Wednesday, July 2, 2014

The Writing Path is Not That Lonely After All - IWSG



Most writers say that writing is a lonely path. One, where you trek a long, dusty road filled with small stones and a cloud of dust waiting to engulf you if your own writing wheels suddenly swerve, and you land in its dusty path. No other cars are there. Just you, your writing wheels, and the feeling of loneliness descending on you when you realize that you actually don’t know where to go and what you’re supposed to see. That’s when the insecurities come in.

For those who are thinking of choosing this road for the first time… well, some old-timers will be quick to tell you: “You thought you knew, don’t you? You thought you knew where to take a sharp turn and when to make a diplomatic retreat. You thought you needed to continue driving in a straight line—alone, until you reach the end of that road.” 

For a large part of all that, I agree. I agree because I started out like that. I thought I knew what to expect.


A lot of years had passed since then. And I’m still on the road, moving along on its path.

What have I learned? Well, for one, I still ponder on what I might see at the end of that road when I get there. Second, I now know that what I initially thought of as a long, lonely, dusty road does not appear to be as such all the time.

In fact, if I’d take the time to go slow and take notice, I would see that there’s another writer there, sitting on top of a large stone, hunched over a keyboard, writing a new story. And there’s also one here, leaning on the rough back of a large, old tree, and looking up at the changing colors of the sky, while plotting a novel in his head.

I wouldn’t see them if I merely go my own way and think that I’m alone. Yup, through the years, I’ve realized that the writing path is not so lonely after all… if you would only take the time to notice the little things—here and there. That’s when you’ll see that there are actually a lot of people at the side of the road, who would be more than happy to tell you what the writing life is really like. Who knows? They might even join you for the ride and cheer you on until you reach the end of the road. Perhaps, by then, some of the insecurities you’ve had would go away, and the stories you write will soon find its way to the hearts of the readers you’re hoping to reach.

This is my IWSG post. I hope you liked it.

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NOTE: I’m blogging on a monthly schedule now.

Latest news, by the way, is that I reached up to 50,274 words for one of the stories I’m currently working on right now. Yay! Another has reached 29,801 words and is on hold. I mean, “on ice”, as most writers like to call it. Hopefully, when I get back to it, I’ll be able to clearly see some of the errors I may not have seen during the heated process of getting my words down on its pages. I’ll tell you about all that soon when I think it’s ready.

Oh yeah, about the manuscripts I've submitted, I haven't received any reply yet. Those are for children so the word counts are shorter.

For now, I’m sending you the warmest virtual *HUGS*.

By the way, please visit the hosts for this month’s IWSG and the other members at this link: http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

23 comments:

Christina Mitchell said...

Waving at you from the path.

I'm the chick with the afro, nestled in the branches of a Weeping Beech tree, hunched into my keyboard, writing about love.

Thank you for the lovely post.

Unknown said...

Wonderful post! I found you thanks to your link on the IWSG Facebook page.

It's easy to get caught up in our own journey and very easy to not notice those who are writing around us. This is a great reminder that there are writers scattered along every path, along every road.

This writer can be found sitting on a patch of sand between the mainland and some small, unnamed island in the Atlantic. If you cruise my way, I'll be sure to offer you a beach towel and a pina colada!

Nice to meet you! Cheers!
Jen

Diane Burton said...

What a great post. I totally agree. Writers' groups, like IWSG, really help. It's great to know others are traveling with us.

Rosalyn said...

One of the things I've most enjoyed about writing is the supportive community. IWSG is a perfect example of that. Good luck with your WIP.

Samantha Bryant said...

One of my critique group friends described out group as an alliance of loners. That seems accurate. :-)

SittieCates said...

@Christina Mitchell: I see you. Hey there, Christina!

Waving back at you... :-)


@Jennifer Chandler: Nice to meet you, too, Jennifer.

A beach towel and a pina colada? Wonderful! I'll be there in an hour. See you! I'm bringing a batch of cookies.

