No April Fools–today is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day AND the start of the A to Z Challenge!
How many blog hops can you fit in one post? Since Insecure Writer’s Support Group is supporting the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I’m going to put my contributions in the same post today. Whichever one you came for, hello and welcome!
First up, if you’re here for the insecurity:
This post is part of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group blog hop. The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. The awesome co-hosts for the April 1 posting of the IWSG will be Suzanne Furness, Tonja Drecker, Toi Thomas, Rachna Chhabria, Fundy Blue, and Donna Hole!
One thing I’m super good at is overwhelming myself. I tend to give myself too many projects at one time, anxious that if I don’t produce, produce, produce, my writing future will go up in flames before my eyes. I must write more! I must have more submissions out! I must get more published! More, more, more! This is of course a little bit sensible, since I want to make writing a career, and if I actually want to pay the bills with writing I’m going to have to produce a steady stream of it. But running around frantic piling on projects is going to hurt me in the long run, I’m sure. I’ll either burn out, or produce sub-par work because I’m doing too much, or drive myself into complete insanity and end up hating my chosen career. I don’t want any of that.
It’s a terrible habit, and I’m working on it. The problem with success is when you get a success, you want more of them. And if I have x amount of things published this year, I feel pressure to have at least that many–but hopefully more–next year. When do I reach the limit? What amount of publications in one year is enough? How many will help me maintain a career? These questions make me gnaw on my nails. They keep me awake at night.
Right now I’ve made the decision to stay with three publishing houses that I currently have things published with, and whom I very much enjoy working with and feel supported by. Two are smaller presses and one is a major New York publisher, which will of course be where the focus of my ‘career’ writing goes (aka the one that will make me the most money). I have a tendency to want to write for and sample every small press I come across, but I need to focus now. I need to whittle down my projects to the ones that really boost my career. Work smarter, not harder!
Have any of you guys driven yourself mad trying to be productive? Any other multi-taskers out there like me?
Or, if you’re here for the challenge:
This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z challenge–blogging every day in the month of April (except Sundays!) with each letter of the alphabet.
On the first day of this challenge, I want to introduce myself. I am an author. I call myself an author, anyway. Is there a difference between an author and a writer? Some would say an author is published (which I am) while a writer is still trying to get there (which I was for many years). I don’t feel that way, but people rarely say ‘the writer of that book’ instead of ‘the author of that book.’ Wikipedia says: An author is broadly defined as “the person who originated or gave existence to anything” and whose authorship determines responsibility for what was created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work and can also be described as a writer. So there you have it, they’re pretty much the same thing.
I’ve been an author, or writer, for much of my life. I’m nearly forty now and I started writing, with intention, when I was thirteen. Only in the past year or so have I really made a big break as far as publications go, and funny enough, only in that time period have I been really comfortable with calling myself an ‘author.’ I’ve always wanted to write. I feel like it’s the default setting I was born with, wanting to tell stories. Maybe it’s a certain kind of mania. Authors, or writers, tend to live in their head a lot. It’s funny how most of the entertainment in the world–books, TV shows, movies, even music–is just the wild imaginings of storytellers, merely the fantasies that come out of one person’s head instead of staying hidden. There’s a magic in how those things come out, but even more magic in the fact that other people want to consume it, and enjoy it.
Author is how I define myself, but I’m also a writer, because I write. How about you, do you call yourself an author, writer, or both? Do you think there’s a difference? Even if you found your way here and you’re not an author or writer, do you see those terms as different things? Are there achievements that you feel have to be attached to either title?
Filed under: A to Z Challenge, IWSG Tagged: blog hop, insecure writer's support group, me, writing
