Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop where insecure writers like myself can share our worries and offer advice and encouragement. Click here to find out more about IWSG and to see a list of participating blogs.

First off, I want to assure you that I’m okay. Parts of this post might sound really bad, but I promise I’m okay.

At least, I am now.

Two or three weeks ago… not so much.

Back in 2012/2013, I wrote a short story series about a journalist who travels through time. Sort of like Rita Skeeter from Harry Potter becomes a Time Lord from Doctor Who. It was a pretty cool series, if I do say so myself.

But over the last few years, I’ve been struggling to figure out what to do with these all stories. I hate to admit this, but I’ve even considered letting this whole project go and starting something else instead. Something easier. Something more manageable.

Then last month, I had an idea. A brilliant idea! A crazy idea. One of my best ideas ever! I suddenly knew exactly what I needed to do with the Tomorrow News Network series; the only problem was that this idea was going to require a whole lot of work. Way more work than I’m accustomed to. I’d basically have to start the whole series over from scratch.

Do I… do I really want to do that?

Am I capable of pulling this off?

I don’t know, but when I looked in the mirror, the guy staring back at me made his thoughts on the subject plain.

I guess most writers have these kinds of thoughts from time to time. It’s just… I’ve never had this kind of self-doubt hit me so hard before, and I didn’t know how to deal with it. It made August one of the darkest and saddest months of my life.

Now regular readers of my blog know that my muse makes frequent appearances in these IWSG posts. Regular readers may also know that my muse doesn’t really understand how the “real world” works (fairy people from imagination-land typically don’t). Apparently among other things like deadlines and personal finances, she also gets confused about mirrors.

Maybe that’s not the most inspiring thing a muse can say to her writer, but I appreciate the sentiment.

We writers really are jerks to ourselves. We’re our own worst critics because we do the one thing that you’re never supposed to do when criticizing—or rather critiquing—other people’s work. We make it personal.

That guy in the mirror called me a failure. He said some other pretty nasty things about me too. But he didn’t say one word about my writing or this new idea I’m toying with. Seriously, if someone did that in a critique group, that person would be politely but sternly asked to leave.

So as I said, I’m okay. At least, I am now. I’ve recovered from my bout of self-doubt and depression, and I’ve gotten back to writing. My plan for September is to try this new idea out and see how it goes.

As for the guy in the mirror… until he learns how to give constructive feedback, I will not be listening to him.

For today’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group, I’ve decided to recycle one of my older IWSG posts. Basically, this old post is especially relevant for something I’m struggling with right now.

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A few years ago, I was at a party with some fellow writers. A certain someone who wrote historical fiction made a comment about how important it is for writers to do their research, to make sure they get all their facts straight, “unless you write science fiction, of course,” he added with slight nod toward me.

I’ve heard this assumption before, and I’ve heard it since. I’ve heard it in writing seminars, I’ve read it on blogs, and I’ve encountered it in many casual conversations with other writers. Writers must do their research, but fantasy and science fiction writers get a pass. After all, they write about stuff that’s totally made up!

I mean, fantasy writers obviously have no need for research. They don’t need to know about different kinds of swords or armor. They certainly don’t need to know anything about farming, horseback riding, or medieval architecture, and I can’t think of any reason why they’d need to study military strategy. No, fantasy writers have it easy. No research required whatsoever.

As for science fiction writers like myself, why we have it even easier! Outer space is a land of pure imagination. Space travel requires zero understanding of Newton’s laws. As a Sci-Fi writer, I will never… not even once… need to know the difference between hydrogen and helium, between dark matter and dark energy, or between special and general relativity. Nope. Science fiction is 100% research free. It’s a good thing too because that relativity stuff is complicated. Have you seen all the math involved?

This historical fiction guy went on to explain that “world building” is what fantasy and science fiction writers do instead of research. “Listen, jerk,” I said, “that’s something I do on top of my research, not instead of it.” Okay, I didn’t actually have the nerve to say that, but I wanted to. I really wanted to.

So please, fellow writers, please do not belittle us fantasy and science fiction authors. We have to do research just as much as anyone else.

End rant.

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Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop where insecure writers like myself can share our worries and offer advice and encouragement. Click here to find out more about IWSG and to see a list of participating blogs.

This is an open letter to anyone who’s ever had a conversation with me. You may or may not have been aware of this at the time, but I’m a writer. That means there’s something you should know: while we were talking, I was taking mental notes about you.

Okay, there’s no need to panic. I’m not in the habit of taking people I know or people I’ve met and just dropping them into my stories. Yes, some writers do that, but that’s not how my process works.

So I promise I will not create a character just like you; however, the things you said—especially the way you said them—may inform my character development process at some point in the future. Well, maybe not in the future. To be honest, I’m probably already using you as a source of inspiration.

If you used some particularly interesting turn of phrase of displayed some unique or striking mannerism while we were interacting, I may have actually written that down to ensure I wouldn’t forget. I wouldn’t have done this in front of you. That would’ve been rude. But be aware that I probably did this behind your back, and I probably added you to a file folder when I got home.

I hope this doesn’t make you feel self-conscious or uncomfortable. It’s important to me that you behave naturally. Or rather, I want you and need you to behave authentically, because authentic speech and behavior are precisely what I’m trying to replicate in my storytelling.

Thank you for your time. I just thought you ought to know what you’re getting yourself into when you talk to a writer like me.

Sincerely,

J.S. Pailly.

Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and others. Click here to learn more about this awesome group and to see a list of participating blogs.

Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop where insecure writers like myself can share our worries and offer advice and encouragement. Click here to find out more about IWSG and see a list of participating blogs.

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So I guess my 2017 is going to be all about trying new things and taking bigger and bigger risks. Already, some of these new things have fallen apart. Others are proceeding at a frustratingly slow pace. But some stuff is working, and working out quite well, if I do say so myself.

Welcome to a Universe of Possibilities!

I recently became a contributor for Universe of Possibilities, the new Sci-Fi hub started by blogger extraordinaire Simon Farnell. My first Universe of Possibilities post went live last week. It’s called “Why Sci-Fi?”

That post ended up being a huge emotional risk for me. It was originally intended to be a simple little article about why I became interested in science fiction and what science fiction means to me. But it ended up turning into something deeply personal. Something kind of painful to write.

I had doubts about sharing such a personal story on the Internet. But after talking it over with some friends plus doing a lot of late night soul searching, I realized that this is who I am. I’m the kind of writer who writes with his heart on his sleeve.

What’s My Next Big Risk?

Now I’m taking another risk. I almost chickened out for like the third or fourth year in a row, but I’m finally doing it. I’m doing the A to Z Challenge, and… wait a minute. There are how many letters in the alphabet?

Oh jeez… umm… sorry, I need to get back to writing my A to Z posts!!!

P.S.: Click here for my A to Z Challenge theme reveal, and click here for today’s A to Z post on dinosaurs.

This past month, my muse and I have been having the same conversation over and over again.

I don’t feel particularly insecure at the moment. Just impatient.

I’ve set some pretty ambitious goals for myself in 2017, and I’m making real progress toward those goals. That’s a plus. And I’m moving at a steady pace, which is a big plus. It’s just that my pace—steady as it is—is a bit slower than I’d hoped for.

So it’ll take me a little longer than I’d imagined to reach my goals. Which is okay. I’m not complaining. If it sounds like I’m complaining, that’s honestly not my intention.

I’m working at a slow and steady pace, and that’s probably the best thing for a writer. I’d much rather write at a slow and steady pace than deal with those boom/bust cycles that I and, I suspect, most new and aspiring writers suffer through.

So again, I’m not complaining. I don’t feel particularly insecure at the moment. On the contrary, I’m quite secure in the knowledge that I will achieve my goals—sooner or later. I just wish it could be sooner rather than later.

I guess I’ll just have to be patient.

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Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop where insecure (or impatient) writers like myself can share our worries and offer advice and encouragement. Click here to find out more about IWSG and see a list of participating blogs.

I’m not a superstitious person, so I don’t believe in jinxes. My muse, on the other hand, feels differently.

In last month’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post, I shared some statistics about my weekly word counts. I didn’t mean to brag, but the numbers were rather high for the past few years, and I was excited because they’d jumped even higher in 2016.

And then my writing productivity plummeted for the rest of December. Yes, part of that can be blamed on the holiday season. And part of it was because I caught a nasty cold. But there’s no denying that I got overconfident after reviewing my own writing records, and that led me astray. Does that mean I jinxed myself? I guess, in a way, it does.

Now I have a lot of catching up to do. January is going to be a busy month. My whole top-secret master plan for 2017 is in jeopardy. I’d tell you more about what I need to do, but… it’s a top-secret plan.

So long as I can get my weekly word counts back up to their pre-December levels, I think I’ll be okay. In fact, I’m confident that I can beat those pre-December numbers and really get my master plan back on track!

Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself again. Wish me luck!

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Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop where insecure writers like myself can share our worries and offer advice and encouragement. Click here to find out more about IWSG and see a list of participating blogs.

Last year, I asked my muse what she wanted for Christmas. This is what she told me:

Muses can be rude sometimes, but they do know how to spur their writers into action.

One of the nice things about writing quotas, and the record keeping that goes with them, is that they can help you track your long-term progress. Right now, my average weekly word count is almost double what it was in years past.

Average Weekly Word Counts

2013: 9,293 words per week
2014: 9,003 words per week
2015: 9,416 words per week
2016: 15,837 words per week

So at least in terms of raw productivity, I’m a better writer today than I was a year ago. And there are other, less easily quantifiable ways I believe my writing has improved.

I think I do a better job integrating science into my science fiction. I feel like I’m better with dialogue and characterization. I think I’m better at picking and choosing meaningful details in my descriptions, or at least I’m better at leaving unimportant details out.

I’ve also finally gotten over my addiction to so-called writing rules—which should really be called writing suggestions or, at best, writing guidelines. The only rule I still believe in is do whatever you have to do to get the story right.

I’m not sure if I can call myself a “good” writer yet. I still have a lot to learn about the writing process and a whole lot more to learn about the business side of writing. But with 2016 coming to an end, I think this is a good time to take stock of how far I’ve come in the past year.

So what sort of progress did you make in 2016? And if your answer is “none” or “not enough,” what do you think you’ll do differently in 2017?

Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop where insecure writers like myself can share our worries and offer advice and encouragement. Click here to find out more about IWSG and see a list of participating blogs.