Insecure Writer's Support Group: Skip Button

December 6th question:

Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book reviews do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?

I don’t really think about it as it’s more a matter of “Do I feel like trying to type on my phone?” because I tend to read in bed at night so when I finish a book, I’m in bed and I can’t type on my phone’s screen to save my life.

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First off, I want to thank everyone for the suggestions on writing tactics last month. There was a good variety of advice in the comments. Will any of it work for me? We shall see. But probably not until next year. It’s the holiday months, so writing gets sidelined a bit for me.

And can I just say I’m not really looking forward to the holidays?

I’d rather skip to April (and skip winter while we’re at it.) I’m lacking the energy to deal with Christmas and it’s positivity. About the only thing I want to see is Christmas lights.

But I’m also not in the mood to vent.

Instead, I want to look at what I managed despite everything that got piled onto me (some of it shouldn’t have been. Maybe I feel like venting a little.)

In 2023 I…

• wrote 34 200-word stories.

• edited 54 100-word stories into 200-word stories.

• which resulted in 2 finished A Quick Tale collections.

• wrote 9 chapters in a secret project.

• wrote 3 flash fiction pieces for Substack (one I killed myself in. There is no escaping The Suff.)

• edited A LOT.

• finished writing Strength of Love and started Tenacity of Love.

• knitted 134 familiars and 23 hats (some patterns I wrote myself!)

Like, damn, y’all.

Today's post was part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

Created by the ninja captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh, it's a group for writers struggling with writing insecurity (AKA all of us) to gather and discuss their fears or to celebrate writing victories. If you are a struggling writer or need encouragement and friendship, join us. (Someone might have cookies!)

Remember to visit the co-hosts and give them a shout-out for helping. C. Lee McKenzie, JQ Rose, Jennifer Lane, and Jacqui Murray!