From the Writing Cave: Rediscovering My Confidence, Again | Author, E. S. Elias

 

Hello, readers! This post is an update on what I have going on and some goals I have for October. If you are interested in knowing any of this, keep reading!

September is gone, and I don't think I shared this in my last post, but I entered a writing contest. It is a pirate-themed contest, I wrote 3 entries and submitted them with ample remaining time. And the best news I get to share today is that I progressed through the first checkpoint in the Shiver Me Timbers! contest, on Wattpad.

My collection of shorts are interconnected with a mash-up of genres. It is posted to Wattpad and is titled AZURE, An Adventure Anthology.

October is the second portion of the contest at this moment I do not have my next entry started yet, but I do know where I am going. I want to get it moving as soon as I can.

I recently read Dean Wesley Smith's "Writing Into The Dark: How To Write a Novel Without an Outline". Oh my goodness! First of all, it was a gift from a fellow author, on TikTok. This was a book on my wishlist and it was a Book-Fairy surprise. I read it within the same day I got it. My mind is blown. As someone who has been a pantser through most of my writing years. I have outlined/plotted some of my books, too, but most of the time I am discovery-writing. I throw my plans out the window when that happens. But this book has helped me see that as a very GOOD thing. (If you click on the cover, you will be taken to the Amazon page for this book. It is an affiliate link.)

The main topic I catch in this book is "The Critical Voice" and how it is a protection mechanism for approaching danger in real life. There is no danger in writing so a Critical Voice is not needed in writing. This is what I've been struggling with so my takeaway from reading this book is to pull out my sword and raise my shield, I have to battle this Critical Voice! My "Creative Voice" has been suppressed for a while and I know I've been letting my Critical Voice conquer.

(I am using an old personal version of the Xiphis cover[s] because I love how they look and it makes me happy.)

With this in mind, we segue to the announcement of removing my Xiphis books from Wattpad. My Wattpad followers already know that I've done this, but now the announcement has made the rounds.

I have made this decision not because I am disappointed in the book or the characters. I did this for me. The Xiphis story is still so important to me. I loved planning and working on the characters. My excitement to share the book with the world is what died when I saw that no one wanted to read my book, apart from me. So I came to this conclusion: I still want to work on this book, but I don't want that added pressure of looking at my stats and being disappointed that no one is interested in my book. We have not seen the last of Regina Bortælus. Her story is still waiting to be told, I am just telling it to myself behind closed doors.

Finally, I will say that I am writing every day again. It is definitely a result of reading Writing Into The Dark. I am not going to share which project I am writing about, but there will be an update as I make more progress.

Thank you so much for dropping in. I hope you are well. Stay safe, and stay awesome. See you in the funny papers!