IWSG: Tiempo, Temps, Mekwâc: Time
It’s time for another group posting of the IWSG: Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month and encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.
Be sure to link to IWSG and display the badge in your post.
IWSG is the brainchild of our noble Ninja Captain and leader Alex J. Cavanaugh!
Our hashtag is @IWSG
And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we’ll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day 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. Remember, the question is optional!!!
January 4 Question: What writing rule do you wish you’d never heard?
Our wonderful co-hosts for the January 4 posting of the IWSG are Eva @ Lillicasplace,Crystal Collier, Sheena-kay Graham, Chemist Ken, LG Keltner, and Heather Gardner!
Please stop by and thank them for their time.
T I M E
It’s IWSG Wednesday and that means you have many blogs to visit; so I’ll keep this brief. But know I could go on for pages. Why? Because too many writers believe there isn’t enough success to go around or enough readers. That couldn’t be furthest from the truth. There are enough readers for us all. Your triumph does not deter from mine. And vice versa. Please heed the following words, however sparse.
When I was a young writer, I found time cruel and unforgiving.
“Slow down, Time,” I’d cry. “Have mercy on me!” As if that would ensure I’d find a publisher.
The more I begged, the more Time dragged. I’d send out queries and wait months for a response. I’d check our mailbox with bated breath. (Sound familiar?) I did this every day until the millennium when publishers finally allowed email attachments. After that, I’d hound my inbox. In total I spent 27 years begging to be published.
When I’d receive multiply rejections, I’d cry, mop, and wallow in self-pity, sometimes for up to two days.
Twenty-seven years.
T W E N T Y – S E V E N !
That’s a long Time.
You may have already heard I self-published in 2008 after my good friend and critique partner Keith Pyeatt did. I don’t think Keith would mind if I shared that we were terribleinexperienced writers back then. Through sheer determination we carried on, never wavering in our support for each other.
Shortly after Keith found his first publisher, I found mine.
In 2016, I found my 4th.
You might assume that time had put me through the ringer. But honestly time never failed me. While there were moments I felt defeated, the feelings never lasted long. Okay, that’s not true. I once quit writing for an entire year.
Then I discovered the truth.
Would you like to know the three steps to becoming an author who actually sells copies?
Attitude.
Mindset.
Thoughts.
Three steps.
First: Care about how you feel.
Second: Believe in your success.
Third: Give thanks as if it’s already happened.
Quantum Physics.
As corny as this may sound–and I’m sure a few of you are shaking your head–the only way to get what you want is to believe you already have it. Sure, it helps if you write everyday and you have critique partners you trust. (Thank you, Vicki, Chris, Merilyn, Alan, Keith, etc..)
Before you rise tomorrow morning, concentrate on thoughts that leave you smiling. Give thanks for what you have and for what you’ve yet to receive. Then do it again the next morning and the next.
If you do this every day and you believe with all your heart that you’re already successful, I promise… your life will change forever. Time will become what it’s always been: irrelevant.
–>
If you think I’m nuts, prove me wrong!
Congratulations to the winners of the 2016 The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Anthology!
It was an honour helping to choose the finalist again this year. I salute:
Elizabeth Seckman – Mind Body Soul
Olga Godim – Captain Bulat
Ellen Jacobson – The Silvering
Erika Beebe – The Wheat Witch
Yvonne Ventresca – The Art of Remaining Bitter
Sean McLachlan – The Witch Bottle
Sarah Foster – The Last Dragon
And the grand prize winner:
