Tag: IWSG

#IWSG: Contract with a Muse

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 29 Comments

Welcome to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!  If you’re a writer, and if you feel in any way insecure about your writing life, click here to learn more about this awesome group!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an imaginary friend.  Those of you who regularly read my Insecure Writer’s Support Group posts have already met her.  She’s my muse.  Here’s her picture:

And here’s her picture sitting in my writing zone, next to my coffee mug full of pens.  I always have a picture of my muse with me when I’m writing.

But not all writers believe in muses.  In fact, not all writers even approve of the belief in muses.  I was recently listening to a writing podcast where the host went off on a tirade against the very concept of muses.

You can’t sit around waiting for your muse, this podcast host said.  You’ll never get any writing done that way.  Writing is work.  You have to do it every day, whether you feel inspired or not!

Of course my muse and I have heard all this before.  Perhaps you have too.  But I think all this anti-muse stuff is based on a fundamental misunderstanding about how muses do their jobs.  You see, my muse and I have something like a contractual relationship.

I do have to do my writing every day.  That’s the promise I made to my muse, and in exchange she has promised to keep bringing me the shiniest of shiny new ideas.  If I don’t fulfill my side of the bargain, why should my muse fulfill hers?

So writers, you can’t sit around being lazy and expect your muse to do all the work for you.  Show some initiative.  Go write.  It might feel like a struggle, but the muse will reward you in the end.

P.S.: And muses, remember you have an obligation to your writer too.  If your writer is making a real effort, do not be stingy with the good ideas!

#IWSG: Can You Trust Me?

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 11 Comments

Welcome to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group!  If you’re a writer, and if you feel in any way insecure about your writing life, click here to learn more about this awesome group!

So what am I feeling insecure about this month?  Well, I’m doing the A to Z Challenge.  To be honest, I’m not too worried about finishing it.  I’ve done A to Z before, and this year I feel like I’m well prepared for what’s coming.

But I do feel insecure about the theme I picked: astrobiology, one of the newest and awesome-est branches of science.  But here’s the thing: I’m no astrobiologist. I’m no scientist.  What authority do I have to talk about this stuff?

You see there’s a lot of misinformation out there about the search for alien life.  A lot of the actual science gets misreported in the popular press or coopted as “proof” by U.F.O. conspiracy theorists.  So I really, really, really do not want to spread any of that misinformation around.

Recently, I saw something that kind of surprised me: a bunch of well respected educational channels on YouTube have posted videos admitting their mistakes and promising to do better in the future. This one from Adam Ruins Everything is my favorite.

I don’t have the kind of research team behind me that Adam Ruins Everything has, or that Kurzgesagt has, or that SciShow has.  It’s just me.  I do a lot of reading, and I fact check myself as best I can; but even so, you probably shouldn’t trust everything you read on this blog.

But you can trust this: I love space, and I love science. I think the reality of our universe, as revealed to us by science, is way more interesting than anything our human imaginations might dream up.  And I’m really excited to share all the cool science stuff I’ve learned with you.

At the same time, I’m also eager to keep learning.  So if I make a mistake, or if there’s some important point you think I’ve missed, or some perspective you feel I’m overlooking, I absolutely do want to talk about that in the comments.

And now, I have more A to Z Challenge stuff to work on. In today’s A to Z post, C is for carbon chauvinism.

IWSG: A Writer in Motion

~ J.S. Pailly ~ 8 Comments

InsecureWritersSupportGroup

Today’s post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group, a blog hop hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Click here for more information about IWSG and to see a full list of participating blogs.

* * *

I like to believe that Newton’s laws apply to writers. I like to believe that a writer in motion tends to stay in motion (unless acted on by an external force, where force equals mass times acceleration, etc).

Over the last few weeks, this writer has been in motion. My weekly word counts have been consistently high. I’m working on multiple projects simultaneously. I’m feeling extra creative and I’m trying new things with my writing.

I’m not entirely sure what set me into motion, but I have a few theories.

  • Accountability Partners: Several months ago, I asked two friends to serve as accountability partners for my writing. I type up a weekly progress report, and we talk about what I need to do to either get back on schedule or stay on schedule.
  • Deadlines: I’ve always struggled with self-imposed deadlines. They don’t feel real to me. But in the last few weeks, I’ve had one or two actual deadlines to contend with, which may have motivated me to stop procrastinating and go write something.
  • Semi-isolationism: I have a bad habit of overbooking my weekends. This can seriously cut into writing time, so in the last few weeks I’ve been limiting my social engagements. Not so much that I become a hermit, but enough to schedule longer—much longer—writing sessions.

One of these, or perhaps a combination of all of them, might have gotten me going. Or maybe none of these things mattered; maybe my muse, in whom I’ve placed so much trust, gave me a good, hard push to get me started.

Whatever happened, I had a highly productive July. I’m now a writer in motion, and so long as no external forces try to break my momentum, I can look forward to a highly productive August.

So, fellow writers, what is it that sets you into motion?