First off this morning I'm announcing the winners of our inaugural Knights of MicroFiction winners.
Drum Roll please..... and a big round of applause to Elisabeth over at Fair Bettys World for her entry about the dangers of using incense while doing yoga; and to Julie at Rosewood Pencil Box for her entry on sibling rivlary, for her post click here. Ladies we will be contacting you to do a short interview/feature. Thanks to everyone who played along and we hope to see you again at the end of February!
Moving on to:
Today is the first Wednesday of the month so that means it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex Cavanaugh. The purpose is to get together monthly and talk about our fears, insecurities and also our successes.
This month I have a couple insecurities.
Last week, I had one of those days where nothing was going quite right and a funky mood settled over me.
I sat down at my computer and began working on my next scene, hoping I could write my way out of it. But the scene before me required love and tenderness. How could I paint a picture of affection with my words when my heart and mind were full of tumult?
I could have whipped out a chase or fight scene with ease. I tried listening to music, but soft, smooth words did not leave my fingertips. Instead I closed the file and worked on something else.
I know I shouldn't let my own mood affect my writing. I know if I want to succeed at this I have to be able to write under any circumstance, but how do you distance yourself from your own emotions and still write with the passions of your heart?
Second:
As you can see, I've finally taken a leap of faith and started co-hosting my own monthly blog hop with Jess from Write Skate Dream., called the Knights of Micro-Fiction, where we provide a monthly prompt and then we can all enjoy reading each other's works. I think the best part of blogging is to be a member of this great writing community and now I feel like I'm helping foster that community spirit. But I've never hosted anything before and I hope I can make it work.
I'd love to hear your thoughts, encouragement, and advice.
Thanks
Kathy
Jess just made us a linky list (she's awesome!), click here to join us
Congrats about your Knights of Micro-Fiction! Sounds like fun. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd it can be very hard to write when you're not in the correct mood. Perhaps try reading or editing instead of writing. Or even skip a scene and write something else. Sometimes those things help, and you're still working your writing muscle that way.
Eep! Thanks so much! How fun :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just finishing a blog post that talks about that funk and not being able to write... and how sometimes well-meaning encouragers can make it worse. Ugh. Whatever the case, I hope you find your way out of your funk and into the scene you wanted to write.
sometimes changing the mood of a scene to unexpected turmoil can add to the excitement, then as you work out your angst, the scene might too. just a thot.
ReplyDeleteand like your komf prompt idea =) i will have to check it out!
That funk gets passed around a lot, doesn't it? First one writer, then the next. The good news is it doesn't last, but you seem to know that. I mean look at all the positive things you're doing!
ReplyDeleteCool on the microfiction stuff.
ReplyDeleteI struggled with a smuggling scene last week. Maybe we should have traded. :) Through the struggle, we learn though. And that's always a good thing.
Oh, yay! I completely forgot about the possibility of winning something. Haha. So this is an extra-nice surprise! In the words of fairbetty, "Eep!" Thanks, Kathy and Jess. This will be so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI'm guilty of letting my mood affect my writing, too. Sometimes it helps to just get it out of your system. One trick I've used is to start out writing the mood I'm feeling, then try to write my way to the emotion I need my character to feel. The piece doesn't always come out like I'd originally planned, but I usually feel like I've got something off my chest by the end.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Elisabeth and Julie. I missed the first edition of KOMF but I've marked the last Monday of Feb on my calendar. Can't wait to see what the prompt is. :) Thanks for putting it all together!
Hi Kathy! That sounds like a great idea. I'll hop on board once I get this WIP into shape. It's sucking me dry of creativity. And I have a future beta exchange with your daughter too. Can't wait to read her work!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean with not feeling the scene while you write it. It's hard to do. I usually come back to them later when I'm feeling it.
Congrats to the winners!
ReplyDeleteAnd oh, sigh... that's a tough question. I guess I just sit down and plough through... I always tell myself just get the words down; you can fix it later.