The first Wednesday of each month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop. A blog hop is accomplished through internet magic where links to our blogs end up congregated together on a page. Each month a question or questions are generated to stimulate bloggers’ thoughts about the insecurities of writing. We bloggers can choose to answer the question(s) of the month or discuss other aspects of the insecurities of writing.
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!
Posting: We post our thoughts on our own blogs. We write about our doubts and fears we have conquered. We discuss our struggles and triumphs. We offer words of encouragement for others who are struggling. We visit others in the group and connect with our fellow writers – we aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!
We rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
Every month a question is announced we can answer in our IWSG post. These questions may prompt us to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. We include our answer to the question in our IWSG post or let it inspire our post if we are struggling with something to say.
August 4 question – What is your favorite writing craft book? Think of a book that every time your read it you learn something or you are inspired to write or try the new technique. And why?
Remember, the question is optional!
The awesome co-hosts for the August 4 posting of the IWSG are PK Hrezo, Cathrina Constantine, PJ Colando, Kim Lajevardi, and Sandra Cox!
I’ll get to my favorite writing craft book in a minute. Right now I’d like to pass along encouragement from J. A. Jance. I’ll cut and paste with double quotes.
“Here’s something you’re welcome to pass along to your insecure writer friends. In 1983, as an unpublished wannabe writer, I bought my first computer—a dual floppy Eagle with 128 K of memory. It wasn’t steam driven but close. The guy who sold it to me fixed it so that every time I booted it up, these were the words that flashed across the screen: A WRITER IS SOMEONE WHO HAS WRITTEN TODAY! Believe me, those were words I clung to in those early days and in many ways they still are.”
I confess I am not living up to the “someone who has written today” everyday. There are many ways I let other things feed my tendency for procrastination.
Ms. Jance’s dual floppy Eagle with 128 K of memory reminds me of my first IBM personal computer I had at about the same time (1983). It had one floppy drive port, 128 K of memory, and, of course, a monochrome display which only showed text. I also had a dot matrix printer. I’ll bet Ms. Jance had one of those printers too. The little setup I had in 1983 cost me at least twice what my current laptop cost. Well, at least it was a big step up from punching 80 column cards, which is how I submitted my first computer programs. I was still banging away on my 128 K system through at least 1986.
Now to the question of the month, my favorite writing craft book…
My favorite writing craft book is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. I imagine most everyone among the Insecure Writers universe has heard of it.
I’d like to be a panser (write by the seat of my pants) but I’m afraid if I tried I’d ramble on forever and never have a story. I need to be a plotter to get the pacing.
The major way I find I learn something new each time I re-read Save the Cat! is because I attempt to combine guidance from it with other plotter outlines like Katytastic’s 3 Act, 27 chapter YouTube videos.
I look forward to connecting with many of you fellow insecure writers today and following.
Happy writing!
Laurence McKay - Fiction Writer 
I’ve never heard of this book! It looks interesting.
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You’re the third blogger today to suggest Save the Cat. I think I better get it. Sure, I’ve read hundreds of creative books on writing, but as writers we need that encouragement, even if we’ve read it 100 times before. I love JA’s story. I wrote my first novel on an old IBM in 1981. I couldn’t do it today. Nice post, Larry. Thanks for visiting my blog.
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Thanks for sharing! I’m going to check out the book, thanks for the encouraging post!
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Thank you for “A writer is someone who has written today.” Thanks also for commenting on my blog post today…it’s my first one ever, so confetti and balloons for you. And Stephen King’s writing book is, I think, possibly his best book. I promise to add Save the Cat to my reading list.
No more giving up reading for Lent…unless it means more writing time. 🙂
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Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve read the original but not the novel version.
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I’m a pantser with some books and a plotter with others. When I’m a pantser, it just means I know my story well and I can type like a bat out of hades. The bad thing about that is … the rewriting is horrendous!! I do like that book, too!
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Great words of wisdom on writing today. Thank you!
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