IWSG - June 2022

It's the first Wednesday of the month, so it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group!

The awesome co-hosts for the June 1 posting of the IWSG are SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!

This month's question is a goody!

When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

In both cases my answer would be the same - write a scene you know you want to write.  I'm not someone who always writes in a linear fashion.  Very rarely do I start writing a book from the beginning.  I usually start with a single scene and build in both directions from there.  

So if I get stuck somewhere along the way, I just drop a wee note in the text, highlight it, and move on to the next scene I know and want to write.  Usually by the time I've written all the scenes I think I'll need, I can figure out ways to join them up (or have already done it along the way) so it reads like a complete story.

Of course there's always editing to do, and sometimes I end up cutting out scenes I thought were crucial and important at the time and turn out not to be that relevant in the long run.  But it means I don't stagnate when things get tough, or if I don't know exactly where the story starts.

When I try to write in a linear way, I almost always end up writing about 10K more than I need to because it takes me about that long to find my way into the story.  By starting somewhere toward the middle, usually with a scene that's full of action or emotion, I can get myself into the story world much quicker.  And if I get stuck somewhere along the way, there's nothing like a good kissing scene to jump into to get the words flowing again!

How do you keep going when things get tough?