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INSECURITY |
This WIP stinks.
I’ll never be a perfect writer.
Everybody writes better than I do.
Why did I ever think I could write a good story?
Nobody likes what I write.
Nobody will ever read this, but me.
Please pass the repellent. It’s really called Buzz Off!
Everybody’s WIP stinks at some point.
Not everybody will like what you write, but a lot of people will.
The answer to the question of the month is I can’t answer it. If our democracy fails and a totalitarian regime takes over and monitors our searches, I’ll be arrested based on my research history. They’d pegged me as an arsonist, a gun runner, a juvenile delinquent dodging the police, a failed suicide and a potential rapist. Then there are the drugs and the illegal smuggling operations and the armed robberies that I’m probably planning. I should start writing picture books. They won’t arrest writers for looking up bunnies, will they?
So there you have it. Another first Wednesday and another #IWSG post to kick off a new month. Enjoy May. Buy Hero Lost and if I’m arrested for suspicious online searches and need character references, I hope I can count on you.
I really need some of that repellent. Please send it over my way when you can. π
Let's hope our democracy won't fail! And not just because I would not want you to get arrested! π What a fascinating research life you have…
True! Everyone has issues at some point in their lives.
They won't arrest writers for looking up bunnies, will they? LOL. Certainly not. Unless the cute bunny is a decoy for something more sinister.
I'll leave it to the imagination…
maybe you should get a VPN? My tech guy at work suggested I use one especially when traveling. It is weird getting ads in different languages
Hi Lee – I guess they'd think I was boring – nothing slutty, or rough, or cruel or murderous … but c'est la vie … can they see curiosity via the browser! Cheers Hilary
Research can definitely get us into trouble if people start getting prosecuted based on what they have looked up. Interesting to think how wrong someone could be who is analyzing our searches! π
~Jess
Me too on the research! I explained to my daughter recently that if she finds things on my computer when I'm dead and gone, I didn't mean it. π
I agree about the potential problems with writing research! I was looking up some interesting things for my train-murder story recently.
lol, in this context, I'm kinda I glad I write scifi and fantasy–they're as safe as bunnies, aren't they? Oh wait… maybe bunnies with fangs.
Your research list looks like mine. Of course, so does that insecurities list . . . We must be writers.
Thanks for the laugh!!! Yeah, Get well soon!
I think bunnies are safe. Maybe use a private browser for the rest? π
I got a chuckle out of this, C. Lee! Glad to hear that you're feeling better too. Take care!
Oh, boy! I needed a dose of laughter. Great post!
Lol … if the bunnies are like the white rabbits in the Holy Grail, there might be a problem. π
Love the buzz off comments!
Just holler and I'll bail you out. π
Yeah, I usually research with a guilty peek over my shoulder to see who's watching! Something cool and innocuous I researched was what would Greenland look like without its ice covering, but even that could get me into trouble with the current US administration π
They'll arrest you for dissent first, I think. We can share a cell.
Haahahaaaa….good post, Lee. Thank you for the buzz off comments, so true!!!
LOL I think a lot of us have some questionable searches. My stories are never about happy fluffy bunnies, either.
Heh, heh, Clem. We live in dangerous times indeed. Undercover research is the word. Thanks for a positive spin on the writing game. π
I like how you answered all those negative thoughts. At first I thought you loved investigating about the mosquito…hahahaaaa. We will be sharing jail cells…along with Stephen Colbert:) whatever happened to Freedom of Speech? Bunnies, even though they don't believe in planned parenthood and they must all be catholic since they have tons of kids, they can never get ahead and always need help from the government which many feel is communist thinking so the bunnies are dangerous red commie traitors
Congrats to Hero's Lost authors.
' Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
The things we have to research can definitely get us on some lists. Heh.
Congrats to the authors of Hero Lost!
At least you will have lots of friends in jail. And, as a writer, have more excuse for your searches than those of us who are just bitten by the curiosity bug.
They may already be monitoring internet searches. It's best to be on the safe side and browse anonymously. Good luck with staying out of jail. π
I keep forgetting to do that, and it's so easy!
Well thought out advice to all writers, Lee. Thanks for the reminder. I'd be a little worried if someone tracked all that I research, too. All the best to you. Thanks for sharing this with your followers.
Thanks for the visit! Glad you enjoyed your time here.
I think we'd all be arrested if our search histories were out in the open! Love your message at the beginning, especially "there are no perfect writers" – so true, and important to remember!
Wouldn't it be awful if there were a Perfect Writer Award?
Thanks for the motivation at the beginning. I might need that stapled to my forehead.
Hard to see that way, but perhaps it will work.
I love the way you expressed this. It made me laugh and encouraged me.
Excellent post.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G
Laughter is the best!
Oh those insecurities can really knock us off course, but you are right, they only win if we stop writing.
I've been tempted many times.
Yeah, I think the weirdest stuff I've researched I would want to publish either. π
Sometimes I research because I can't write an interesting word.
I once searched how to make napalm and then worried who'd be knocking on my door. LOL.
Never trust perfection. It's a lie.
Yep. That could be a perfect trigger for that midnight visit!
Can totally relate to that negative thought. Maybe we should all worry about the FBI.
I'm afraid that may be in our future.
So true we can't please everyone. I think maybe the FBI might have a special tag for writers. Hopefully!
Guess we'll find out!
LOL! I'm with you. I actually have to close some of my research windows when the kids come into the room because I don't want to destroy their innocence. "Mom is researching what?!?"
Oh yes. Kids! That would be another whole issue.
Were you listening in on my whiny @ss self-talk this morning? The things we say to ourselves . . . LaLaLa, I can't hear me!
I was listening in. Thanks for the wonderful post idea!
Very likely I'll be in jail too. Oh well, more time to write. π
Anna from elements of emaginette
We could call it a writers retreat!
Very true, can't please all.
If you go from arson and raper to bunnies, that may make things worse lol
When you put it that way, yes. I'm skipping the bunnies.
I can so relate to this post! I don't know how, after all these years, I can still feel so insecure about my writing.
If "they" don't arrest me I'll be sure to come visit you in jail.
Thank you, Bish. I knew I count on you. Bring cake. π
Not everyone will like it and that's okay.
I'm so proud of the authors in Hero Lost. They wrote some amazing stories and have worked hard to promote the book.
It's at the top of my list to read.
So this post is perfect for me, today! I've been struggling writing book 2 of my MG series. I've totally lost faith in myself. And I have valid excuses, too – parents' health is failing, have college/high school/junior high kids keeping my life spinning silly, finishing final edits with YA editor for my YA release in the fall…. I could go on, but it wouldn't matter. I still think I suck. I need that bug spray.
Thanks for writing this. π
Yes you do need that spray. But no you do not suck. Any time you have a failing parent you have a lot to deal with and all of it is terrible on your self-worth as a writer.
LOL at Alex's comment. π π
I would be arrested right along with you. It's funny the crazy thing we end up researching!
All authors leave a trail of odd and suspicious searches.
They might if you start researching that bunny from Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
Oh, yes. Terrible bunny.