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!
My awesome co-hosts today are Tamara Narayan, Tonja Drecker, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Lauren @ Pensuasion, Stephen Tremp, and Julie Flanders!
What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published?
Welcome Blog People!
It's August and that means football practice has begun! Yay!
Okay, well, mostly yay.
It's five nights a week from six to eight pm. And that's just practice, not the games.
The BOY does enjoy it and we think its important that he's involved in a sport and with a team and coaches. Those are life lessons that you can't duplicate.
As for being an Insecure Writer? Duh! Always! I wear that badge with pride! Hmm. Badge. Hey, Alex! We should think about badges! :)
I am writing and that's all I'm going to say about that cause I usually jinx myself.
The August #IWSG question is about our first piece of writing. You mean that manuscript I thought was the BOMB and couldn't understand why no one wanted to publish it and now that I've gone back and read it, 2 published books later, I finally realize that it's a giant piece of GOSA!
That it is so bad I have to literally re-write the darn thing because it's un-editable? That one? Let's just say it's back in the virtual drawer. For now.
What about you? Is your bestseller keeping the kitchen table level?
This Friday The Thing That Turned Me, an Anthology will be released! Check this LINK for a list of the amazing authors involved.
Sports definitely keeps a family busy. I am gearing up too for my two kiddos and the fall from dance to baseball to piano. Sigh. I agree witch you. I like the discipline, the coaching and all the team work involved. Books? I was right there with you...lol
ReplyDeleteMy first one was so bad I had to completely rewrite it. Glad I did though.
ReplyDeleteMine is long gone!! Thank goodness :)
ReplyDeleteNothing better for kids than team sports - have fun!
I am glad that I am still working on my first manuscript. When I look at the changes now in comparison to when I thought it was finished in 2011, I can only say thank God no one accepted it.
ReplyDeleteShalom aleichem,
Patricia
I have a lot of fits and starts that could level a table. In fact, I have a folder labeled just that. There's a lot of bad stuff in that folder.
ReplyDeleteNope. My first work is long gone. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
I think God or the Universe gives writers false confidence in our first books or we'd never move on to the second.
ReplyDeleteHere's my August IWSG post on my first novel attempt (note I said ATTEMPT). YA Author Stephanie Scott IWSG August
My first novel burned up with my home sadly. Future editors were spared though. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Heather - well you went on and wrote more books -that is the main thing ... yea for Friday and the Anthology ... should be good - cheers and keep writing - Hilary
ReplyDeleteKeeping the kitchen table level - LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe could do IWSG buttons. Or magnets.
I don't know how many times I've rewritten my first story. One day it WILL be finished.
ReplyDeleteMaybe IWSG labeled pens would be nice. After all, we are writers.
GOSA?
ReplyDelete(Nice sounding acronym)
I say fridge magnets and pens!!!!
Happy IWSG Day!
I don't even want to think about reading my first piece of writing. Might make me rage quit. LOL
ReplyDeleteI often don't realize what my stories are like until I go back and reread them in their entirety; then the "imperfections" are much clearer. Then I also realize that I'll have to shelve my Pulitzer acceptance speech, at least for now...:)
ReplyDeleteI also thought my first one was the best--and just because I got a couple of requests, I was going to be a bestselling author. :) Writing has certainly taught me humility.
ReplyDeleteI think we must have written the same manuscript. Editors didn't want mine, either. I keep telling myself those early mss were practice. Best wishes.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think they'd make kitchen tables sturdier! LOL!
ReplyDeleteLike Jenni said, writing has taught me humility too. Now I have to be careful not to think everything I write is terrible!
ReplyDeleteI recently dived back into my first WIP. Even after two (previous) sweeping edits, it still makes me cringe in places. LOL I'm trying to think of is as showing how much I've grown as a writer, not let it get me down.
ReplyDeleteLOL! I think that's pretty common. I was actually dreaming up my first novel for 9 years (including a ton of prewriting) before committing it to paper, so it didn't turn out too awful. Still awful. Still in need of a full rewrite, but the characters were likable and the overall plot was pretty decent. If I'd sat down to write it all out when the ideas first came, yeah, it would have been a total wreck. Still, no one signed my first book until I had rewritten it a couple times.
ReplyDeleteThat's one busy practice schedule. Even if your first book seems awful, you have to start somewhere. Maybe the bestseller list is just a rewrite away.
ReplyDeleteFound you through the IWSG - I'm #256 on the list. I have a 100-page cozy mystery in the works right now and can't seem to get going on the rest. Just picked it up again this weekend and I still like the premise. Trying to get into a schedule of writing that coincides with my day job. Congrats on getting two books published! That is awesome and inspiring.
ReplyDeleteSchedules are hard, but a great way to get things done! Best of luck!
DeleteHMG
Thank you for all the nice comments everyone!
ReplyDeleteYou guys ROCK!
Heather
My first piece has a promising beginning and middle, but no end. It may be hopeless.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how people balance kids and their sports with everything else. I'm always behind the eight ball and I don't have children--my hat's off to you.
ReplyDeleteMy first "serious" novel is rotting in a landfill. I had to rewrite it from scratch. It was 500 SINGLE-SPACED pages. Gulp!