Insecure Writer’s Support Goup Blog Post for September 2024

Eight months down in 2024 and four to go. September is here. In the twelve years since I retired as a teacher, I used to smile when the first day of school arrived since I didn’t have to go to work. What a joke! Once I decided to become a writer, everyday is a potential workday. I work far more hours than I ever did teaching, and yet I couldn’t be happier.

But this September is different because my grandson started university in a different city, moved away from home, and we all miss him like crazy. Growing old sucks when it’s me, but I miss my little grandbabies all grown up now. Hannah, the eldest will graduate with a degree in pharmacy next spring, while Nico begins his journey in Health Sciences. Where has time gone?

Now, enough feeling blue. It’s time to answer this month’s question: September 4 question – Since it’s back to school time, let’s talk English class. What’s a writing rule you learned in school that messed you up as a writer?

I learned all the rules of writing in school, and then I taught them for more than thirty years as an English teacher and a literacy coach. I wouldn’t say knowing the rules messed me up in any way; although, there are definite differences between grammar and spelling when in comes to the Canadian/British system I learned and taught and the American system I use in my books. I refuse to give up the Oxford comma, and that’s that. As well, over the years and with the advent of computers and word porcessing programs, there have been formatting changes to deal with, too.

That being said, there are many things that I taught in my creative writing classes that I’ve thrown out the door. The most relevant of them would be plotting the story,chapter by chapter, scene by scene, and writing character profiles. To be 100 percent honest, when I start writing a new book, I have a bunch of ideas floating around in my head and nothing else. The sky’s the limit. Sometimes, it’s a particular incident I’ve witnessed or read about, a person I’ve seen, a place I’ve visited, a comment someone has made often generate the story. Occasionally, it’ll be a song or a title that pops into my head, but once it’s there, I have to work on it.

My current contemporary paranormal romance suspense novel, Listen to the Stones, arose from the feeling I had when visiting the Standing Stones of Calanais on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland last summer. There was an energy surrounding the place that created a sense of awe in me. When I examined the stones and saw how each one was a little different and yet all of them reminded me of people turned to stone, well, my imagination went into overdrive! To discover that one of the prevalent myths about the place involved the idea of people turned to stone as punishement was all I needed to create my fantasy.

I usually write a blurb before I begin or in the early stages of the story to help me focus. The blurb may change a dozen times before the story ends because, when I start to write, I have only a vague idea of how it will end.

Since my books are character driven, what comes next is usually what the people residing in my imagination want. I research to make sure my facts, even in a fantasy, are as accurate as can be. I describe what I saw and what I want my reader to see, and I make a point of planting clues and tying up loose ends. In short, the only planning I do is a basic plot graph: a setting, characters that include protagonists and antagonists, an inciting incident, rising action that involves a few crises unknown to me until they happen, a climax, and a resolution to the story that ends in a happily ever after for the main characters. The characters are ready to end the story, so the book should be ready for its late October release.

The other thing I do, something considered a major no-no by all of the writing gurus, is that I edit as I write and if something pops into my head, I’ll go back and rewrite it into the story before moving on. Conservatively speaking, I probably edit each chapter a dozen times before the story is finished and ready for it’s final edit. Does that take time? Yes, but it’s the way my mojo works. How about you? Which writing rules to you use or lose?

To see other opinions, click on the link. https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

See you next month!