Insecure Writer's Support Group: Trying something new

This is Insecure Writer's Support Group, a monthly group hosted by the ever amazing and talented Alex Cavanaugh. Anyone can join in any time, so please hop over to his blog and sign up! You won't regret it.

It is SOOOO easy to get stuck in a rut, but in your writing and in your life how many times do you fall back to the same old thing because it's safe, comfortable, and you know it well? I have this problem a lot... mostly with my life, a little less so with my writing.

Recently, I've felt like my inspiration for characters and plots has been dragging... that I keep rewriting the same thing and I DON'T LIKE IT! I want to write something new for me, something exciting and motivating, something with zest.

So what I've decided to do is try new things in my real life... new activities that get me out of my house and meeting new people, stretching my comfort zone, and honing some skills that are NOT directly related to writing. I'm hoping that these activities will spark my imagination again.

I signed up for a portrait drawing class, found a knitting circle to attend, and scheduled time to attend a student composers concert, all to give my brain and my social skills some exercise. Um... except I'm so intimidated by trying new things! What if I'm not very good at them? What if the people don't like me? Wouldn't it be so much easier just to try these things from the comfort of my own home?

I'm not letting myself cringe and cower, though. I'm going to dive out there, try something new, and maybe fall flat on my face. Who knows? Who cares, though? My characters will never have any real depth if I don't have the courage to try something and risk failing at it as well.

How good are you at trying something new?

The new year cometh

The decorations are already down.

I've been going through stuff this year... hard stuff, honestly... and I'm eager to move on. So, I've had my Christmas spirit. We're still drinking out of Christmas mugs until after the new year, but I've already taken down the tree. Bring on 2014 and hopefully some progress on some of my issues. (Ok... stopping for a peaceful breath here).

In other news, and in random order, here are a couple of awesome things that have happened recently:

Sunrise this morning before heading to the wetlands to count
shorebirds, water birds, and various other kinds of birds.

We lit a spiral of candles for the solstice and asked our friends
to each add a light representing a wish they have for the new year.

I have Doctor Who salt and pepper shakers now!
It was a particularly Doctor Christmas this year. Love!

I hope you all have resolutions for the new year, even if it's something generic. We should all start the year looking forward to something, I think. I'll be back in a couple of days to document my own resolutions.

Insecure Writers' Support Group

It's that time again! It's the first Wednesday in March. That means it's time for Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by Alex Cavanaugh. Anyone can join, so hop on over to the IWSG page for more information and sign up!

So "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," said Robert Burns. I had lofty schemes of finishing a NaNo novel this year, and after the first week I dropped the ball. Well, but that's not exactly true... it's just that a daily word count became less important than some of the other things that November threw at me.

I always feel guilty for setting my writing aside, but then I try to remind myself that a well balanced life is my goal. Because, in all honesty, it is. I want to enjoy my life and feel like the things I pursue are enhancing it, instead of eroding it. Do any of you find that problem with balance?

On that note, I'm off for pastry and time with some out-of-town friends.

It's that time of year

Somebody oughta tell these guys that it's not safe for them to be wandering about town this time of year...

On the back side of our block. There were a dozen total!

Insecure Writer's Support Group!

Hi everyone! It's the first Wednesday in October. That means it's time for Insecure Writer's Support Group, hosted by ninja captain, Alex Cavanaugh. Anyone can join, so hop on over to the IWSG page and sign up!

My first post in this group for a while. I apologize for my absence. I was... deep under the tidal wave of real life called "Moving Across Country." I think, maybe, that I've figured out how to tread water in my daily life again instead of drowning the way that I have been for the past few months. Ha! And I'm trying to prove it to myself by writing this post out early and scheduling it for the correct day. Because, honestly, I don't want to miss it! Being part of your collective support and feeling supported by IWSG has been such an important part of my growth as a writer over the past couple of years. I appreciate it. VERY MUCH.

