Today is April 7, and it's time for another Insecure Writer's Support Group post. It's also "national running day," and I've enrolled in this Healthy Utah program at work. I'm not running. Sadly, my body is incapable of that at the moment. But we have a work thing scheduled for two hours today that will be fun (it's two hours I don't have to be at work). We just need to walk around the park, so I'm looking forward to that.
Now back to the purpose of the Insecure Writer's Support Group: 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!
Every month, the IWSG announces 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.Here's a link to the IWSG if you would like to learn more and sign up.
April 7 question - Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?
The awesome co-hosts for the April 7 posting of the IWSG are PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton!
In my own writing, I've always been a risk taker. I approach controversial subjects like homosexuality or religion with gleeful abandon. I wouldn't recommend following my footsteps as there is a narrow audience that accepts this kind of thing, and I have received some negative reviews due to the way I choose to write about things. But, I don't care. I'm gonna write what I want to write. I'm also not that serious of a writer. So I think that if you are serious about making writing your career, you should not write about controversial topics. For example, I think that J.K. Rowling would not have survived her writing the things she has regarding transgender people if she wasn't already too big to cancel.
Another thing that I tend to like (when I read) is head hopping. This bugs A LOT OF people, but I've read some good books where the writer head hops around so that you can get different perspectives on the same event. But head hopping is seen as a sign that you are a terrible writer. So, it's weird that I kinda like it. Anyway...it's a controversial opinion. Maybe, I only like it because the uses where I have encountered it seem to really fit the story. Which means, it's not an accident. So, I would qualify my statement about "head hopping" in that, it's another tool in the toolbox. There may be situations where a scene could be improved by skillful use of this tool.
Anyway, thank you for stopping by my blog. If any of you are doing the A to Z challenge, I hope it is going swimmingly.
Maybe it's not so much the head-hopping but multiple points of view?
ReplyDeleteWalking is good as well! So enjoy your walk around the park.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYou have every right to write whatever you want to write as long as you know that everyone is not going to like it. You will always have critics, so keep writing.
All the best.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
I appreciate your thoughts on what you have called head hopping. I can see there are probably many times when a story would benefit from having the perspectives of various characters brought to the front by coming from inside the heads of each. Keep up the good work of broadening the horizons of your readers by helping them see through different eyes.
ReplyDeleteYou can't please everyone so you might as well please yourself. Unless you're getting paid big bucks.
ReplyDeleteThere are certain things that just scream bad writing. But every single one of them, in the hands of a good writer, work just fine. I think the head-hopping thing has been in the hands of too many bad writers, so now it is linked to bad writing.
ReplyDeleteAs for homosexuality and religion, you really need to get into my Twitter feed. For some reason, I've found the LGBT community, the anti-religious, and the neuroatypical. I'm not sure why. Perhaps this says something about me... (I think they'd enjoy your books.)
Multiple POVs have had their spotlight; it's just a "fashion" thing.
ReplyDeleteThe most popular fantasy series of the past decade is full of it, so...