Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

Insecure Writers Support Day: Favorite Quotes

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Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds

 Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the September 4 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Jean Davis, Yvonne Ventresca, and PJ Colando!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post.

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?

The question is always optional and today I choose not to answer it, not because I don’t like it. I just can’t think of anything to say about teachers. I’m not sure any teacher messed me up as a writer. There was one in college, a hateful journalism teacher that didn’t like my writing at all. He told me I was on an ego trip. Go figure. I was in his class to learn, even though I’d already worked as a contributing editor for an in-flight magazine. We should never quit learning, right? I do think of him periodically and wonder why he didn’t like me. Lookie here, I answered the question after all. 

My intention was to post a few of my favorite quotes. Who doesn’t like quotes? Don’t they make you think? Do you have a favorite quote that speaks to you? Share it!

“Your legacy is every life you’ve ever touched .”   Maya Angelou  

The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”—Thomas Edison

There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never know quite where they’ll take you.” -Beatrix Potter

 If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison

Half my life is an act of revision.” – John Irving

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”  – Sylvia Plath

 

Isn’t IWSG the greatest?!

I wish you all good writing!

JRF

IWSG Day: Faux Books?

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It’s Insecure Writers Support Group day–the first Wednesday of every month. We’re here for you if you’re doubting or struggling.

IWSG was formed by Ninja Captain Alex Cavanaugh. Members post about their doubts and fears, discuss struggles and triumphs, and offer words of encouragement to others who are struggling.

Twitter handle: @TheIWSG

Hashtag: #IWSG

The awesome co-hosts for the August 7 posting of the IWSG are Feather Stone, Kim Lajevardi,Diedre Knight, C. Lee McKenzie, and Sarah – The Faux Fountain Pen!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story.

The question is always optional.

August 7 question – Do you use AI in your writing and if so how? Do you use it for  your posts? Incorporate it into your stories? Use it for research? Audio?

My response will address using AI for writing long fiction only. I can’t speak to the research, creating social media content or audio.

I investigated AI after taking a free course from Joseph Michael. He made plotting with AI seem interesting. I plugged in a simple one sentence blurb and asked chatGPT to outline a romance. According to JM the first draft probably won’t be acceptable. You need to ask ChatGPT for several more drafts and keep at it until you find something you like. Actually, I found ChatGPT fun to play with. It does stimulate one’s imagination. And some of those drafts didn’t sound too bad to me—after all, we’re going to put our own spin on the characters, the conflict and the entire story… aren’t we?

So here’s the thing: as writers, we want the respect of our peers as much as we want readers to love our work. (Lord knows I deal with “imposter syndrome” enough. I sure don’t need AI to reinforce that.) Why would we risk being called a fake, a cheater, a liar? Where’s the joy in writing, creating the book of our heart—over and over and over again—if we don’t do the actual creating?

I’ll pass on using AI. There are enough fakes in our world.

Thanks for visiting me, and good writing!

jrf

IWSG: My Writing Tools

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The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. We’re encouragers! Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

 

The awesome co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG are JS Pailly, Rebecca Douglass, Pat Garcia, Louise-Fundy Blue, and Natalie Aguirre!

 

Our Optional Question:

What are your favorite writing processing (e.g. Word, Scrivener, yWriter, Dabble), writing apps, software, and tools? Why do you recommend them? And which one is your all time favorite that you cannot live without and use daily or at least whenever you write?

 

No matter what tools, apps or writing programs I purchase, I always end up returning to Microsoft Word. I work faster there.

I’ve owned Scrivener for years and never been able to completely figure it out. Just in the past few months, I’ve taken the time to watch a few instructional videos and mastered another step or two. I know many authors swear by Scrivener but I also know I’ll never be one of them. If you’re interested in Scrivener, you can try it for FREE. I suggests you do what I do, use just the basics and learn at your own pace.

