Welcome to the Internet Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. .
What is IWSG? Founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and author Alex J Cavanaugh explains the group's purpose is "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!" You're invited to become a member of this supportive group.
What is IWSG? Founder of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group and author Alex J Cavanaugh explains the group's purpose is "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!" You're invited to become a member of this supportive group.
The group blogs the first Wednesday of every month. The list of bloggers is always available so you can hop around to the author blogs filled with humor, advice, and thought-provoking topics on writing and publishing. You can find the list of participants at Alex's IWSG page.
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Write What You Love by J.Q. Rose
When I read this statement by top-selling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch, it was like new insight hit me between the eyes. She wrote--"What my professor knew, what most writers learn, what readers know in their gut, is that what makes a book unique and different isn’t the plot or the subgenre. It’s not the romance or the harmonica.
It’s the writer himself. His perspective. His voice. His take on something that the writer—the writer—loves." --Blog post by Kristine Katheryn Rusch
After finishing my third novel and getting it on its way into the readers' world, I floundered for a story I should write. What was hot? What was selling? But Ms. Rusch makes the point to forget all that. Don't worry about what amazon is selling. Even they, with their huge book sales and algorithms, haven't cracked what readers really want.
The market used to be determined by the big publishers who told readers what was not hot and what you should be reading. Self-publishing has crushed that idea with quirky, zany, intellectual, boring-to-some books available for everyone. And isn't that opportunity delicious?
So with this vast market open to write OUR stories we want to write, then we should. Write what we love. I understand that now and I'm fired up to re-visit characters who I loved telling their story.
Have you noticed a story is especially difficult for you to begin or finish? Could it be because you don't even like the story you're writing and you're just pushing through to completion? Have you noticed a book flows on the page when you really love the premise of your story? Please leave a comment below and let us hear from you.
I hope you giggle. >>>>>>
After finishing my third novel and getting it on its way into the readers' world, I floundered for a story I should write. What was hot? What was selling? But Ms. Rusch makes the point to forget all that. Don't worry about what amazon is selling. Even they, with their huge book sales and algorithms, haven't cracked what readers really want.
The market used to be determined by the big publishers who told readers what was not hot and what you should be reading. Self-publishing has crushed that idea with quirky, zany, intellectual, boring-to-some books available for everyone. And isn't that opportunity delicious?
So with this vast market open to write OUR stories we want to write, then we should. Write what we love. I understand that now and I'm fired up to re-visit characters who I loved telling their story.
Have you noticed a story is especially difficult for you to begin or finish? Could it be because you don't even like the story you're writing and you're just pushing through to completion? Have you noticed a book flows on the page when you really love the premise of your story? Please leave a comment below and let us hear from you.
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| The Good Neighbors available at Amazon Jim and Gloria Hart, snowbirds from Michigan, always help out the neighbors in their Florida retirement community when asked. Who knew being good could turn out to be so bad? |
I wrote a holiday story based on characters from my novella, Sunshine Boulevard. Jim and Gloria Hart are characters I enjoyed writing and placing them in quirky situations.
I hope you giggle. >>>>>>
25 comments:
I think your post and Katherine Rusch are right. You need to love something if you want others to love it too---I think its kinda like a contagious diseases lol.
I have always written for the love of writing. I have had to learn to write with other things in mind, because love alone will not sustain a relationship for the "long term", if there is no substance or connection to keep you moving forward "together" (life change) or connection. I do not want the paths to diverge so to speak, lol. Life experience has taught me that about human relationships and I think it applies to a lot of things. I seem to be in philosophical mindset today.
Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
J.Q. - I think your post is right on the money . . . you write best when you love what your writing. I know that's true for me. I struggled with a book most of last year - words just never flowed as they should. I found myself forcing the words and thus, it ended up sounding forced. I shelved that wip and started writing a new book that I was excited about. What a difference it made. It's close to completion and I couldn't be happier about it.
"The Good Neighbours" ... sounds wonderful. Maybe the producer can get Tom Hanks for the lead? Or is he too old? Doesn't matter. You had a dream, and you went for it. Bravo!!!
Yes! I never chased what was hot or popular. Writing what we want and love should be where the passion should really lie. :)
I can't imagine writing something I didn't like, not for money or anything else. Maybe, I'm a nut bar. Anyway, I think it's passion that makes a story people want to read. Just sayin' :-)
Anna from Elements of Writing
Well, if we don't love what we are writing, then it will be obvious in the story.
I have a hard time starting just because I hate the first draft...
I do love that self publishing has opened up so many opportunities. I remember when I first started writing romance being told I couldn't write about actors and artists because "those books don't sell." I was told to write about "cowboys, pregnant women, and women with babies." That was what Harlequin readers want to read, the editors said. Not much else.
Oh Juneta, say it ain't so. Love alone will not sustain a relationship for the long term. sigh...So much truth in that statement. So we love to write but content is important. Thanks for your wise words.
Congrats, Sandra. Glad you shelved the first book and achieving success with the second book, the story you love to write.
Thanks, Joylene. Tom Hanks would be the perfect age to play Jim Hart. Afterall, they live in a senior retirement community. Hmm, maybe Tom's too young??? LOL
Thanks, Loni. Glad you stopped by.
I agree with you, Anna. You're not a nut bar.
Exactly, Alex. Time to rip it up or hit delete on that first draft. But oh so painful.
Stephanie, Good for you! We can write what we love now and hope our passion for the story will be understood by appreciative readers.
You're so right in what you say, JQ, about writing what you love. Sometimes, though, even if I love the premise behind my story, I reach points where I'm really struggling to carry on with it. I just don't know why, and it's a constant struggle with me some days to push the story forward. I wish it weren't this way, and that I could write a lot faster than I do.
Thanks for the thought-provoking post!
Hi Helena, I know what you mean about struggling with the story. Sometimes the words and ideas all come together beautifully, but then there are those bumps along the way to overcome. If writing were easy, everybody would be doing it. Thanks for popping in.
Great post, JQ. I'm afraid Book 3 in my series may be like this. I've begun, but then put it aside to do other stuff. I think I'm trying to write about stuff, I don't know enough about--financial stuff-LOL But I must persevere. It's a series for crying out loud. Funny, I'm not as worried about the 4th book. I'll share. :)
Thank you for your habit of sharing blog posts on social media. I think it really does give the shared posts a little kick up. I completely understand about hard to write about stuff you don't enough about. When I did research on the DarkNet, I just put in a bunch of lines to mark the places I needed to go back and fill in! Good luck with finishing #4!!
Wonderful post. We do need to write what we love. The more of emotion we put into our writing, the more the readers will feel. Good luck and thank you for visiting my blog. :)
I agree there's a difference when you like what you're writing and you can feel what the characters are feeling.
Hi Christine, I like what you said--"The more of emotion we put into our writing, themore the readers will feel." Excellent observation. Thank you.
Hi Melissa, Thanks for stopping in.
You are so right. The story practically writes itself when I love the story I'm trying to tell.
So true, Doreen. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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