IWSG & Favourite Genres

The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.

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!

And we’re revving up IWSG Day to make it more fun and interactive! Every month, we'll announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

February 7 question - What do you love about the genre you write in most often?

Great question!

I mostly write contemporary romance (although I think I'll always dabble in quite a few genres & categories!).

Some people have a tendency to look down upon the romance genre, but I'd guess many of those people haven't read many current romances!

For me, romance tends to be about hope.

The characters need to overcome an internal obstacle along with an external obstacle as they figure out how to trust both themselves and someone else. The story lines are complex and I enjoy building in suspense and humour. I also love knowing that there will be a happy ending with my story. The world has enough sad, I need my fiction to be about the happy!

How about you? What's your favourite genre to write in? What's the best part of that genre for you?

(As some of you might know, my MacBook appears to have died, my phone refuses to reply to emails, and basically technology hates me. While I am in technological limbo it may take me a while to return your comments. I will do my best to get back to you soon!  In the meantime, I hope your technology is good to you!)

Spring?

This is my back yard...

 

This is my front yard...

 

 

Come on Spring!!!
How's your Spring so far?

The Loop

I'll be out of it. The loop that is. :)

We're heading out of town for the next few days. No Internet. No computer. No writing at all! Yikes!! On the positive side, we're going to be having a whole lot of fun! I think this is our only out of town trip for the summer, so we plan on concentrating completely on relaxing and enjoying.

I won't be around to respond to comments or to visit your blogs until late in the weekend or early next week. Sorry!

Hope you all have a fun few days! Anyone else have anything fun planned?

Find the Fun!

Oddly, The Wizard of Oz has been cropping up a lot in my life lately. It is one of my all-time favourite movies (as you'll see in the upcoming Dirty Dozen Blog Hop hosted by Alex J Cavanaugh), but it's been popping up all over my life.

I figured fate was telling me something, so I gave in and shared the movie with the students in my class. We'd had a tough week of government testing so I decided they deserved a treat. Almost half the class hadn't seen it before. The movie worked its magic - the kids were enthralled.

This is a movie made in 1939. Not one kid was bored, everyone enjoyed it. When I asked what they like about it, they kind of shrugged, not sure. When one student said, "It was fun," the rest all nodded in agreement.

It was fun.

Fun is important. As adults, it can be easy to forget that. We have all the pressures of the real world surrounding us.

So many bloggers lately seem to be overwhelmed, sad, frustrated, disappointed, worried, apologetic and stressed. I worry about my bloggy friends & I hope everyone can remember that we all do this writing thing because we love it. Because it's fun. Don't lose the fun admist all those pressures. If you're not enjoying it, it's going to show. And, honestly, if you're not enjoying it, why do that to yourself? Find the fun again!

Take a breather, slow down, relax, read, enjoy your family & friends. Find the fun! And if you need some help finding it, take a bit of time and follow that yellow brick road. Really listen to the words - the writing is terrific! Catch those inside jokes and the nuances.

Or just enjoy the Cowardly Lion - he's always going to make you feel better!

On another fun note... On June 10th, I'm lucky enough to be hosting L. Diane Wolfe. She's going to be blogging about writing a series. Make sure you drop by - she's got tons of great advice! :)