Plans? What Plans?

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

This month's optional question is: Is there anything in your writing plans for 2026 that you are going to do that you couldn't get done in 2025?

You say that like I tried to get any writing done in 2025...

Just like last year, I haven't actually set any concrete writing goals for 2026 yet. I've done so little writing in the past few years that writing literally ANYTHING would count as a success. 

But what exactly do I want to get done? 

I guess my main goal would be to get back on track towards actually finishing Uneven Lines. This is definitely a daunting task for many reasons, but even if I was just working on it a little bit every day, just one sentence written, or one brainstorming session. Literally anything, even if it's just for a few minutes. 

I'd also like to work on some other ideas that I haven't worked on in a while. There's a story I worked on for NaNoWriMo back in 2019 that I really think I could get back into. It'd be something that's a lot easier to write, just needs a little restructuring from what I've already written and of course, it needs to be finished. But I actually think I could get this book to a point where it would be good enough to try to publish. 

I'd love to come up with some new ideas as well, although that's never come very easily for me, especially since I've gotten in this writing slump. 

This might sound stupid, but I also want to chronicle my journey of trying to get back into writing with videos, whether that ends up being on YouTube or TikTok (or both!). I don't really know what I'm doing on that front (I do make TikToks but I think setting up a YouTube channel would probably require more work), but I figure I'll just take it one step at a time. I don't have any fancy equipment. I really just want it to be about the writing, and hey, if it ends up being successful then maybe I'll step up my game. 

But for now, I'm just taking everything one day at a time. I still have a lot of work to do in my planner for the year and writing goals down (not just for writing). So hopefully sometime soon I'll be trying to write again. 

Wrap it Up

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

I don't know what happened last month but I completely forgot to post for IWSG! It was about halfway through the month when I realized that it had passed. But things happen, I suppose, and I am back for this month! 

Well, it's December so I'm definitely more focused on figuring out Christmas presents than trying to get back into writing (I take my gift basket game very seriously...). But I think I am looking forward to the start of the new year to try to get back into the swing of things. I do tend to get that surge of motivation when the new year starts, my only problem is sticking with it. Actually, that's my problem with most things I start...

But anyway! I really want to do more in the near future. I've already got a planner for next year and I'm convinced this will help me. I usually ask for the planner for Christmas, which only gives me a week to set it up before the new year begins. This time I have almost a whole month! I'm sure I'll procrastinate a bit but if I work on it a little bit every day I think it will help. This planner is super in depth with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly goals so I really want to make it work for me this time. 

I really need to get back into reading and writing, eating healthier and exercising, and all the other little ideas and goals that I've been putting off for no particular reason. I'd like to get more into social media, in particular making all the TikTok ideas I've accumulated for a while now, and maybe even starting a Youtube channel about my journey to get back into writing. I think I get excited about these sort of ideas but then get nervous about actually doing it, so it just kind of sits in the back of my mind. 

So I'm excited to wrap this year up and start the next one with some new motivation (that will hopefully stick around...)

What are your goals for the new year? 

Uneven Feelings

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

This month's optional question is: What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

That's an interesting question for me. Despite the fact that it's definitely not finished, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to publish it, and I haven't even worked on it a little bit for I don't even know how long, I just have to go with Uneven Lines. 

I mean, I might as well call it my magnum opus at this point. I started it in 2011 and it's still not done, and no other idea has ever been able to take its place. 

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with this book. When I first started writing it, I was obsessed with it. I loved working on it, thinking about scenes, developing the voice. I really do think it contains the best writing I've ever done. There's so many intricate details and symbolism and themes and all that jazz that I just love. And if you've been here a long time, you know I'll always be obsessed with my main character, Jordan. He's definitely my character soulmate (even if he's abandoned me...). 

HOWEVER. It's been hard to find that passion for the story again. I do think a good 2/3 of what I have is really solid, but there's still so much to fix. I don't really have an ending. I've always thought I knew how the story would end, and I don't mind ending it that way, but at the same time, it feels like I'm forcing my characters into it. I can't figure out how to get them there, but I also can't think of an alternative. That's probably the biggest hurdle to finishing this book. 

There are some other little things that I'm just avoiding. There's a subplot that is really weighing down the last third of the book, but I don't want to cut it completely. I don't like most of the first chapter. I will probably be able to fix these things eventually, but it's hard to get that motivation and inspiration back to be able to do so. 

I also don't think anyone's going to actually want to read this story, so part of me thinks, what's the point? But I've put so much time and work into it already that I just can't give up on it. Even though it's been a few years since I've worked on it, I still don't feel like I've given up. I've just taken a pause. A very, very, very, very long pause. 

But yeah, it's still my favorite. 

Does AI Have the Answers?

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

How has it been a month already??

This month's optional question is: What are your thoughts on using AI, such as GPChat, Raptor, and others with your writing? Would you use it for research, storybible, or creating outlines\beats?

I've never used AI and I know I would never want to use it to replace my actual writing. That pretty much defeats the purpose of actually wanting to be a writer, doesn't it? You know, writing??

I have considered using it for things like research or possibly sparking ideas, but haven't attempted it yet. There are some things that I've tried researching before that were hard to figure out, and I wasn't sure how to find people who would have the answers. Maybe now that AI has advanced more (since it's been quite a while since I've done any research), those topics will be easier to research. But it's still something I haven't tried yet. 

