Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Insecure Writers Support Group 7-4-21

 




It's the first Wednesday in April so it's time for the Insecure Writers' Support Group!  

This month's question is intriguing...

Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I'm not really sure if I'm a risk taker.  I don't really consider myself to be, but when I look back at my work, I wonder if maybe I am.  I certainly don't shy away from difficult and controversial subject matter in my stories.  I've never really considered that risky though.  I just like to write about parts of the world and society that may not have been fully examined before, especially not in YA.

But I guess tackling sex and disability in such a frank way in Stumped was risky. And writing about drug addiction the way I did in The Sidewalk's Regrets.  Or even euthanasia in An Unstill Life

In terms of style or POV, again I'm not sure if I am a risk taker.  I have a series of short stories about a family and their beach house where the POV character is never named or gendered.  Is that risky?  I like these stories because whoever is reading them can put themselves into the "I" character and read with their own experiences coloring the narrative.  Is that risky though?

Perhaps I don't quite understand the meaning of risk in this context...

What about you?  Do you take risks in your writing?

7 comments:

  1. Sounds like you take risks to me! Bravo!

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  2. Sounds like you take risks to me! Bravo!

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  3. Sounds like you take risks to me! Bravo!

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  4. Hi,
    You are an explorer that doesn't mind getting out there and writing what you see. I call that risk taking.
    All the best.

    Shalom aleichem,
    Pat G @ EverythingMustChange

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  5. I definitely don't understand the meaning of risk in this context. I mean, it's writing. You just go with what works.

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  6. I don't think I take any real risks in my writing, either in subject matter or in storytelling techniques. I just try to go wherever the story seems like it should go.

    I like the idea of POV characters who are never named or gendered. It makes for interesting reading. We read one such story in one of my writers group & the following discussion was great.

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  7. If you write about parts of the world and society that haven't been examined by most people, I would say that's taking risks. And the greatest writers, in my opinion, are often the ones who take risks in their work.

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