IWSG: Wednesday, December 1, 2021 ~ Stresses and Delights in Writing

 

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.






To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are P.J. Colando, Diane Burton, Natalie Aguirre, Jacqui Murray, and me, Louise - Fundy Blue! 

I hope you have a chance to visit today's hosts and thank them for co-hosting.

I'm sure they would appreciate a visit and an encouraging comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.
This month's featured question is: 

In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you? 

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Happy December, Everyone!

It will definitely be a happy month for me!

I'm flying to Calgary on Sunday to see some of my family.

I haven't seen anyone in my family since the pandemic began.

We are very close, and it has been really hard for me to be so far away.

We Five

Barbie, Bertie, Roy, Me (Louise), and Donnie

Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 7, 2019

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Stresses and delights in writing?

Right now it's very black and white for me.

If I write, I'm delighted, and if I don't, I'm stressed.

November has been a frustrating month for me.

Graves Disease is impacting my eyesight, and my double vision is worsening,

making it difficult to drive and sometimes difficult to read and to write.

This has led to my battling depression.

My glasses that I bought to correct my double vision in late August 

are almost useless, because my vision has changed so much. 

I look like a turtle with an outstretched neck when driving, 

with my head lifted up and my glasses perched on the tip of my nose to see in focus.

And then there's the big pair of wraparound sunglasses on top of my prescription glasses,

because the sunlight hurts my eyes.

Nevertheless, I tackled NaNo and managed 39,605 words.

I'm disappointed I didn't get to 50,000 words,

but I've promised myself I'll reach that 50,000 words 

after I return from Calgary and before Christmas.

I'm sorry I neglected my blog this month. 

I didn't have the energy to both blog and participate in NaNo

I know I'll get on top of things.  This is transitory.

My endocrinologist and my ophthalmologist will work their magic,

and I'll be back to a more normal me.

I'm looking forward to a lot more writing delight!

And I have a new working title for my memoir:  Northern Exposure.

This has been resonating with me lately,

because my memoir is about more than Lansdowne House.

My book needs Fritz and John and Two Point on Lac Seul.

Meanwhile, as an IWSG co-host, I am looking forward to making the rounds.

I plan to visit lots of members today!

Northern Exposure 1

Mom, Gretchen (our dog), Donnie, Roy, and Barbie (back)

Baby Bertie, and Me (front)

Lansdowne House, Ontario, Canada

Late Spring 1960

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Northern Exposure 2

Mom, Gretchen (our dog), Donnie, Roy, and Barbie (back)

Baby Bertie, and Me (front)

Lansdowne House, Ontario, Canada

Late Spring 1960

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Northern Exposure 3

Bertie (left), Fritz, Barbie, and John (front)

Lac Seul, Ontario, Canada

Summer 1960

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

I hope each of you has fun visiting around today.

Have a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate,

and happy writing to each of you in December!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com 

 

IWSG: Wednesday, November 3, 2021 ~ This or That?

  

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.






To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are Kim Lajevardi, Victoria Marie Lees, Joylene Nowell Butler, Erika Beebe,  and Lee Lowrey.

I hope you have a chance to visit today's hosts and thank them for co-hosting.

I'm sure they would appreciate a visit and an encouraging comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.
This month's featured question is: 

What's harder to do, coming up with your book title or writing the blurb?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Happy November, Everyone!

Can you believe we're into the tail end of the year?

American Thanksgiving and Christmas are racing at Terry and me.

Throw in a trip to Vegas, a trip to Calgary, and NaNoWriMo,

and I'm dancing on the tips of my skates trying not to fall.

Goggle

This or that?  Title or Blurb?

I find both coming up with a title and writing a blurb daunting!

I've written a lot of things, but they are typically short.

Titles are much easier to create, and one will often come to me as I write, 

usually a significant phrase or words in the piece.

I've rarely written a blurb.

I do have my first book underway, my memoir.

I don't have a title for it.

For a long time its working title was Human Refuse, but that was too dark.

Now I'm using A Place Called Lansdowne House as a placeholder in NaNoWriMo.

I don't have a clue what the actual title will be.

Lost in the Bush

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

As for a blurb, my memoir is gushing like a broken water main,

overflowing with voices, themes, trauma, history, and everyday life.

I can't stem the flow, let alone reduce it to a blurb.

Right now I'm rewriting everything in a massive chronological narrative,

hoping my path through it all will emerge.

If any of you have participated in NaNo while rewriting,

how did you count your daily words?

I worked over four hours yesterday

and ended up with fewer words than when I started.

I decided to give myself 400 words for each hour I worked

for a total of 1624 words.

My purpose in doing NaNoWriMo is to get back into writing daily,

after a year of upsets, the latest my just being diagnosed with Graves Disease.

Should I move forward with my plan, or should I be kicked out of NaNo?

Good luck to any of you participating in NaNo this year!

Here's a little humor to help you along.

I hope each of you has fun visiting around today.

Happy writing to each of you in November!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com