There have been a lot of places in my writing where I've felt stuck for quite some time, and I've wondered if there was a way for AI to help me with that. I've thought about using it to help me brainstorm an ending to my book, since I've had a hard time finding a way that felt right to end the story. Maybe I could summarize my book or have the AI read what I have so far and give me a list of possible endings. 

I've had a lot of these ideas for a while but I just haven't tried them yet. I don't have much experience with AI besides what Google tells you when you search for something. But someday I would like to experiment with it and see if it can help me in some way. 

Have you ever used AI for research or brainstorming? Has it helped?

I'm Not That Sneaky

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

This month I'm a co-host! The other awesome co-hosts are Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Natalie Aguirre, and  Olga Godim! Be sure to give them a visit!

This month's optional question is: What is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry?

I'm not too knowledgeable about the ins and outs of the publishing industry (that would require finishing a book in order for it to be published...) so I'm sure there are quite a few practices that I'm not aware of. I guess the worst one to me would be plagiarism. Stealing another person's work and passing it off as your own just seems unfathomable to me. On top of being unethical, it's just lazy. If you don't want to actually write something, or can't for whatever reason, then just don't! Maybe writing isn't for you. 

Hey, I've gone a few years now not really being able to write anything and I've never considered plagiarism. I honestly wouldn't even know how to pull it off even if I wanted to. At my job we recently had someone steal money out of a coworker's locker, and all I could think was, even if I wanted to do that, I'd be too afraid of getting caught! I'm just not that sneaky! 

I'll leave the unethical activities to the characters in my stories...

I know I *just* had a vacation a few weeks ago, but I start another one tomorrow! And it's a good old fashioned staycation. Do I plan on doing any writing? Well...probably not. I mean if the mood strikes me I'll certainly go with it, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon. 

I plan on spending a lot of time getting my new apartment more organized, watching some of the dozens of movies on my many watchlists, and maybe if we're lucky, get back into some reading. I know that not reading any books certainly doesn't help me start writing again, so I figure that will be a nice first step. No real pressure. 

I had a great time in NYC as well! I had mac and cheese on pancakes, got spit on by my favorite actor (iykyk), and pet lots of kitties at our favorite cat cafe. Three days went by way too fast! And I got my chocolate martini, of course.

The Horror!

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

Hey! Long time no see! Probably because I forgot to post last month. In my defense, it was only a few days after I had just moved into my new apartment and I had a lot going on. I'm loving the new space and it's so much quieter than my old apartment, but I do still have quite a lot of crap lying around that I have to organize and find a home for, so I haven't exactly set up my dream writing space. But hey, baby steps! 

I think I've used this gif before...

Anyhoo, this month's optional question for the IWSG is: Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

I think I would like to write something in the horror genre at some point. I really enjoy horror movies, so it seems like something I would enjoy writing as well. I haven't really read all that much horror, however, probably because my love of horror movies came later in life (and I've also been in a reading slump for a few years), but I'm definitely interested in exploring the genre with reading and writing. 

I've had a couple horror story ideas floating around in my head but they're not that fleshed out. They may be better as short stories than novels, but I've never felt like I'm very good at writing short stories. I think if I read more horror books then maybe I'll find some inspiration and explore some new ideas or figure out the existing ones. 

In other news, hubby and I will be going to NYC in two weeks for a couple of nights. We're seeing a musical one night and hubby booked a comedy show for another, but other than that I think we're just gonna wing the trip. I like the idea of just going with the flow. I do know I want to go back to Max Brenner to get the best chocolate martini I've ever had again...no, seriously, I've been dreaming about it for two and a half years...

🤤

Am I Still a Writer?

It's the first Wednesday of the month, which means it's the posting day for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! Click here to learn more and sign up!

This month's optional question is: Some common fears writers share are rejection, failure, success, and lack of talent or ability. What are your greatest fears as a writer? How do you manage them?

Um...all of the above? And also some other ones? 

Ok, ok, I'll dive a little deeper...

While rejection is certainly a reality, I wouldn't say I'm afraid of it. I think it's to be expected, and I've faced it before in a particularly brutal way. I think just being told "no" wouldn't faze me at all. 

I think my biggest fear isn't that I never had any talent or ability, but that I lost it and I'll never get it back. Do I think some of my work would be a hard sell? Yes. But did I think I was writing it well? Yes! But it's been so long since I've been able to do that. I used to be really proud of some of the things I was writing. I thought it was really complex and entertaining and would hopefully reach some kind of audience. But for the past few years, I just haven't felt like a writer. 

I haven't been able to feel motivated or inspired for so long now that I'm afraid I'll never be able to write again. And that leads me to another fear about what the hell I'm supposed to do with my life. I wanted to be a writer since I was 8 years old. If I'm not a writer anymore, then what am I? 

How do I manage these fears? Well, I've been pretty lenient on myself. I don't put pressure on myself to write or do other creative things. I kind of just go with it. If I start thinking about a story, I don't stop myself, but I don't force it either. But I've been doing this for so long that I think maybe I should be a little harder on myself. Maybe I should force myself to do just a few minutes of writing every day. I guess the problem there is that I wouldn't know where to start. I don't have any ideas for anything new or any existing project. I think if I open up a document or sit down with a notebook, I'm just going to stare at the blank page. 

I mentioned a while ago that I would be moving into a bigger apartment soon, and it's finally happening this month! I'm hoping that having more space and more peace and quiet will lift some of the stress and anxiety from my mind and eventually lead to wanting to create again. But as always, I'm taking it one day at a time.