Jessica Ferguson

Author, Writing Coach, Speaker

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

K is for Keys

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KIf you’re just finding me among the hundreds and hundreds of A to Z bloggers, I’m thrilled. I’m sharing about writing, coaching and inspiring others.

I’m tempted to blog about Kritiques, but I guess I should keep it real. 🙂 Today I’ll give you keys to writing and publishing; my tips that will benefit you for as long as you’re a writer.

Read. Don’t read just anything—read the best of the best. I could give you a list of books, but my opinion of “the best” might differ from yours. Just remember, the saying garbage in-garbage-out is true.

Write. Every day. Some people argue that writing daily isn’t necessary. I believe the more you write, the better writer you become. And yes, I believe in forcing yourself to write. We force ourselves to wash dishes and clothes and toilets (or am I the only one?) so why wouldn’t we force ourselves to do something we truly love?

Write long. Tell your story then cut it short. You’ll be surprised how many unnecessary words you’ve used. Make every word count.

Write short. I believe writing fillers, letters to the editor, very short pieces teach us to write tight. I’ve heard writers say they can’t create anything in a 100 words. Like my mama always said, “Can’t never could do a thing!” If you can’t create in 100 words how will you ever write your book blurbs?

Submit. Find a couple of markets to conquer: Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Sun, Women’s World. There are many opportunities within those three markets.

Join a local writers’ group. If there’s not one in your town, start one. You might belong to thirty online groups, and that’s great, but there’s nothing like gabbing with other writers at your favorite coffee shop.

Call yourself a writer. Tell people you meet for the first time that you’re a writer. Yes, it’s hard because they always ask what you’ve published and you may not have published anything. That doesn’t matter. Tell them you’re working on short stories, a novel, a screenplay and hope to submit soon. The more you say you’re a writer—out loud—the more you’ll believe it.

Recognize opportunities. When you talk about writing and call yourself a writer, opportunities will come your way–from local magazines and newspapers, the Chamber of Commerce, or from church or club newsletters. Don’t ever pass up an opportunity that falls in your lap.

Learn. How-to books, trade magazines, online classes and writing blogs are at your fingertips. Take advantage of them. You may become a New York Best Selling author, but that doesn’t mean you know everything. You never will. Never. Educate yourself about markets, the business of writing, agents and publishers, traditional and indie publishing. Don’t depend on anyone to do your research for you. Your career is your responsibility.

Don’t ever, ever quit learning.

K is for King (as in Stephen)

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You may think it’s odd that while writing my family stories, I’d slip Stephen King into the mix. I think it’s weird too, but I really can’t omit him. He’s been a part of my reading life for years. And my love for reading came from my mom.

I grew up hearing the story about how, as a youngster, she’d slip away from her chores to hide in a tree with a book. I can’t remember seeing her read much of anything all the time I lived at home, but she made sure I had books at my fingertips. She enrolled me in a book club that delivered a classic a month. She also ordered the Encyclopedia Britannica, believing without a doubt those books of knowledge would help us in school.  

While cleaning out my mother’s house, I came across a large box of Stephen King titles. I doubt if she read them. The last year or so, she’s just enjoyed owning books, sitting in her chair and seeing them on her shelves … buying them. Yes, I said buying. Even though she didn’t drive, she found a way to shop. She scoured the classifieds of the local paper and when she saw books for sale, she’d call, tell them she was sending someone to pick them up. I found sacks and boxes of romances, mysteries and Stephen King.

I haven’t read Stephen since Pet Sematery, when he “showed” a young boy being dragged by an eighteen-wheeler down the highway. I couldn’t help sobbing during that scene and didn’t finish it. Packing up my mother’s books and coming across King—knowing she’d never read them—I felt much the same way. I knew too, those hard-back Kings that she probably couldn’t even lift, had given her a bit of comfort. A satisfied feeling. As if she’d read the last page and smiled.

Can you resist a Friends of the Library sale? Have you ever bought several copies of the same book? Wouldn’t you love to write a book that made someone sob? Me too!

 

 

Observations, Praise and Prayer

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It’s frightening to learn how much I don’t know about writing–correct punctuation, powerful sentence structure, the show vs. tell, and correct POV.  

Ab. So. Lute. Ly.  Frightening.
Where have I been all my writing life? Why haven’t I learned these things? I guess I’ve been marching to my own beat. Maybe I’m too hard-headed or just down-right unteachable.

Identifying reoccurringwriting problems in my manuscripts puts fear in my heart–and my head. Certainly it makes me more aware, but talk about slowing the writing/editing process! Unless we do it correctly the first time. (And again, I have to wonder how published authors can whip out books so fast! Some of them make the same mistakes I make.)

And I have to admit, there’s the rub. And, truth be known, THAT’S where I’ve been all my writing life! We’re all told to read the popular writers, those who are churning out the books. They’re certainly doing something right. They have the know-how. Okay, I read those authors I want to emulate. Really, tell me what I’m supposed to learn from them because I’m confused. They head-hop. I can’t. They use adverbs. I can’t. Don’t tell me I have to know the rules before I can break them. Jeeze loueeze, that’s not fair. The only reason breaking the rules works for them is because they’re making money.

Now, Just point out to me what I’m supposed to learn by reading those wonderful bestselling authors like Nora, Stephen, Patterson, Child and others. Maybe … storytelling skills?

I guess what I need to do is have the rules so ingrained in my mind that I don’t use words like, felt, feeling, as, see, saw, look, that, was, were, is, be, to name a few. I don’t say Rosie blushed when I’m in Rosie’s POV, because how could she possibly know? She can’t feel it because she can’t feel. Yes, I know heat can ravage her face like an Oklahoma drought ravages a field of corn. (ha, now that was fun.)

This is not a rant. Believe me, this is exactly what my blog title calls it: Praise, Prayers and Observations. Observations came first. Now here’s the praise:

I got the edits back on my short story. There wasn’t a thing I didn’t agree with so I made all the changes suggested by the editor. What a learning experience! It makes me realize my constant handwringing is for nothing. I need to pay closer attention to choosing the right words, staying in POV and not over-writing.

Here’s a great new resource for anyone who is concerned about grammar and mechanics, technique and style, and plotting and characterization. Check out one of the best articles I’ve read on point of view, called Why POV Matters by author/editor Alicia Dean. 

I make the same mistakes over and over again. Time to take my writing to the next level. The very thought brings on the handwringing!


Now here’s the prayer: Lord, let me be teachable!

Have you identified any weaknesses in your writing? What do you think we’re supposed to learn from best selling authors?