The Insecure Writer’s Support Group ~ No#120
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!
Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time.
The awesome co-hosts for the March posting of the IWSG are:
Don’t forget to visit them and thank them for co-hosting!
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.
The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn, Pat Garcia, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG 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.
Remember, the question is optional!
March 02nd Question: Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?
Why would a writer feel conflicted about adding a scene to a story? There are many reasons.
One of the reasons is linked to “artistic wiring” and visualization. Perhaps the scene is particularly challenging. Maybe you’re not sure how to paint a vivid picture in words, in order to draw the reader into your scene.
The flexibility of the mind’s eye is amazing. It can take many forms, and differs from writer to writer.
You may be one of those creatives who find it a challenge to fully visualize your scenes. Then we get artists who have that special brand of creativity: they can see mentally in three dimensions and full color and even rotate objects; for example, sculptors who are writers.
But we are all wired differently.
Each writer just has to find that unique pathway in your mind; one that belongs to you.
Here’s an exercise to enhance visualization in your scene:
Copy a chapter of one of your drafts into a new document.
Erase all the dialogue.
Read the remaining prose.
That’s what you’re ‘seeing.’
Concentrate on just that and ask yourself:
What image have I drawn with those words?
How are my characters moving through the scene?
Does that imagery paint a clear picture of what I wish to convey?
Hopefully you will move forward with more confidence, to tackle that challenging scene.
The IWSG has been named, again, as the best writing contest by Reedsy for 2022. The contest they are referring to is our yearly anthology contest. 
A reminder that Write Edit Publish is a wonderful online community where writers can confidently share their work without fear of harsh words or biting feedback. 
Challenges are FREE and open to all. A quick recap of the house rules – they welcome any genre except erotica, and the maximum word count is 1000.
Present your interpretation of the prompt in flash fiction, poetry, or creative non-fiction.
HAPPY IWSG DAY!
I’m really busy preparing for March Control Tests so I’ll be visiting blogs over the next few days and on the weekend.
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What a great exercise! I’ve never thought of doing that.
I’m not a naturally visual person and my descriptions are often limited – this should be interesting to try!
It provides a different perspective to your scene.
Interesting exercise. Some of my stuff has a lot of dialogue so it might look a bit bare without it.
Many writers focus on dialogue and use it to move the scene forward.
I second Alex – I too, write with a lot of dialogue. Sometimes it reads more like a script. The story is moved along by the characters’ words and not necessarily just descriptions
Yes, many writers are good at using dialogue to move the story ahead.
That’s a great exercise! I’m currently focusing on setting in my revisions, so I may give this a try.
It’s a great exercise and you have nothing to lose by giving it a try.
I want to experiment with your writing exercise. I, too, tend to write a lot of dialogue. The first drafts of a lot of my scenes are mostly dialogue. The second draft is when I go back through and add in things like how I envision the characters moving through the scene.
Yes, this exercise would probably be suitable when you are working on your second draft.
What image have I drawn? I like that!
It’s all about tapping into the “mind’s eye.”
Thanks for sharing the visualization exercise. That will be a help for many newer writers.
It’s a valuable exercise.
Hope you’re well, Carol.
I definitely have a hard time visualizing my scenes and writing descriptions. Thanks for the suggestion on eliminating all the dialog and see what’s left.
Visualization and descriptive writing can be a challenge – we are all ‘wired’ differently, so it doesn’t come naturally to every writer.
Love the exercises. Thanks so much.
Anna from elements of emaginette
You’re welcome, Anna!
I have to be careful of writing too much description–something I love to read, but which bores most readers today.
Descriptive writing has its place.
I suppose the ideal situation would be to weave it into the scene, instead of creating blocks or chunks of descriptive passages.
What a fascinating exercise. I want to try it and see what happens.
Thanks for the useful exercise!
Thank you for popping in, Yvonne!
It’s a wonderful exercise! Hope you enjoy it.
What an interesting exercise. I might give that a go. I’m in the very early stages of a first draft so my dialogue scenes are basically ‘X and Y talk about Z’ or ‘add conversation here’ at the moment 🤨
Good luck with the first draft, Annalisa!
Hi Michelle – good luck with the work load … and thanks for this useful exercise … it certainly hones down a scene – highlighting the important points which are needed for context … cheers Hilary
Thanks, Hilary!
That’s excellent advice. I had never thought of trying that. Cool.
Maybe you can give it a try. See what happens…
Oh, wow! I’d never thought to remove dialogue to edit a chapter like that. Interesting. Thank you for sharing your idea! What other cool ways have you used?
You’re welcome, Elizabeth!
Oh those are excellent tips for getting that scene right. Thank you!
Thanks for visiting, Holly!