I'm very late to a party filled with cool, smart people--Alex J. Cavanaugh's brain child, the Insecure Writer's Support Group. Why did I join?
- I'm a writer
- I'm insecure about being a writer
I've always written, even before I labeled myself a writer. And I was a writer long before I put myself "out there" for all to see my attempts, achievements, and failures.
In my regular life, I'm not overly insecure. Sure, I have moments of insecurity, but who doesn't? No, the lingering insecurities are reserved nice and special for my writing life. Heck, I'm even insecure about joining IWSG late. How weird is that?
To introduce myself, here's a brief history of my professional writing journey:
- Completed a writing course at the Institute of Children's Literature. Awesome and rewarding experience, by the way.
- Ezine publications. *Polite applause*
- Print magazine successes. *Hearty applause*
- Wrote three novels. *I did it! I did it!*
- Signed with my literary agent. *Choirs sing*
- Submitted to editors. *This is it! This is it!*
And then...crickets.
Here's what I've learned: when there's too much time between successes, it's easy to forget about them and only focus on the string of bad news. Writing this post reminded me of the important learning stages that go hand in hand with a writer's journey. And it reminded me that there've been plenty of Yes moments mixed in with the No moments.
So thank you, IWSG, for helping me remember the peaks when I sometimes focus on the valleys. And thanks for the reminder that we can't have one without the other.
Do you sometimes forget your peaks, and focus on your valleys? Are you neurotically insecure about your writing?