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On inspiration and perspiration
I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning. Attributed to William Faulkner People who aren’t writers (a/k/a normal people) like to talk about inspiration. Where do you get your ideas? What inspired that story? A few will ask about writing routines, and I figure they’re aspiring writers looking for some magic formula for finishing the Great American Novel. I’ve been writing fiction for only about 9 years, but already I’ve figured out there’s no magic formula, no combination of creativity exercises + daily routines that will magically put words in a document and turn them into a good story. What does put…
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Taking stock of my writing career
So there I was, minding my own business, when along comes the April IWSG question to make me get all self-reflective. In case you’re new here, the first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome April co-hosts are Jemima Pett, Nancy Gideon, and Natalie Aguirre. We’re also given an optional question we can answer in our posts. This month’s question is: Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? If you’re at the start of the…
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Author Envy, or Damn, I Wish I’d Written That
Do you ever read a novel, a story, or even a sentence that wows you so much, you wish you’d written it? That’s author envy, and it’s what we’re going to talk about in this month’s post for the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. In case you’re new here, the first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome March co-hosts are Diedre Knight, Tonya Drecker, Bish Denham, Olga Godim, and JQ Rose. We’re also given an optional question we can answer in our posts; this month’s question is: Have you ever read a line in novel or…
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New year, new writing progress
Welcome to my first IWSG post of 2023! (Because I’m a huge dork who forgot to post in January.) The first Wednesday of every month is Insecure Writers Support Group day, on which we insecure writers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome February co-hosts are Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner. Please stop by and leave them some comment love. Each month our fearless leaders provide an optional question we can answer in our posts. This month’s question is: If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what…
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Are holidays for rest or productivity?
I’ve spent the last few days on holiday planning. I’m an academic, and my university shuts down from just before Christmas till just after New Years, giving me ~10 days off during which I don’t have to monitor email or think about work in any way. I don’t have much family, so I don’t have holiday houseguests, and I’m not expected to travel anywhere. Yet I manage to stress about Winter Break every year. Why? Because overthinking is one of my superpowers (the others are being so lazy my FitBit thinks I’m dead and eating my body weight in Extra Toasty Cheez-Its). Before we get to my overthinking of Winter…
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I forgot it’s IWSG day!
I roll up to my computer this morning, take my time reading my email, and see a post notification from a blog I follow. And in that notification are four letters: IWSG. Crap. It’s IWSG Day–and I totally forgot. I swig Diet Pepsi and, as the caffeine jumpstarts my brain, I decide: I can do this. I can pull an IWSG post out of my [redacted]. Yes, I can.
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7 things I love about reading (and writing) crime fiction
As I noted in last month’s IWSG post, I write in several genres, and I will read almost anything, but I keep coming back to crime fiction. Why? Let me count the ways. But before I do: Happy IWSG day! I participate in the monthly IWSG (a/k/a Insecure Writers Support Group) Blog Hop, which happens on the first Wednesday of each month. We offer words of encouragement to our fellow writers and share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Thanks so much to our wonderful October co-hosts, Tonja Drecker, Victoria Marie Lees, Mary Aalgaard, and Sandra Cox. Each month our fearless leaders provide an optional question we can answer in our posts. This month’s question is:…
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Literary genres that are not for me
One of my author bios reads something like, “Janet writes everything from romance to horror, because genres are suggestions, right?” In my rather brief writing “career,” I’ve written: romantic suspense with time travel (see what I mean about genres being suggestions?), a post-apocalyptic short story (subscribe to my newsletter for a free copy), romance, and suspense/mystery/thriller–and even a few poems and personal essays. So when I saw this month’s IWSG question, What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?, I had to pause and think: Is there anything I absolutely wouldn’t write? Yeah, there is. But before we get to that: Happy IWSG day! I…
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No, I don’t want to live in a fictional world
I’m so excited to be co-hosting the IWSG monthly blog hop, along with my wonderful co-hosts, J Lenni Dorner, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton! Please stop by their blogs and show them some comment love. Also, this is my 30th IWSG post. How the heck did that happen? (If you’re really bored, you can go here to read the first 29). In this month’s post, I’ll answer the optional question, If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose? But first, a couple of things. I have a newsletter! After spending several quality hours with MailerLite, I have a newsletter! If you’d like to see my nonsense witty commentary…
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How to keep writing when the writing gets tough
Writing is tough. Yeah, I know, I spend my writing time in a comfy chair in an air-conditioned room, lifting nothing heavier than a can of Diet Pepsi while other people are working construction in triple-digit heat. Trust me, I know how privileged I am. But while writing isn’t particularly physically demanding, it demands quite a bit of mental and emotional toughness as well as a huge dollop of faith–mostly in yourself. In this post, I take a look at the challenges writing presents and offer a few suggestions for pushing through when every cell in your body is screaming at you to quit.
Janet Alcorn
Suspense | Horror | Romance
