Insecure Writers Support Group March 2022

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

Thanks to the awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG, Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

This month's question is:

Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

Well, I have to say yes to both. I'm often conflicted about my stories because I tend to lean toward stories that deal with complex, challenging issues and sometimes I feel like I might be moving beyond what can be considered okay in YA.

But I usually end up writing it anyway because once my mind has hooked into those characters and the journey they are going on, it's difficult to move away from the idea. I mean, a book about an amputee trying to lose his virginity is not your typical YA fare, right? Especially when I knew from the start this story was going to include sex workers as part of his journey. But I wrote it anyway because once the idea was there, it wouldn't leave me alone. And Stumped was my second published novel.

I was also conflicted about writing a book with a trans character as one of the narrators. But once again, the story got its grip into me, and I wrote it anyway. I was working with someone transitioning at the time and he was particularly open to talking to me about the experience which was what led me to write the book.

In my early drafts of An Unstill Life, back when it was still called The Boyfriend Plague, the MC had a brother who played a big role in the story. I was quite conflicted when I made the decision to erase him from the book and give a lot of his experiences to Livvie to have herself. But I'm confident the book is better because I made that challenging decision.

So I feel like no matter how conflicted I feel about something, if the idea is strong enough, it's not going to leave me alone, so I have to go ahead and write it.

What about you? Have you ever been so conflicted you gave up on an idea?