Quote of the Day: If I have to, I can do anything. I am strong, I am invincible, I am woman. Helen Reddy

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. You can also visit the founder Alex J. Cavanaugh for more info and links.

This popped up on my FB newsfeed yesterday. All day, I was suffering artist angst. Doubting, doubting, doubting why I even wrote this coffee play, why anyone would want to be part of it, and wondering why anyone would ever want to see it. Then, I had rehearsal with the best cast EVER! Thank you, all, for your creative energy. Thank you, Guy Kelm, for understanding my play even better than I do.

I think self-doubt rears its ugly head at the very moment you are about to have a break-through. The play went off with a bang, sold out audience in all the coffee shop performances. It was the most wonderful, creative, collaborative moment of my life.

I answered the challenge to submit a story for this year’s IWSG anthology, mystery/crime/thriller. Of course, “The Committee” tried to talk me out of it. You’re not a mystery writer, they said. You can’t write suspense, they tried to tell me. Who are you to write a story like that, they chanted. 

So, I took my laptop up to my bedroom, shut the door, and convinced myself that I was simply practicing writing. I’d give it a try. I didn’t have to submit it if I didn’t think it was good enough. And, even if I did, it probably wouldn’t get accepted, so whatever I wrote would be buried somewhere in my computer files, which would some day crash and burn anyway. 

The result is my short story One More Minute which was accepted into the next IWSG Anthology called Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime! Isn’t the cover amazing? I was thrilled to have my story accepted. I felt validated as a writer. Then, when I started talking about the anthology and people asked me what my story was about, I hesitated. Um, well, it’s a story that fits into the mystery/crime/thriller category.

You know. Writing is really personal. It’s a glimpse into an author’s inner thoughts. And, even if you’re not a criminal, and what you wrote didn’t really happen, you feel somehow exposed. And, yet, you’ve brought something to light. You’ve given a character a story that might connect with someone, help them escape, give them courage, or provide food for thought.

 

So, keep writing and creating. Tell “The Committee” to go meet some place else. You’ve got work to do.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt: What has “The Committee” been saying to you? What’s your smart-aleck response?