#IWSG question -- A question of creativity. WEP winner! New Challenge!

Whoa, November 7 already, at least in Australia! I know Americans are busy voting. Luckily, in Australia voting is compulsory, so no need for all that 'get out and vote' hype I see on CNN.

So, today I'm voting for creativity.

November 7 question - How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?

Alex's awesome co-hosts for the November 7 posting of the IWSG are Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman!

Please visit!

Writing, like most crafts, involves bucket-loads of creativity. Some say writers are born, not made. Those same people say there's no need to stack your shelves or Kindle with craft books. Do you agree? Sure, some parts of writing come naturally, but we can't write a ramble like the classic authors could back in the day. Readers these days demand a lightning-fast plot, virtually non-stop action, and adherence to the tropes of a genre. These don't come so naturally. 

What is left for our creativity?

I was recommended a great book - Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and several other tomes.

The first question she answers in her book is:

Q: What is creativity? 

A: The relationship between a human being and the mysteries of inspiration.

Gilbert is interested in creative living as a whole. We perhaps think of writing first, but chances are, we are all creative in other ways -- I like to draw and would love more time to pursue watercolors, I like arts and crafts, I play guitar -- but when you're fully into writing, many of these creative outlets take a back seat. There's only so many hours in a day and all that. 

As Gilbert says: I believe the central question upon which all creative living hinges: Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you? 

Good question.

Especially when it comes to writing. Are we writing truthfully? Or are we writing carefully, censoring our words constantly for fear we'll find no audience for our stories if  we actually write what we'd like to write?

Along with courage, Gilbert says you need Enchantment, Permission, Persistence, Trust and Divinity.

What do you think? That's a lot.

Would love to hear your opinions.

1. Do you have a favorite writing craft book?

2. Do you indulge in a pasttime that encourages your creativity?

3. What other creative forms does your creativity take?

Meanwhile, 

Thanks for coming by.

Denise

And we're already thinking of the WEP/IWSG Challenge for December. Think about joining us!

Go HERE for ideas!

Huge congratulations to Kalpanaa for winning the October WEP?IWSG!

Thanks to all who took part and amazed us with their creativity!

BREAKING NEWS!

WEP and IWSG are holding a contest for the February WEP theme!

Rules: Submit your idea for a WEP February theme by November 12to admin@insecurewriterssupportgroup.com. Nothing U.S. culturally bound. Should have wide appeal.

Prize: Feature in the December newsletter for the winner. And, of course, the winning theme will be the official February WEP theme and accompanied by a stunning badge!

Deadline: November 12. Winner announced in the November newsletter on November 28.

#IWSG post - What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?

Happy New Year and welcome to the first IWSG posting for 2018! Here we encourage each other monthly on our writing journey.

The brainchild of Alex J Cavanaugh, his awesome co-hosts for the January 3 posting of the IWSG are Tyrean Martinson, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Megan Morgan, Jennifer Lane, and Rachna Chhabria! Please visit if you can.

Today I'm going to answer the set question:

January 3 question - What steps have you taken or plan to take to put a schedule in place for your writing and publishing?

I apologize in advance if this is a bit garbled. I had a very small window to get this done...

My writing schedule is pretty awesome at the best of times, and woeful at the worst of times.  Soon the Christmas holidays will be over -- for me the end of this week -- so I can begin my routine of heading to my office (called Den's Den) early in the morning when I'm at the beach and going early to the State Library on teaching days when I'm in Brisbane. Usually this gets me up to 4 - 6 hours a day at the laptop.

But it's not just about the writing, is it? I also have to factor in sending my work to beta readers, editing, paying an editor, rewriting, attending meetings with my critters and sending them chapters routinely to be discussed together. I'm never going to be one of those writers who write a book a month. How do you do that if you edit/rewrite? Please do tell. 

And then there's the reciprocal critiques I do for other writers. 

This year I need to factor into my schedule more book reviews of blogger books.

I'm planning to de-list my vampire novel on Amazon and republish in its new-beaut version through Draft2Digital who now have Amazon on their list of distributors, too!! My critters have been too busy over Christmas to re-read, but I have it with one beta reader who has already made suggestions, good ones.

• So, my Paris romance (75,000+ words) is still with Avon and Tule. Waiting to hear.
• It seems to be generally accepted that you need to self-publish more than one novel or it's not worthwhile, so I'm also working on getting the next vampire novel in the series finished and at least Chapter One on the third before I publish. We'll see.
• I've decided to go with a pen name for my vamp trilogy. I checked out the top-selling vampire novels on Amazon and the authors have very apt names. I started a thread in the facebook group I mention below and got 250 useful comments on the ways and means of pen names. So that means an author page on facebook, and a newsletter I guess, (jury's out on this one), all to garner interest before I self-publish.

I've been haunting the 20Booksto50K Facebook group which is a boon to see what successful authors are doing re self-publishing and marketing. A great place to lurk and learn. Can't sing their praises highly enough.

So, I won't hold you up. You can see I have a plan for 2018. You need to head to more posts for the IWSG. Go HERE for the list...

And over at WEP we have announced the winners for those who wrote for us in December. Please visit and congratulate them if you can. Also check out the awesome challenges for 2018! 

Now I'm looking forward to hearing all about your writing goals for 2018!

And please, if you have a newsletter, would you answer the following:

• who did you choose to go with? 
• how did you grow your reader base?
• how often do you send out your newsletter?
• er, do you actually recommend a newsletter? I know heavyweights like Anne R Allen say it's old hat, but that's not what I'm hearing elsewhere.

Thanks a mille!!