Hello Everyone,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It is IWSG Time!
IWSG is a writers' support group created and led by Alex Cavanaugh.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
This group is an immense help to many of us who do not mind sharing our insecurities, our successes, or giving encouragement and support to others.
So, if you are interested and would like to join, the link below will lead you directly to us.
https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html
The awesome co-hosts for the January 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Olga Godim,Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken!
Submissions: None
IWSG DAY, JANUARY 5 2021, LISTENING TO OTHERS
Seeking advice is not wrong. We can learn from other people.
But because they had success with a particular method doesn't mean their advice will work for you.
I had to learn the hard way to take responsibility for my writing by listening to my gut feelings and moving in the direction I wanted. If I had done that before I started putting other people on a pedestal, thinking that they knew it better than I did, my first short story, TURN THE LIGHT ON, would have come out much sooner than 2021. (I'm talking about six years difference in writing the story and its actual publication.)
Maybe, just maybe, I would have won an award back then for it too. The fact is that I don't know if I would have because I kept smothering my creative spirit, waiting on others to tell me they thought it was ready.
However, last year, I axed that pedestal completely then burned it. My gut said to go with it, and my short story went up on Amazon. On December 13, 2021, TURN THE LIGHT ON won the 2021 Kathryn C. Treat International Literary Award Contest.
In closing, I speak out good wishes to you all. I hope all of us with the IWSG experience a successful year, that doors open that we never thought possible and that we dare to stand to that tiny whisper, THE VOICE, within us, that gives us new perspectives of perception that will bring change to humanity.
See you next month.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat Garcia