So, as it always happens after I've signed up for NaNo, I'm suddenly busy with a trillion things to do! I have three manuscripts to edit, a friend coming from out of town to stay for a while, lots of Doctor Who to watch before the 50th anniversary ep airs on November 23rd (I'm going to see it in 3D on the 25th), more to do at the horse barn... it's just a massive pile of everything good. And I'm grateful for that... that it's all good things... it's just...

Why is it that when I commit to do something like NaNo I get an avalanche of everything else that I want or need to do? Is it the Universe messing with me?

Does this happen to anyone else?

Let's hope by the time you read this that I'm seven- or eight-thousand words further along on my manuscript. That's what NaNo is for, and I'd like to think I have the resolve to get there. Fingers crossed... or not, because I need them for typing.

Happy writing, NaNoing, or whatever adventures in make-believe and magic you are having in your creative life today.

Jump in with both feet

I've been waffling for weeks now. I know NaNoWriMo is coming up November 1st. I know it... and yet, when people started talking about plotting and planning and getting involved this year, I hesitated.

Mostly I think I hesitated because I was scared. NaNo is a big commitment! It's one of those things that you can go to as lightly or as seriously as you want and it'll have the same effect on your life... total madness for 30 days!

Thing is... I have a good story this year. I have a couple of compelling characters and an interesting plot... already... that I've been "meaning to work on" since we moved and I haven't yet. Maybe the madness of NaNo is just what I need to get them out of my head and onto (virtual) paper?

So... here I go!

What about you? Are you NaNoing this year? Look me up on the NaNo site: fairbetty. I'd love to have more writing buddies in all this madness!

The delight of resurrected nerdiness

I love... I mean absolutely LOVE... being back in Davis, CA. There are MANY things I love about this town, but the one thing I love the most... our crazy, awesome friends.

Let me explain. In 2007, my husband got accepted to UC Davis to complete his undergraduate degree. He was a non-traditional student (older and married), so he didn't have the same undergrad experience that a lot of you have probably had. No dorm living, no late night binges, no all-nighters to cram for that mid-term... We lived quietly. I worked in one of the deans' offices. We made friends, but slowly.

One particular group of friends for me grew out of my place of work. The "cool kids," or the nerd-tastic kids however you want to label us, all sort of gravitated toward each other, and one day, on a whim, we started a book club. We kept up this club for over a year (!), added members, and even had a little blog for a while. We called ourselves the Finer Things Club, or FTC, after a similar group on The Office. We read all genres and then discussed what we loved or hated about the books over lunch and Futerama in the CRU basement office. (That's Computer Resources Unit, if you're wondering.)

In early 2010, N got a job offer in Connecticut, and we moved away. The FTC kept up their reading for a little while after I left... I'm not sure how long, but I AM sure they gave it a valiant effort. Eventually, though, people moved on to other things.

Connecticut was ... cold. It was dark... N worked long hours at a HIGHLY stressful job... and I became a (almost literal) hermit. We had very few friends there, but the ones we did make we valued greatly. Still, when the time came to decide what to do next, the obvious choice for us was to head West again. It was a no-brainer decision for me, moving back here... Davis is where our friends are... it's in CALIFORNIA (where, among other awesome things, there are no painfully snowy and cold winters, at least not in the Sacramento Valley)... and it's a great place for our next steps toward what we want.

Anyhow, here it is, October 2013, and we've been back in Davis for a month. And seriously y'all, the BEST THING EVER... the thing that is making me smile the most right now... is the way our friends here have opened their arms and welcomed us back. Leslie especially, and Lauren, and Debbie... and all my horse barn friends... I even had lunch with my dean's office friends the other week and the FTC was mentioned more than a few times.

But better than that, better than people just remembering me as the queen bee of our nerdy little book club... we're going to start it again! Our first book for the resurrected FTC is World War Z, by Max Brooks. Nothing could be more appropriate.

If any of you FTCers are reading this, I'm sending you a cyber hug and am looking forward to getting together to discuss the zombie apocalypse and the end of the world. FTC FTW!