I also purchased Plottr a couple of years ago. I loved it. I watched a lot of YouTube sessions/interviews with various authors on how they used it and I have to admit, I created a beautiful outline for my latest WIP. I was able to create character sketches and scenes for each chapter but guess what – I’m a combination pantser/plotter and I have not been able to finish my book—even with a detailed outline and scenes. For the first time, I think I understand what authors mean when they say outlining ruins the story for them. I always thought that was a crazy thing to say but it’s the only excuse I can come up with because my novel is basically planned out and waiting for me to finish it.

With Microsoft Word, I can sit down and soar. My old arthritic fingers still type pretty fast and I enjoy letting my characters lead me. Usually the first three chapters move fast. In the middle I falter. So once I slow down and stumble through that middle, I’ll turn to my NOTES app on my iPhone. That’s where I drop pieces of dialogue, ideas for scenes and description as they comes to me at odd times. I can’t do without NOTES on my phone.

What I really love is YouTube. Anytime I need to know how to do something, YouTube is my go-to for help. I’m very thankful for those authors who take the time to create how-to videos and seminars on Zoom.  And blogs like this one: Jill Kemerer

My question for you: what would we do without each other?

 

 

A Writer’s Need – IWSG

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 First:  Welcome to IWSG day!

 Our Purpose is to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

HOW IT BEGAN: 

Alex J. Cavanaugh is the founder of IWSG. He saw a need and he filled it. Yay, Alex! Thank you!

We post on the first Wednesday of each month. Check out our membership. We have some great bloggers.

 

The awesome co-hosts for the June 5 posting of the IWSG are Liza at Middle Passages,Shannon Lawrence, Melissa Maygrove,and Olga Godim!

Every month we have an optional question so here it is:

In this constantly evolving industry, what kind of offering/service do you think the IWSG should consider offering to members?

 IWSG seems different from my other writing groups. Maybe because membership is free and IWSG members write anything and everything. My other groups are more specialized—mystery writers, Christian writers, Nonfiction and Memoir writers. In IWSG we’re all lumped together. There’s something “freeing” in that even though we have structure.

I know IWSG seeks to encourage its members through special projects. I’ve been a part of that in a couple of books. I’d like to see a few programs through Zoom. Not book reviews but rather How To instruction and discussion. In my Faith, Hope & Love group every month or two we have an author (through Zoom) share how they market their books, or how they start and grow their newsletter, or how to create a series bible or use Scrivener. We sign up to attend but it’s free to members and if we can’t make it, the program is saved so that we can watch it later. I think IWSG could pull this off and benefit from such a program.

We also have a weekly Resource Wednesday—just an email to our membership—where a volunteer or two has combined important information such as article links on industry news, the business of writing and the writing craft; Article links on encouragement for writers, as well as a list (with links) to upcoming contests and conferences. There’s a lot of great info out there that some of us never see.

I think many a downfall of writer’s groups is having too many things going that require way too many volunteers. We’re all busy with our writing, our jobs and our lives. Days are going by faster and faster. Time seems shorter. Most of us don’t want weekly or even monthly obligations. I understand that so I’ll add that IWSG is a great group. There’s no need to change anything or even add more programs, because IWSG serves it’s purpose: Encouragement! Once again, thanks!

 

IWSG: Distractions?

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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.

The co-hosts for the May 1 posting of the IWSG are Victoria Marie Lees,Kim Lajevardi,Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine!

May 1 question – How do you deal with distractions when you are writing? Do they derail you?

 

My Response: 

Unfortunately, I don’t deal well with distractions. Yes, they derail me. I have no answers or suggestions for you. No tips on how to remedy the problem or cure the disease.

If you have a solution for “oh-look-a-squirrel” syndrome share it with me.

Yesterday I watched a Joseph Michael video on how to get the writing done. He invited writers to join his Unchained Writers accountability group. He says all creatives struggle with something—negativity, imposter syndrome, or just getting words on paper. He’s right. You’ll probably all agree.

