I’ve been a part of the Insecure Writers Support Group off and on for years. I’ve taken breaks, I got dropped from the rolls, found my way back on. Well, this is where we say goodbye.
Last fall I experienced a dramatic turn in my writing career. I submitted a story to an IWSG contest, and that was literally the last thing I ever did on that computer. I made my peace with losing things, and then moved on.
It’s just, I guess I wasn’t quite done with that process.
I honestly don’t really get how the IWSG is supposed to work. I get that it’s a blogging community like any other I’ve encountered. You theoretically get what you give. And I stopped visiting a lot of blogs a number of years ago. I get that it blogs once a month every month, and the point is to give encouragement to other members.
I guess I kind of reached the point where it no longer made sense. I am not the kind of reader who will read books because it will make an author feel better. I read books I think will give me a transcendent experience. I read a lot of books, and I don’t always prove my choices right.
I did find out that books blogging friends write are not necessarily what I want to read. They have different goals. So I stopped pursuing that a number of years ago.
And as far as I can tell, that’s the opposite of what communities like this one are about. I can’t tell for certain, but a lot of the IWSG is people who will read and/or support anything so long as they know the author. I can’t do that. The material always comes first for me. Well, unless I have already read the author and loved, or at least enjoyed, the results.
I may be missing out big time. There may be writers in the IWSG that would absolutely be up my alley. If there are I honestly have no idea. And that’s part of the problem. When everyone gets a glowing endorsement for everything it’s hard to know where the quality really is.
So I don’t see a point to continue on with the group. I’m not really the kind of writer who needs general encouragement. If someone has something specific and useful to say about my writing, that’s something. But I have had no one in the group appear at all interested in my actual writing.
That’s kind of what I want if I am going to have connections in a writing community, or someone who is willing to work with me, help me specifically find specific resources that would help me. Not have resources available. Someone who took an active interest. In me.
That’s what really makes me insecure as a writer, the crushing loneliness, the isolation I have always experienced, and that the IWSG never really changed.
The impetus for this decision is absolutely petty. I admit that. I lost a contest. Ten writers at least were deemed to be demonstrably better than me. In hindsight I don’t even know why a group about insecurity is actively giving its membership more reasons to be insecure. That’s bush league. Someone somewhere has time to at least give feedback, to at least acknowledge members that contributed, to give them encouragement. Not make them wait months until the file and the cover were already finalized.
So I will continue my writing journey. Rejection is a part of the job. But it doesn’t need to come from the people who are supposed to be there to give you encouragement.
Goodbye, IWSG.
Hate to see you go, although you never signed up on the list, which is probably why you didn't get a lot of visitors.
ReplyDeleteThose who are active in the blogging group and the other groups - we have several others - usually benefit the most. And it's not just the monthly posting, but the database on the site and the ability to ask questions or for help on the various platforms. I needed a couple critique partners for my latest and when I made the announcement, I had a ton of offers.
You're not alone. And if you want feedback on your piece, I can check with all judges.
Ah, now I get what you meant the other day. I never really signed up with them, but I did do the A - Z challenge one time, but I never signed on. It seems possible to me that you simply outgrew them.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a good way to put it.
DeleteIt's possible you outgrew the group. But like anything, to get the most out of any group, you need to participate, and sometimes participating takes more time and effort than you are willing to put in. Personally, I struggle to find enough time to write, let alone participate in groups!
ReplyDeleteEventually the A to Z adopted some actual formatting. I think in order to be productive the IWSG would need to do something similar. Ironically even the format of meetings might work against it. If everyone is answering a question (with a large block of seemingly mandatory and unchanging text at the start of every post), it only means the group is focusing on insecurity rather than working past it. I don’t think sympathy is the best answer to such a problem. It dances around whether or not members actually have reasons to be insecure, whether their problem is not knowing how to navigate the publishing world or the simple fact of their writing not actually being very good. If you offer blanket support for writers who never improve their writing, I see no net benefit, especially when everyone is publishing stuff one way or another anyway. You end up with a lot of bad writers who are supporting each other regardless of quality, and most of them saying how great everyone is just so they can get book sales from at least those people, and anyone who gets suckered into that.
DeleteIt’s not just about putting in the time. It’s about accountability and integrity. These are people who don’t want to hurt feelings. These are people participating in a system packed with competitors who experience rejection on a regular basis, and the simple fact is that this happens because most writers are not very good, and sometimes winners are selected because they’re good and sometimes because they stand out for reasons other than their talent. That goes for anything, including how to land any job. You only have to look at your workplace and see that many employees landed their job without really having the skills to perform it. How does that happen? By people taking shortcuts, by deciding they can settle for less than they actually want, or need, or because they liked the person regardless of their potential.
Obviously it’s asking way too much of one entity like the IWSG to be better than the average. I’m walking away because ultimately I find the execution of the concept as counterproductive to its apparent goals. I see no net benefit to continue participating. If it becomes better in the future, then I applaud those who will benefit. I won’t be coming back. This is how some people approach religion, which I personally find ridiculous. But for something like this, it’s an entirely reasonable response.