Insecure Writers want to know: Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published?

            Unfortunately, I don’t participate in NaNoWriMo. I simply don’t need more pressure to write. I write almost every day; poetry, short story, blog posts, memoir, and writing workshops and presentations. Yes, sometimes I stare more than I write. I get up and go through the motions to get the action correct for my protagonist and thereby the reader. I fuss and fudder. I cry. I tell myself I’m no good at writing.

Okay, so now you know why I’m part of Insecure Writers Support Group.

Then I return to that blasted blinking cursor and try again. I fight with my logical self and that stupid editor in my head who, many times, holds me back from beginning a new project until I know exactly what I’m doing. Does any writer know exactly what they’re doing at the beginning of a project? If you do, please share some tips! 

            I’m not a pantser. I can’t just bang out words, although I admire those who can. I can’t seem to disconnect that confounded editor in my head. I’m constantly re-reading what I’ve already written. Deleting here. Tightening there. Adding specifics and emotion. I can’t simply move forward in a piece of writing.   

I need to know where I’m going, what the point of my piece of writing is at the beginning. Now that’s not saying I know specifically where I’m going all the time. Quite often I only have an idea—sometimes just a glimmer—of what I’m trying to show through this essay or story, or demonstrate through sharing this incident. Hence, I do a lot of staring, like I said. And walking around my neighborhood. Yes! Even in the rain.

            Yet, I admire the camaraderie shared through NaNoWriMo, the need for a safe community that isn’t pitting themselves against their fellow writer, but rather cheering them on to success. I think NaNo is a wonderful thing, and I truly wish everyone who participates in it great success.  May all your stories come to fruition. Write on, dear fellow IWSG friends, write on!

Thanks so much for stopping by Adventures in Writing and offering a comment. Please follow my blog if you haven’t already. It’s greatly appreciated.  

This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. We post on the first Wednesday of every month.  To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.