Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh where insecure writers like myself can give each other advice and encouragement. Click here for more information about I.W.S.G. and to see a full list of participating blogs.
Once again, I’m going to turn the floor over to my muse. She has something to say, and maybe it’s something your own muse would like to hear.
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Hello, I’m James’s muse, and welcome to another edition of the Insecure Muse’s Support Group. Because behind every insecure writer is an even more insecure muse.
My writer and I are currently doing research about the planet Mars, and I think Mars exploration serves as a pertinent metaphor for the adventure of publishing. They both sound fun and exciting until you start digging into the details.
- Essentially, my writer and I are traveling to an unknown world.
- There’s a lot of conflicting, contradictory information about what that world will be like.
- We do not know if life is possible in this new world. We might not be able to survive there.
I think my writer would rather risk going to Mars than facing the unknowns involved in publishing. And unfortunately, I don’t really know how to help.
Publishing involves money and marketing and something called social media. Basically, it involves a bunch of stuff that’s none of a muse’s business. I know how to inspire, not how to network.
The only thing I can tell my writer right now is that it’s okay to be scared. Leaping into the unknown is scary. But giving up on publishing just because it’s scary would be as disappointing as humanity never going to Mars just because it’s difficult.
Planet Pailly 
Loved your post. Here’s another angle. We writers sometimes fail to trust our muse. Even ignore them, or worse, let our ego get in the way. Once I shut up my ego and deleted pages of ego-driven scenes, the plot flowed freely. I hope to hear more from your muse, and you. Thanks. Blessings
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Yeah, my muse slaps me upside the head when I don’t listen to her. She’s made me delete plenty of scenes.
Thanks for stopping by! And thanks for co-hosting IWSG!
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Loved your post, James! I think that because so much is unknown or conflicting about Mars you some extra freedom to create. Have you read the wonderful Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson? Or Andy Weir’s “The Martian” which he self-published and then had picked up by a publisher? Hands down I’d rather go to Mars than face publishing and marketing! Good luck!
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I have not read those, although Weir’s book has been recommended to me more than a few times. I suppose reading (or writing) about Mars will have suffice for me for now.
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Your muse might start reciting this quote to you whenever you feel like going to Mars: “As things stand now, I am going to be a writer. I’m not sure that I’m going to be a good one or even a self-supporting one, but until the dark thumb of fate presses me to the dust and says ‘you are nothing’, I will be a writer.”- Hunter S. Thompson
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Thanks! That’s a great quote.
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Too true! Don’t give up on it, especially when it scares you. If we’re scared, we’re getting somewhere and treading new territory.
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Thanks for the encouragement! Also, nice to meet you, warrior muse!
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Hi James, nice meeting your muse. Travelling to an unknown world can be scary, but don’t give up.
Rachna Chhabria
Co-host IWSG
Rachna’s Scriptorium
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Thanks, Rachna. I have no intention of giving up.
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The research phase can be really frustrating, so I can totally sympathise. Just keep plugging away until you feel you’ve got enough info to tell the story, and remember, the story itself is the most important bit, it’s okay to get some of the supporting facts a little wrong!
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I have always said I’ll never let facts get in the way of a good story. 😉
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Excellent post! I think one of the best things I’ve learned over the years, is that imposter syndrome is a common thing, not just something that exists in my own private anxiety closet.
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Thanks! Yes, I think I have a touch of imposter syndrome. Also, that could make a good addition to sciency words.
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