But all of us know what it takes to get a book finished. Determination and self-discipline. Doesn’t matter if we write 50 words, 500 words or 2500 words on any given day. Just write. Day after day after day. Distractions are part of the process. All writers have them.

Danielle Steel has written 190 plus books. You may not read her or even like her books but she struggles through the process just like all creatives. With all the children she has, I’m sure there have been distractions. I’m sure she starts where we start: an idea in her head and a blank page.

So maybe I do have a tip: be true to yourself and your own writing process. The struggle is definitely real. Our maladies will always plague us but if we love writing and believe in ourselves and our stories, we’ll plow through the distractions and achieve our goals. We won’t run away or make excuses, at least not for long. Writers always come back to their writing. We’ll do whatever it takes short of whipping out an outline and hiring a ghostwriter like some bestselling authors do. Where’s the glory, the honor, the fun in that?

Give me the struggles we face any day of the week so I can call myself a real writer!

Distractions? Just a bump in the road.

Good writing to you all!

 

 

IWSG Day: The Shy Blogger

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Hello my friends! It’s IWSG Day, the first Wednesday of the month. This is the day we post our thoughts, talk about our doubts and fears and discuss our struggles and triumphs. We are thrilled to offer words of encouragement to all our fellow writers because that’s our purpose.

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the April 3rd posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, T. Powell Coltrin, Natalie Aguirre, and Pat Garcia!

Each month we have an optional question so here it is:

April 3 question – How long have you been blogging? (Or on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram?) What do you like about it and how has it changed?

I started blogging in 2007. It was a secret blog until a friend outed me, but I eventually got past being a “shy blogger” and loved it. In 2015 I left  my comfortable blogging home and came here.  I guess I got burnt out because I was blogging often, about writing, family, and I loved the A to Z challenge. I can say I was a faithful blogger even doing some book reviews. I also had a regular feature called Louisiana Saturday Night where I interviewed Louisiana authors. I haven’t felt that motivated here at my WordPress home. Not sure why. Maybe it feels a little too fancy. Honestly, I don’t know. I’d love to blog a couple of times a week but I just don’t feel motivated to do it. Any ideas?

I don’t know how long I’ve been on Facebook or Instagram or X (Twitter) but I consider those platforms enemy territory. Too many strangers with foul mouths and hateful dispositions. Here, on my own little plot of real estate (as some call it) I figure if you want to know my thoughts you can pop in whenever you want, but on FB or Twitter, it’s a different story. I guess I’m still pretty much a “shy blogger.”

Then again, I’m not shy in my imagination. I imagine myself hosting podcasts, interviewing all kinds of creative people. Even teaching something fun on my very own YouTube channel. Speaking at wonderful writers’ conferences. Isn’t it funny how we can live in our head? Just call me Walter Mitty, but aren’t we all to a certain extent?

Tonight my daughter asked me if I’d like to learn to quilt, and I answered that I wanted to know how to quilt, not learn. I think that might be where I am right now. I want to do a lot of things, but I don’t really want to learn how.

At this point in my life, I need to do what I already know how to do, like write—not take on new challenges.

I admit, there are things we DO have to learn on a daily basis: ever changing technology, all the different changes in social media, new iPhones as well as things that keep our publishers and editors and agents happy. That’s about all I can keep up with.

Where are you at this point in your life? What are you learning these days?

 

Where’s The Joy … in AI?

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Here we are again, the first Wednesday of the month—a meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the March 6 posting of the IWSG are Kristina Kelly, Miffie Seideman,Jean Davis, and Liza @ Middle Passages!

I’m going to skip right to the optional question.

Have you “played” with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI’s impact on creative writing? 

I don’t know much about AI except what I’ve seen on the news and read from other authors. Out of curiosity I took a FREE course from Joseph Michael and found AI fascinating. But to what end? If I create a book through AI, how can I enjoy the creative process, the actual writing? Oh, I know what they’re telling us but to me the creative process is a lot more than putting plot points, descriptions, themes into a few blanks and asking AI to spit out my book.

