IWSG Wednesday: Doubts, Emotional Writing, and Has Your Writing Ever Taken You By Surprise?

All writers are insecure at various times throughout their writing journey and I'm definitely no different. So I've joined in on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. The 1st Wednesday of each month I'll post about the insecurities I've been struggling with and/or conquered, and answer that month's IWSG question.

In July, I participated in the Camp NaNoWriMo Challenge and I FINISHED the 3rd book of The Gate Keeper Chronicles!! Woot!

However, it wasn't easy. Writing the end of a book is always bitter sweet. It's the point when I worry that I've written an entire book of utter rubbish, that I may not be able to tie things up in a satisfactory way, and that I didn't tie into the overarching series plot enough. So much unnecessary stress!

I also feel like I'm a SLOW writer, so the NaNoWriMo events are my way to propel myself over the finish line. Which they do, but now, in the first days after the challenge has been successfully conquered, I'm beating myself up for not being just as productive EVERY month. Unfortunately, just as I'm an emotional eater, I'm also an emotional writer. If I'm stressed, depressed, tired, sick, or any other number of negative emotion that we humans can dip into for no reason at all, I will eat and not write. *sigh*



To combat this horrible tendency of mine, I work out daily, join blogs hops like this one, and I participate in NaNoWriMo events and/or writing sprints with other writers.

In short, I'm human.


The August IWSG Question: Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive and belated response to a submission you'd forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming?

Many times! But the one that always stands out most is how The Gate Keeper Chronicles has turned out. It's a fantasy romance series with a hot steam level, but when I started it, it was intended to be a Middle Grade Fantasy adventure about a Mer prince and pirates. I even wrote a whole first draft TO THE END! But then my critique group said the story was just okay and suggested the Mer prince's aunt was a much more interesting character. They said I should write the story from her perspective instead. As some of you may know, that Mer prince is Reis and his aunt is the heroine of Diomere's Exile, Nadia.

Making the change from straight fantasy to fantasy romance was another huge issue, but that's a story for another day.

I hope you're as excited for Diomere's Mercenary as I am to have it finished! If you haven't read books 1 and 2 of The Gate Keeper Chronicles, and you're into steamy fantasy romance, definitely visit my website HERE and check them out!

Do you have negative personality traits that you actively combat like I do? Tell me about them. If you're here from the IWSG blog hop, leave a comment so I can visit you back. I'd love to hear about the ways your writing has taken you by surprise.



Sabrina A. Fish is an Award-Winning Fantasy & Romance Author from Oklahoma where she lives with her husband, son, and two cats. She's currently trying to talk her husband into building her a backyard writing she shed and hopes that mentioning it here will express how serious that wish is! LOL. You can learn more about her and her books by visiting her website: www.SabrinaAFish.com

Spread the Positive Vibes! Do you make it your life mission to be a cheerleader to others? Want to spread some positive energy? Check out some of the other writers participating in this hop and leave them an encouraging comment. It may not seem like much, but I promise, it means SO much to us artist types!