The Insecure Writer's Support Group was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh. October's co-hosts are Olga Godim, Chemist Ken, Jennifer Hawes, and Tamara Narayan. Find the other IWSG participants here.
October's question: Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your characters, either by accident or on purpose? The simple answer is yes.
I think it goes back to the guideline of "Write what you know." It would be nearly impossible to write without pulling on some sort of emotion, action, etc. that we've experienced in the past, even if we present it in a different way or from a different view. I think experience leads credence to our imagination.
That said, I have purposely written about events that happened to me. The best example is Once upon a December Nightmare from Once upon a Nightmare: A Collection. The main event that sets up the story actually happened to me in December 2002. I played off what occurred and expanded it into a horror story. Yes, even the dead deer were really in that clearing.
My unpublished YA contemporary novel Starred also features true incidents that happened while I participated in musical theater.
And I'm sure I'll find new things to insert into new stories too.
And I'm sure I'll find new things to insert into new stories too.
Don't forget about the IWSG Anthology contest! I had an idea in mind for a story, but I didn't know how to narrow it down to 3500-6000 words and didn't really have the time to write and edit it for the November 1st deadline. Plus, it took kept turning into a horror story in my head. So good news, I have a new horror story to write some day. Bad news, I have no story to submit for the next IWSG Anthology. Oh, well.
What are you insecure about this month?
I formatted a manuscript for a client. I proofread, formatted, and published Spirits in the Water (Elements of Untethered Realms #4). I edited the outlines of A Soul to Reap, A Soul to Keep, and A Soul to Take as well as reached the midway point in my novel Destined. I even found time to update Once upon a Nightmare: A Collection, the ebook and print versions.
I've also been thinking of my old Gravity series, and I have an idea of a new direction to take the characters. Now I don't know when I'll get back to it, but I'm excited about the new starting point.
As for October's goals, they include:
- Continue editing Destined. The third novel in The Fate Challenges series is over 92,000 words so far and will likely be as long as Reborn (around 95,000 words). I hope to be 75-85% finished with this edit by the end of the month.
- Update the print version of People of Foxwick and Their Neighbors with the new map and a few other minor tweaks.
- Write the outline for A Soul to Give (Soul Reaper #4).
And that's it. October is a lighter goals month than the previous ones.
What are your October goals?
2017 Stats: 105,864 words written and 885,566 words edited
BOOK READ AND REVIEWED
SPECULATIVE FICTION BOOKS
RELEASING IN OCTOBER
Spirits in the Water by Untethered Realms’ authors
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao
Tool of War by Paolo Bacigalupi
Devils and Thieves by Jennifer Rush
Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield
The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle
Berserker by Emmy Laybourne
Ally by Anna Banks
Never Apart by Romily Bernard
Seize Today by Pintip Dunn
27 Hours by Tristina Wright
Blood in the Water by Angela Roquet
The Uncrossing by Melissa Eastlake
Fairday Morrow and the Talking Library by Jessica Haight and Stephanie Robinson
Strange Weather by Joe Hill
Harry Potter – A History of Magic: The Book of the Exhibition by J.K. Rowling
Cold Spectrum by Craig Schaefer
