I forget my handsome 6^th grade Texas history teacher—even if he did accuse me of tracing that buffalo! And of course, my husband who introduced me to Joe Mack, and did a lot of brainstorming and plotting.

Joe Mack Crawford is the type of guy who will right wrongs or die trying. So when he found a picture of a child wrapped in fish net, looking fearful, no way would he ignore it.

EXCERPT: 

He wouldn’t be able to sleep or focus on his job until he found her. The terror in her eyes screamed at him to do something. She couldn't be more than nine or ten. He wondered if she would ever smile again or if they’d already pushed her too far. He wondered if she was still alive.  

Life has a way of teaching hard lessons, and Mack knew if the kid was still alive she’d already learned the hardest at a very young age. She might never get over it.

        EXCERPT:

      He got up, paced the floor, and watched the bayou meander behind his apartment. He couldn’t get the little girl’s face out of his mind. Was she asleep now? Having a nightmare? Crying for her mama and daddy? He didn’t know whether to pray for her to be alive or pray that God had saved her by taking her home.

Mack lives in three manuscripts: two short stories and an incomplete novel, but to me he’s out there somewhere—alive and well—much more than a fictional character. He’s all the good men in my life—men who were (and are) heroes.

Where do your heroes come from? A memory? A dream? Pure fiction?

I’m anxious for you to read The Little Girl in the Bayou and meet Joe Mack Crawford. And I hope you'll like him as much as I do.

You can purchase Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime from

Amazon     B&N      Kobo    ITunes  

  

 

 

 

IWSG With a Touch of Horror, Crime & Mystery

Brain Child of Alex J. Cavanaugh

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!

The awesome co-hosts for the April 4 posting of the IWSG are

 Olga Godim, Chemist Ken,

 Renee Scattergood, and Tamara Narayan!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG

Optional Question of the Month: When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

When I'm in a writing funk, I shut down everything I'm working on and pick up a good book. Nothing snaps me out of rainy-day-writing blues faster than to read someone else's writing. I know they must have had rotten moments while they were creating the story. I know they must have walked away, shaking their head and wondering why they ever thought they could write. And yet, there that book is with thousands of words that draw me in and keep me reading.

I had real doubts that I could write a mystery-thriller-suspense story. I almost didn't, then one of those accidents happened. I stumbled onto an article about the great Chicago fire, and because writers' minds are nothing but a labyrinth of subterranean connections, I came up with the idea for Heartless. I knew I wanted to set the story at the time of the fire, so there would be two races against time: one to save a life and one to escape the flames. 

Now I'm writing another novel, and I'm half-way through the first draft and totally stuck! Even worse, I had a computer malfunction and lost my latest version (about 2K words weren't saved in my backup) I've had more rainy days than California has in a decade. I've cried on my critique partners shoulders and slumped over my desk, asking, "Why did I start this?"

Stay tuned. I'll be blogging about this one for a while. And you? What's your rainy-writer's-day strategy?