Looking back on my writing life, here’s my reasoning:

Writing and selling and publishing was so much more fun (for me) when I had nothing but a typewriter, some white-out and a ream of paper. Every month I’d rush to the library to read the latest Writer’s Digest and The Writer. I’d immediately turn to the Market section so I could see who wanted short stories or poetry. When I created what I thought they wanted I stuck the manuscript into a brown envelope, tucked another inside (SASE) and mailed it at the post office. Then I waited, and waited and waited until finally a brown envelope addressed to me in my own handwriting came back to me. Sometimes it had an acceptance letter. Way too often it held my rejected manuscript with a “Thanks but this doesn’t work for us!”

But, Oh what fun to wait. What suspense! What anticipation! What hope!

How wonderful it was to take a 200 page manuscript to the post office and have the clerk weigh it. Off to the publisher it went. One manuscript didn’t come back to me for an entire year!

Today, we email our manuscripts and we seldom get a response unless it’s an acceptance. Nine times out of ten we never get a rejection that says “Thanks but no thanks.” We never SEE the handwriting of an editor or get a “This doesn’t work but send something else.” No notes of encouragement that we can actually read 40 or 50 years later. (I’m laughing here!)

Where’s the encouragement in no response? You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this …

We have computers now that will correct our words for us, unlike when I started writing. Often I had to retype the entire page, sometimes the entire manuscript. You know what? I didn’t mind. I loved typing. I loved writing. I had a vision, a cause, a dream, a purpose.

So if AI takes my last joy away from me … the actual plotting, planning, creating … what do I have left?

As fascinated as I was by the AI course I took, I’ll have to pass. For me, creating is fun. ALL the creating. The daydreaming, the planning, the plotting, the writing … it all gives me joy. It teaches me. It gives me purpose. And believe it or not, I always have enough hope to get me from one rejection to another.

But the promotion? Oh, now that’s a different story. AI … let’s talk!

 

Sunday Scripture

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Let’s focus on this today:

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:33 (MSG)

Thank you, Lord, for taking care of our every need.

Insecure Writers Support Group: February 2024

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Hello Readers, hope you’re ready for February. It’s here whether we’re ready or not. On February 12th I will have been married 42 years. That’s so weird to me. I still can’t imagine being married that long even though I did it! I did it!. J

I can hardly believe we raced through 31 days of January. I had planned to finish a 55,000 word book but by the time I finally sat down at my laptop, January was over. ?‍♀️ Life is flying by.

Before I say another word, I want to remind each of you that at some point during the past several years, you signed up to follow my blog. When you sign up to follow it, you get a notification or a link or perhaps even the complete post in your email. If at any time you want to unsubscribe, feel free to do so. I get a lot of clutter in my email too, so I’ll understand. But really, I don’t want to be known as clutter. I want you to like me! And read me. I really do but it’s your call, my friend.

What I’ve read so far in 2024:

I just completed Fragile Designs by Colleen Coble. It’s about a widowed antique dealer and family secrets. I do like a tease about family secrets. That kind of blurb will get me every time.

I enjoyed Colleen’s storytelling skills and have been looking at some of her other books that are on my shelves. I tend to purchase authors I know I will eventually read. They may perch in my book case for years before I ever get around to reading them. Is that odd?

I also finished Jessica R. Patch’s  Love Inspired Suspense— Crime Scene Conspiracy. The first in a series. Her heroines don’t pull any punches, and her heroes are (sigh) HEROES! Her books always have threats at every turn. Her trade books, A Cry in the Dark and Her Darkest Secret might give you nightmares. At the very least, they’ll keep you sitting up all night reading and looking at the crack in your draperies or blinds.  I’m waiting for the 3rd book in this Strange Crimes Unit series—Garden Girls. Check her out.

I’m excited to be doing a zoom class with this author in the near future. Follow her on Facebook and get to know her. If anyone has a handle on marketing her books, it’s Jessica R. Patch. She’s scary and fun.

