Focus Problems #IWSG
Wow. July. The year’s already halfway gone. In June, school let out, I had to adjust to driving a different car because mine died, and I celebrated 17 years married to my husband. But this is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day, so I should probably talk about writing.
I’ve put a lot of focus into writing lately, and I have to say I’m a mess. I struggled with trying to enjoy my coworker’s story and after telling him the writing had to be much stronger for me to stay engaged, he nodded and agreed people have different tastes, and his writing isn’t for everyone. After that, I joined an online community called Critique Circle (CC) because I was left wondering if I even knew anything about writing or if I was just an arrogant schmuck. My goals were two part:
1. Assess the quality of my writing.
2. See if someone unfamiliar with my world and magic system could jump in and not be totally confused.
CC works on a credit system–you critique other people’s work to earn credits to post your own. They also encourage people to return critiques, tit-for-tat. Writing is broken down into genres and you can read the submission before you agree to critique it, which I found quite appealing.
I got a positive response to my prologue, but it seems my chapter 1 falls on the boring side. *sigh* I’ve got ideas to fix it, but it made me think of my first book and the tension problems I know exist. As a result, I cracked open Thanmir War and winced at what I found. It needs a complete rewrite, addressing subplot problems, as well as the telling and other issues. But I really need to focus on book 2 right now. As I dive into my early chapters with CC, while sprucing up my later chapters for my local critique group, I’ve let actual writing fall by the wayside, thus leaving me a disorganized mess. Not great when I had hoped to finish writing book 2 this year.
IWSG Question of the Month – Where do [your story ideas] predominantly come from?
Long time ago, at the tender age of 13, I was enamored with a show called Sailor Moon (so much so that I sewed my own sailor skirts and wore them to school every day in 8th grade). My favorite characters were the intelligent Ami and the passionate Rei. They wielded water and fire respectively. Plus there was that stud muffin, Darian (at least that was his name in the version I watched), and a talking cat named Luna. That’s where it all began. Eventually, I ended up with elementals instead of Sailor Soldiers, transforming animals that could speak, and my own D-named character of Derek who was supposed to be just as swoon worthy (except really he’s not).
The Cera Chronicles also stem from a TV Show–Sliders, my high school obsession. The idea that the same cast could wind up in a brand new setting, facing the strangest of situations… that’s just plain fun. And since I was already crossing worlds with Derek, it wasn’t a stretch to do it with his daughter.
Oh, another fun fact: Cera’s name comes from Land Before Time… Cera the Triceratops.
Today’s ideas come less from TV shows and more from interacting with others. I misread a friend’s line and it spawned a piece of flash fiction. I tried to convey to someone how to show vs tell and ended up with a short story (with no plot, though). Talking with a critique group member triggered Just a Matter of Time. I never know what might pop a story into my head. 
What tends to trigger your ideas? Have you ever joined Critique Circle? Do you ever get derailed because of critiques?
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
