What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme run by Erin L Funk and Jaime Morrow and is a great way for readers and writers to catch up.
What I'm reading
I've spent most of the past week reading the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning, and HOLY WOW. The series finale kept me up until the early hours, and I think I wore out my Kindle with my frantic clicking!
Then I read The Iron Traitor by Julie Kagawa, which was pretty awesome!
Now I'm rereading Splintered by A.G. Howard, because the signed copy of Unhinged I won in a giveaway finally arrived on Monday. ^_^
What I'm writing
I've been working on my YA urban fantasy WIP. Steady progress all around, but as I've been pretty busy (and had a crazily productive January!), I'm expecting this month to be slower. But the other day I had an epiphany about my possibly-next series, and I'm doing some planning on that. I can never settle for one project! :P
What else I've been up to
Other than editing and a nice trip to Waterstones on Saturday, not a lot! It's been a busy week work-wise so I've been keeping on top of deadlines. (Wow, my life is boring.) Also re-watching Supernatural and Studio Ghibli films, because you can't go wrong with that.
What inspires me right now
Hmm...most of you will probably know the Internet exploded the other day when J. K. Rowling announced that she regretted that Ron and Hermione ended up together. I'm refraining from expressing an opinion on this, but I totally agree with Nathan Bransford's post about what writers can learn from this. Even published authors can have second thoughts about the many decisions they make in the writing process!
It's also the second IWSG of 2014! The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the creation of Ninja Captain Alex, and is a great way for writers to share their worries, support and encouragement.
This month has been a constant battle against insecurity. I finished a book, but it's genre-confused and plot-confused and I genuinely have no idea what to do with it or whether it could ever be publishable. I started another book, and I've no idea whether this one will work out, either. I did a lot of waiting. Firstly, for news on whether Darkworld Book 2's second round of revisions would be accepted - happily, they were, and I was offered a contract. Secondly, for agents' replies to queries. The stress has brought back my anxiety and insomnia, which has made it hard to concentrate on writing!
The few rejections I've had have been mostly positive - a case of 'It's not for me' or 'I'm not the right agent to represent that project' - YA high fantasy's a hard sell, especially here in the UK. Nothing crushing, and nothing unexpected. But when you combine that with the reviews coming in for Darkness Watching (mostly positive, but distracting!), my nerves have been totally shredded. I'm sure it's the same for a lot of writers, but the idea of people out there reading my work, judging it - even though I know, rationally, they're not judging me - is still hard to deal with sometimes. Anxiety and writing don't go together, even though I know it's something a lot of writers deal with - in fact, I'm writing an article for this fabulous new Tumblr group about dealing with exactly that!
Anyway, as I said in my last What's Up Wednesday post, it's those days where anxiety overwhelms me and the universe constantly throws obstacles which make me more determined to write because I want to. Whether it's being published or not. Giving up is never an option. So I'm going to carry on putting my work out there, because there's nothing like hearing someone genuinely loved one of my books. Those are the days I write for. :)
Insecurity is a huge problem for me. I'm about to release a new NA contemp romance which is very different - in tone, plot, emotion - than the contemps I already have out and I'm super afraid that people will compare them, expecting me to write more of the same. I don't know, maybe I'm just over thinking it.
ReplyDelete"Giving up is never an option." >> right there with you my friend! :D
You have a lot of things coming at you at once. You might need to pause and take a deep breath, but giving up isn't an option.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I always thought Harry and Hermione should've gotten together.
I'm sure these are all very common fears amongst writers. I had a couple of rejections last month, like you positive ones, but they still knock you a bit. Onwards and upwards, I could never give up either!
ReplyDeleteHooray for Waterstones! I gave them a rather healthy portion of my wages at the weekend :P
ReplyDeleteSteady progress is good :D
Have a great week!
I didn't dwell too much on the JK Rowling thing, but I can hardly imagine what it's like to write a book series that huge, with the film franchise and the theme park and the pop culture phenomenon... I mean, it's mind boggling. She's a writer like any writer with the same doubts, but when she questions it, it's almost as if she is questioning certain people's childhood, they are that enmeshed in the Harry Potter universe.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think she might be better off keeping those comments to a close group of friends and not going there in interviews.
You just have to separate you from your book. And know not everyone will enjoy it. That's all right. They just weren't your book's audience.
ReplyDeleteI agree that writing because you want to is key. This industry moves so slow, you aren't in a race. Write because writing is something that you love, and hope that in time other people will come to love your words too.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great eye for good books. I am also wanting to read the Iron series. And Splintered looks awesome.
ReplyDeleteI am also on the path of learning to write when i want to. I am trying to keep it in mind. Forcing myself to write especially lately brings little to no results.
The JK Rowling thing is interesting. I always thought that they would get together but in the end i think it worked how it was.
Have a good week.
Just keep plugging away. YA epic fantasy is really cool and deserves more representation in my opinion. Have you read the Foundling's Tale/Monster Blood Tattoo books?
ReplyDeleteHe loved her like a sister, he said it himself. I like it as it is.
ReplyDeleteI totally missed the Waterstones sale, gutted.
Well, I think Blogger ate my first comment, so let me try again.
ReplyDeleteDoubt and anxiety are definitely my least favorite part about writing. But then it's all worth it when we write a great scene or have a breakthrough.
I've only seen a few eps of Supernatural - it was entertaining, but very creepy and I'm kind-of a chicken :)
I really need to get reading my copy of SPLINTERED because I also have UNHINGED on my shelf. I've heard great things about both of them, so I'm looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteI love story epiphanies! It's so fun to plan a new project. :-)