And now it’s IWSG Day! Yay!

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
 
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the February 7 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, SE White,Victoria Marie Lees, and Cathrina Constantine!

Let’s take a look at the Optional question:

February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books?

I hate it when pop-ups won’t let me search a website before I decide to follow or sign up for the newsletter. That’s my number one pet peeve when it comes to authors (and craft sites). A recent discussion in one of my writers’ groups told me I’m not the only one who hates pop-ups. I don’t blame authors for a constant mention of their books: their real estate so they can mention all they want, but they should make certain there’s something there for everyone. A few articles that might interest their readers, maybe. I always enjoy reading how an author plots their book, where they got their idea, how they outline or some funny experience they’ve had at book signings or whatever. I have to admit, I’m never going to read an interview with a fictional character or a letter to me from a fictional character. Just not my thing. After all, they’re fictional characters! A little negativity doesn’t bother me either. We’re writers. There’s a heck of a lot of negativity in our writing and publishing world. Go for it. I’ll probably agree with you.

I always read and enjoy author bios and how an author came to get published. Where did you find the courage to self-pub or how did you finagle a traditional publisher to grab you. Authors have a lot of good stories at their fingertips if they’ll just think about them. I look forward to reading yours!

What I’m writing now:

I’ve been working on a sweet romance and I have about 30,000 words. Unfortunately, I’ve been sick for the past several weeks and haven’t accomplished much of anything. Fingers crossed I can finish it in February. I need one good day at the library–actually, the library in Mustang, Oklahoma would do it for me.

Thanks for popping by my place. Leave a comment and tell me what you’re doing. My next post I hope to drop some links sending you to some of my very favorite websites and podcasts. Hope you’ll come back!

Good Writing, my friends!

Jessica

2024: 10 Days In

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We’re ten days into the New Year. As most of us do, I look back to see what I accomplished in 2023 and was surprised that I haven’t really written much since July of 2022. And what I have written sounds a little too pensive. Or maybe just downright dull.

I’ve done a lot of rewriting/revising and finally got my manuscript pleasing enough for my agent to shop it around. I think it’s much better with her input, but I’m not sure. Someone smarter than me will have to tell me that. There are so many versions of it floating around in my head.

I think the best thing I’ve written in the past year plus, is my mother’s obituary. And that kind of finished me off. I didn’t feel like writing, much less blogging, after that. Writing her obit was easier than I expected because I knew about her life. I would have been in trouble if I’d had to write my dad’s. He didn’t share much. And if someone doesn’t talk to me, I don’t ask them many questions. I always felt like his secrets were his. I regret that now. So many things about him I wish I knew.

I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts during the past year. There are some good ones out there that I hope to share with you at some point. I’ve taken a few courses and watched webinars. I’ve read. Overall, I’ve enjoyed the past year but it’s a year out of my life that I didn’t accomplish much.

I’ve always enjoyed reading obituaries. Those of you who know me, know that I’m a sentimental packrat. I save all sorts of things—including interesting obits I’ve come across in newspapers.

Obits can be wonderful character sketches. I especially like it when they have pictures of the deceased as a young person and then a pic of them aged. That doesn’t happen often because it’s so expensive to get an obit in the paper anymore. That’s dreadful! Everyone deserves their moment in the news. I think obits should be free.

But seriously, obits can help you round out your characters, or perhaps even generate an idea for a story. You might even grow to love and admire people more than you do when you read about the lives of strangers. We’re all so unique in our own way. We all have our struggles.

There’s an interesting site of free online obituaries called Beyond the Dash if you care to read a few … though most of them are famous people. Better to study obits of real people. But this site also has instruction on how to write obits.

Practice writing your own obituary. Or the obits of your characters. Believe me, it’s a good exercise for you. Plus, somewhere down the line knowing how will come in handy. Don’t forget the 5-Ws that we learned in school (depending on your age, I guess).  Who, What, When, Where, Why and sometimes How.

Until next week …