Why? Because it's the best monthly hop for any writer in need of a little encouragement from fellow writers!
Plus, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh started it.
Many thanks to all IWSG co-hosts and writers!
Co-hosts this month:
I didn't post last month so I'm feeling a little insecure about that. I think it was the first IWSG post that I've completely missed since the inception. But, I was on a road trip with my family that included a lot of activity (see post from the 24th) and Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team's Fourth Win of the Flat-water Sprint National Championships! So, I was busy doing a lot of proud mama cheering for my daughters (both brought home three medals) and for all the other kids.
But here's what I'm feeling really insecure about: intense writer mood swings.
In detail (you can skip this if you're in a hurry):
At the book festival in Portland, it poured down rain for three hours, my poster became a runny mess of ink, I couldn't seem to describe my own books, 70 other vendors seemed way more prepared than me, and I only sold one book. I was asked if my name was my real name (more on that at the bottom). On the way back to the mini-van, I dumped a box of books into a busy street crosswalk in downtown Portland and encrusted them with mud trying to pick them up, and then I cried in the parking lot behind the van. It was a horrible, no good, very bad day (quoting Alexander's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - children's book). I required dinner (I hadn't eaten all day because my stomach was in knots) and hot chocolate from Cacao to get back to a somewhat calm but near sniveling state of insecurity. My sweet family was super supportive, but I just wanted to go curl up under a blanket somewhere.
After coming home, I realized I had a lot of work ahead of me because I write my own lessons for the classes I teach. Well, except I planned to use a couple of other curricula resources for a part of my College Prep writing class. Then, I discovered that the writer of the most popular home-school co-op curricula advocated using sentence fragments as a "dress-up" sentence variation for college application and SAT essays. I have already had distinctly unhappy run-ins with this particular curricula provider, which apparently everyone else in the home-schooling world thinks is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but this was another chunk out of a tenuously rebuilt bridge of trust. I know that sentence fragments are considered acceptable for poetry, fiction, and any social media. However, I can't and won't advocate sentence fragments for use in a college application or SAT essay.
Do you see the arrogance building here?
I do. (Agh.)
The only good thing about that arrogance build is that it gave me the confidence and energy to finish revisions on Dynamic Writing 1 - 161 Lessons of Writing for Middle School Students.
However, I'm still not finished with revisions for Champion's Destiny - and that's totally freaking me out!
So, I'm back to semi-normal on the insecurity scale - proud of some accomplishments, challenged by more work ahead, and unsure of how I'm going to make my goal publication date for Champion's Destiny without losing sleep.
How have you been on the insecurity scale lately?
And, does anyone else hit some intense writer mood swings?
And, my name is my real name. My parents named me Tyrean at my birth. If there has been any "clever" name-stealing going on, it was what's-his-name who took my name, misspelled it, and mispronounced it for his popular book/HBO series. Someone made a half-accusatory comment about it at the book festival and it happened again at one of the hotels we stayed at on our trip. It is an unfortunate coincidence. I like my name too much to give it up just because of someone used something similar for one of their terribly popular characters.
Tyrean = Tie + rene (sound pronunciation)
Oh, and I almost forgot to re-invite everyone to Realms Faire in November! I'll be hosting an event for the first time, and there are loads of fun events to participate in for a whole week in November!
