Just a couple hours ago, I read a friend's blog post that was for "The Insecure Writer's Support Group." It's a blo...

Insecure Writer's Support Group


Just a couple hours ago, I read a friend's blog post that was for "The Insecure Writer's Support Group." It's a blog link-up (or blog hop) for writers to share their insecurities about writing. As soon as I saw it, I thought, oh my gosh I need to be apart of this! So today I am doing my first post.

The first Wednesday of every month, everyone on the link-up tries to post about their insecurities. There's a new question each time to get you started. Today's question is:
Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing? For example, by trying a new genre you didn't think you'd be comfortable in??
Well I have to say, yes I have definitely surprised myself. And every time I have, it was by doing exactly what the second question implies, by trying something out of my comfort zone.

The first surprise that comes to mind is poetry. From my teen years through college, I used to write poetry regularly. It was part of my eating disorder recovery, so much of what I wrote was about that. Most of it stayed tucked away in a journal, but occasionally I wrote a poem for a class and shared it. I surprised myself the most with one I wrote for a creative writing class I took for fun in college. It was definitely the best I'd ever written. In that class, we would put our writing up on the projector and let every one take turns helping criticize it. It was a tough class that definitely took me way out of my writing comfort zone. I'd never had a group of people pick apart my writing before, but I learned a ton. Poetry was the last assignment of the class, and mine turned out well enough that no one in the class, not even the teacher, had any changes to make. I was amazed and proud of myself. The saddest thing about it though, is that I lost the damn poem! I've searched through all my files many times over the years and never been able to find it. I just don't get how I didn't save a copy of that! Maybe because I never found it, and never thought I could recreate it or top it, or just my general insecurities, but I quit writing poetry regularly. I help Brian with song lyrics on occasion, but that's as close as I get. Guess I'll have to move past this insecurity and give poetry a fair chance again.

The other surprise is this blog. I never thought I'd share my writing with anyone regularly, so the fact that I've continued to do so for over 5 years has surprised me. I think one of my favorite surprises was a post I wrote a couple years ago called Enough. That was when I first started to allow myself to be vulnerable here on my blog. It spawned quite a few more posts since then where I reveal many more of my issues, flaws, and general insecurities with life. If it wasn't for that post and the giant step behind it of breaking out of my comfort zone, I probably would have quit blogging completely.

I'm currently reading a book called "Rising Strong". It's about owning your vulnerabilities and picking yourself up after a fall. I'm not even halfway in and already I'm hooked. It's exactly what I needed to hear, when I needed to hear it. And the fact that I came across a writing group about insecurity while reading this book was just too perfect. I'll write more about the book once I finish it, but for now I'll leave you with my favorite quote so far:
"When we own our stories, we avoid being trapped as characters in stories someone else is telling." - Brené Brown in Rising Strong

So dear reader, don't be afraid to pick up your pen or keyboard, and surprise yourself.

10 comments:

  1. Hi, Melanie! Welcome to the IWSG! I stumbled across it about three years ago, through a friend's blog. I worked up the courage to join it about six months after finding it. I'm so glad because I have met wonderful and encouraging people among it's members. I'm so sad that you lost that special poem! I've lost pieces of early writing, and it will probably always bother me. The best cure is to go on writing! I stumbled into blogging, and I've been quite open and vulnerable about myself with things I have written on it ~ that was surprising to me too! "Rising Strong" sounds like a good read. I'll have to check it out. Happy writing in September!

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    1. Thank you! You're right of course, just need to go on writing! Definitely check out Rising Strong. Happy writing to you too and thanks for reading!

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  2. Hello, Melanie. I've been a member here for about three years or so. It's a great community that's grown over the years. Glad to have you on board.

    I tried writing a little poetry back in high school, but it wasn't very good. All I cared about was making sure the words rhymed. The content was secondary.

    Always keep writing!

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    1. Thank you! I'm excited to be a part of the group.
      Haha! It took me a long time to not have to rhyme!

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  3. Welcome to the IWSG! Glad to have you here.
    Isn't it cool when you surprise yourself. So sorry that you lost your poem. I used to try poetry but learned it's not my strong suit.
    Sometimes is feels good to open up to others, but it's still something I struggle with.

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    1. Thanks, I'm happy to be here! It is very hard to open up, but always worth it in the end! Thanks for reading!

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  4. Bravo to you, Mel, for taking a writing class at college. You need to be very brave to receive critique from a class and professor. I've had quite a few writing courses at college and sweated through each one of them.

    This is my first time here, Mel. I love your blog! I'll follow it and connect with you online.

    Thanks for sharing your ups and downs with writing with your followers. Enjoy your week!
    Victoria Marie Lees, http://victoriamarielees.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks for reading Victoria! I hope I have time to take more writing classes in the near future!

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  5. Wow...this post is truly inspiring to me. For me personally, I've noticed that the more vulnerable I present myself to my readers, the more they respond to it. :)

    Carrie Ann G

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    1. I agree completely Carrie, vulnerability is key to connecting with people. Thanks for reading!

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