@Diane Burton: Thank you! Yup, so true. We're not alone. Thanks to IWSG and other writing groups!

@Rosalyn: Lovely to see you. Yup, IWSG is a very supportive community.

@Samantha Dunaway Bryant: I agree. :-) Thanks for visiting!

Unknown said...

congratulations on the word count. I still feel like it's mostly a lonely task, but then there are places like the IWSG that surely help. :-)

Unknown said...

Lovely post. I totally agree with you. I also think the internet has changes this for many writers. It's so easy to connect with people.

But even outside of the online world, every time I've gone to a conference or a writer's meet up, I've been overwhelmed with the out pour of support.

WRITERS ROCK!

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Stop and look and yes, there are a lot of us hanging out along that road.

Loni Townsend said...

I didn't realize writing was supposed to be a lonely path until after I'd written my novel and started researching more. Actually, writing has boosted my social life considerably. I now attend critique group and write-ins.

For me, ignorance really was bliss.

Loni

Kim Van Sickler said...

Yep, you are definitely not alone. Sometimes we need to hunker down and focus and other times we need that writing and reading community to weigh in, bounce ideas off of, and share war stories with. Glad to hear you are appreciating the journey for what it is!

Anonymous said...

It's wonderful knowing there are others on a similar journey and that so many are willing to help when it is needed.

Doreen McGettigan said...

Oh yes I love meeting other writers along the road. We all have a story to tell.
Happy writing!
doreenmcgettigan.com

Mary Aalgaard said...

This IWSG is one of the best places to go to know you're not alone.
Carry on!
Play off the Page

J.H. Moncrieff said...

Great post, and so true. I don't know what I'd do without the love and support of my fellow writers. This is a tough, tough business, and we need all the help we can get!

Other writers are the best source of information, support, and inspiration. Good luck to you on your journey!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

We're not alone! I had no idea how many writers there were in the world until I got online. Now support and encouragement are everywhere and it's really awesome.

Julie Musil said...

You're so right! I love how we all cheer each other on. It's a crazy, wild journey that we're all on together.

Michelle Wallace said...

Hey Sittie.
Can you see me? I'm the one waving to you from a multi-colored hot air balloon... just me and my writerly thoughts drifting along... lost in deep contemplation as I try to make sense of this crazy ride... *waving*

Anonymous said...

Hello from the path. It's nice to be reminded that we aren't alone. I've been feeling that pretty badly lately and needed IWSG to remind me otherwise.

SittieCates said...

@E.E.Giorgi: Thank you! Yup, so true.

@Gina Drayer: Writers rock indeed! :-)

@L Diane Wolfe: Glad you agree.

@Loni Townsend: Hi,Loni! Good for you.

@Kim Van Sickler: I truly am!

@J.L. Campbell: Indeed! By the way, I tried visiting your blog, J.L. I can't seem to go there. Not sure why.

@Doreen McGettigan: So true. Happy writing to you, too!

@Mary Aalgard: Thank you! Take care.

@Holli Moncrieff: Yes, it really is tough. But inspiration and support is just around the corner. Thanks for visiting!

@Alex J Cavanaugh: It truly is, Alex. Thanks to you and the other IWSG members!

@Julie Musil: Crazy and wild it truly is. I'm thankful we're all in it. :-)

@Michelle Wallace: Yup, I do! I see you! Hi there! :-)

@Patricia Lynne: Hi there! I think I posted my message a few times. The computer is acting up. I hope you see this.

Crystal Collier said...

It used to be a lonely path. Thank goodness for social networking that allows us to really connect with other suffers while confined to our writing chairs, eh?

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

That's what I love most about IWSG, we're not alone... and we get to whine. How neat is that! Congratulations on hitting 50K. Excellent.

SittieCates said...

Yup, that's true, Joylene.

Thanks for the visit and for congratulating me! All the best to you!

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The Musings of a Hopeful Pecunious Wordsmith by SittieCates is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.