Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

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 …

Happy New Year, Insecure Writer’s Support Group

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Hello my Insecure Writers Support Group, and happy 2024. I saw the new year in by watching six episodes of Person of Interest. Now I’m hooked.

Hey, I’ve missed you!

I’ve rejoined IWSG and hope to ease my way back into blogging.

This is what we’re all about:

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!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day.  We talk about our doubts and the fears. We discuss our struggles and triumphs. We also offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling.

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

The awesome co-hosts for the January 3 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Olga Godim, Diedre Knight, and Natalie Aguirre!

Our optional question this month is a good one and I’m interested in how others answer it.  

Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors?

 In a nutshell, if someone follows me, I’ll follow them. Unless they’re some weird person claiming to be a doctor and/or wearing a uniform. You know, those guys who hang out on FB and Instagram?

That’s my answer. I’ll be back in a day or two with a new blogpost. Hopefully, I can make this a habit … again.

Once again, Happy New Year!

IWSG: The Mentor

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It’s IWSG DAY! 

We post the first Wednesday of every month and 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.

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

Our awesome co-hosts for the February 2 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler,Jacqui Murray, Sandra Cox, and Lee Lowery!

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

February 2 question – Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn’t around anymore? Anyone you miss? 

There is one person very dear to my heart who encouraged my writing—my English/creative writing teacher at Stephen F. Austin University. I took several classes from him and wrote my first novel in an independent studies class for him. He never failed to encourage me, tell me the truth and ask what I was working on. Sometimes I’d go to his office to talk writing with him and share rejection slips because he was a writer too, with poems and short fiction published. I guess you could say I trusted him with the voices in my head that wanted to be on paper.

To this very day, I hear Dr. Fred A. Rodewald’s voice in my head. Mainly, he’s telling my characters to, “Think! Think! Think!”

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When he read my first novel he pointed out that I had failed with what was called back then the action, reaction thing. When my main character acted, she needed to think afterwards. After all, one doesn’t shoot someone, or push a man over a ledge without thinking afterwards? Right?

I think my character went through 150 pages without much introspection. I finally mastered it, but later in my writing life so many of my contest judges criticized my introspection. Too much, too much, too much! they often said. I suppose there’s a happy balance in everything, even thinking.

I’ve studied writing just about all my life. Even back in the 70s I knew that one never sent out a messy manuscript that had strike-overs. Don’t know what that is? We old folks typed our books on typewriters. Every correction and rewrite was like starting from scratch. Invariably, corrections usually changed the page numbers by pushing a paragraph onto another page. Writing in the “old” days was a chore. Only those who truly loved it stuck with it.

My friend and mentor, Fred, would strike over the letters to correct the typo; he wouldn’t erase it or use whiteout. I often wondered if he mailed out his short fiction with those strike-overs, but I never asked. Do we know how blessed we are that we don’t have to do that any more–or deal with Whiteout? Boy! I do!

Dr. Rodewald and I traded letters for a good number of years, keeping each other informed of failures and successes. He’s been retired for a number of years but he still lives in Nacogdoches, Texas. He no longer writes. I like to visualize him sitting on his back porch creating poems and short stories (even novels) in his head because a real writer never quits writing. He always considered me a real writer, and I appreciated that. That was the greatest encouragement of all. In my eyes, he was a real writer too.

Fred gave me his one and only mystery novel to do with what I please. It’s about a man searching for his daughter. I still have it—somewhere.

To do with what I please.

What does one do with someone else’s novel?

It’s IWSG Day: Our Fear & Regret

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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!

HOW IT BEGAN: 

Alex J. Cavanaugh, the founder, noticed a lot of blog posts from writers mentioning their doubts, concerns, and lack of confidence. He also saw the positive replies they received and realized that the writing community offered an abundance of support. Writers want to see other writers succeed, which is how he came up with the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

We post on the first Wednesday of each month. Check out our membership.

The awesome co-hosts for the January 5 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe, Olga Godim, Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken!

Every month we have an optional question and they always make me put my thinking cap on and examine my writing life. This month IWSG is asking:

 What’s the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?

The one thing I regret the most when it comes to my writing career is my lack of confidence, or maybe not taking myself seriously. Or maybe even taking myself too seriously. They all three might go hand in hand. Seems I’ve always doubted and denigrated my abilities in an effort to prepare myself for failure. For some reason, I have always expected to fail.

Looking back and analyzing my lack of confidence, I can identify spurts of bravery popping periodically out of the blue. Like when I learned that Southern Writers Magazine needed a writer, I had a spurt of confidence and applied. Only afterwards did I hit my forehead and ask, “What have I done? Am I crazy?” I wrote for them for almost seven years.

Another spurt of bravery was when the entire staff walked out on a local magazine editor; my daughter and I walked in as if we knew what we were doing. The bi-weekly folded a year later, but we had an entire year of creating a magazine, interviewing city and government officials and business owners. Such a wonderful but hectic experience. That spurt of confidence paid off.

My spurts of confidence are sparse. I’m truly a “NO” person. When I’m asked to do something I always say ‘no’ first, then analyze, visualize the situation like a play in my head. I suppose that’s my so-called dress rehearsal.

Once I was asked to replace a speaker at a conference. I immediately said no. Hubby reminded me that this was something I’d always wanted so I called them back and accepted. I’d spoken at small conferences before but this one was a one-room conference with almost 100 people. Fear and dread consumed me but it was one of the best experiences of my life.

Another “no” came about when the director of a continuing education department of a nearby university asked me to create a writing program. No, no, and double no! Why would he think I could do such a thing? When he asked again and again, I finally said yes. What fun creating classes for writers to take, even teaching one!

When the music director at my church asked me to write a Christmas play I said no, but then God gave me an idea and I sat down and wrote the first act. Of course, I had to call her back. I’ll never forget the thrill of watching my characters come to life on stage.

I don’t tell you this to brag but to share the torture I put myself through—needlessly. Lacking confidence and saying NO out of fear is one of the most miserable feelings one can have. It’s almost painful!

Think about it: If fear of failure keeps us safe then it also keeps us from success. If we protect ourselves by saying no, if we don’t value and use the talent God gave us or take advantage of opportunities He hands us, then where are we?

Some day we might be wrapping ourselves in regret because time has passed us by.

Let’s make 2022 work for us. Let’s make a point to accomplish something on a monthly basis. If you’ve never submitted anything for publication to anyone, promise yourself you’ll do it soon. Getting one thing published will boost your confidence so much, you’ll want to submit again and again and again.

And the second part of that question … was I able to overcome it? Nope! I’m no braver than I was five, ten or fifteen years ago. I just swallow my fear …

GULP!