Cheryl Van Eck
Congratulations, all you WIFYR-ites! I wish I could have been there this year. WIFYR is one of the very best things you can do for your writing. I hope you had tons of fun.
Now, before you get off your WIFYR high, it’s time to call up those people you met and set up a critique group. A good critique group is worth it’s weight in gold. They encourage and restrain you all at the same time. A good group can make the difference between being published and never finishing a novel.
So don’t waste this opportunity. Don’t wait until you’ve forgotten everyone’s name and you’ve all gone back to your everyday lives. Get in touch. Make a plan. Follow through. This is the time!
Brenda Bensch
How ya’ feelin’ after WIFYR? Excited? Exhausted? Scared? Sorry you didn’t make it? If you’re afraid — afraid of writing — what is it specifically that scares you? Here’s a plan:
FIRST: Acknowledge and name specific self-doubts:
Write down one big fear
Break it down into the smaller fears that are part of it
SECOND: Think about what you want on the other side of the fear:
Imagine the reward you’ll get when you face and overcome that fear
THIRD: Now take the fears you expressed in the first part:
Rewrite that part as steps to be taken to reach your goal
Willing to share? Post it in the comments, and we’ll ALL learn from it!
Last Thing
Shawn Stout (who was at the conference and writes terrific mid grade fiction including the Penelope Crumb series) talked about writing when your life is crammed with other things. And when she went through her life, wow! there was a lot of other stuff she has to do. She asked what is our dream day as far as writing. “Write that down,” she said. So do that. Write your dream writing day down.
Then she had us write down how our day really looks as far as writing. You do that, too.
Then we were supposed to compare the two and look for ways to correct things so we can write the way we want.
What do you think?
How far you are from what you want to do or be?
How can you gain an extra 20 minutes to write?
What can you give up (hours of TV time each night)?
Do you want more family time and less computer time?
You are in charge!
Throwing Up Words 