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Come on and join author Melissa Bradley as she sets off on her latest adventure...

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If you are not 18, please exit stage left. While there is normally nothing naughty here, I do write and review erotica so there are links to spicy stuff and the occasional heated excerpt.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Insecure Writers Support Group

It's time once again for a meeting of the Insecure Writers Support Group founded by the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh, friend to writers and movie geeks everywhere. Here we air our insecurities, fears and other garbage that is just messing with our minds and here is also where we encourage each other, give each other virtual hugs and revel in the craziness we have embarked upon as soon as we said we wanted to be writers.

Today I'm talking about staying true to yourself, writing your story the way you want no matter what is selling, what an agent or publisher thinks is the hot tamale. So many of us just starting out are told if we want to sell, then we must study the markets, see what's hot, read the bestsellers in the genre we write so we have an idea of where to place our stories, how to brand ourselves. That's all well and good, but we also need to remain true to our writer voice, the one that got us into this crazy profession in the first place.

I was told that a first person female werewolf story would never work. It was too niche and too unusual. Female readers would never identify with a monster and well, male readers just don't skew to liking female protagonists. Whatever. I wrote her story anyway. I know a lot of women out there who more than identify with Maxie and I have to say that the men out there who have read her story have no problem whatsoever "liking a female protagonist."


So I want to encourage all of you out there to keep right on with that story you've been told is unsellable or unmarketable for whatever reason. It does not matter one wit how unusual, obscure or different it is. Nor does it matter that the market is "flooded" with vampire stories. Keep going and do not give up. This is your story and it deserves to be told and I believe that it will find its audience.

Now, I encourage you all to click here and visit more of your fellow writers out there. Here's to a productive day and rest of the week for all of us.

16 comments:

  1. A wonderful post, Melissa. What you say is very, very true. It's something I always try to keep at the forefront of my mind.

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  2. Right on sister! I don't care what the trend is, my story, like my personality, won't ever fit into the "norm" of things.
    Great post!

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  3. Being original and creative is one of the most important things when you're a writer, and I think no one but you would have come up with the concept of female werewolf protagonist. So clever!

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  4. Good for you! Hey, everyone was saying science fiction was dead when I wrote my first book, but I did it anyway. Last month there was even an article stating that space opera is good for movies but doesn't sell as books. (Really? Hmm...) But it doesn't matter if we write the story we want to write.
    You keep writing your style, Melissa!

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  5. You're wonderful. Thanks for this advice, Melissa. I really appreciate it and you.
    xoRobyn

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  6. I think that's awesome, Melissa! I <3 werewolves and why shouldn't there be females???
    And BTW you have my vote for sexiest blog in the contest! :)

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  7. Thanks for those words of encouragement! I have never heard of female werewolves. But it makes sense to me.

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  8. Couldn't agree more. It's tough to tune out all that negativity sometimes, but you gotta make your own way in a creative life.

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  9. Nicely done! We do have to stay true to ourselves and continue to fight!

    Female werewolves sound great to me~

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  10. I love this post and I am so glad you stood your ground and wrote the story you wanted. You can be so proud of that! It amazes me that a woman werewolf would be displeasing. I think it's absolutely brilliant! Thanks for bringing Maxie to life despite the initial discouragement.

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  11. That's a very timely theme for me. I have a story, my hubby thinks it can be improved by basically changing genre... I'm torn and unsure what to do. I may come back and read this again.

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  12. Way to go! We need to write the story bursting from our imaginations. :)

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  13. Great advice! And very timely for me as I was told recently that no one will want to read the genre of my current novel. It hurt, but I've kept going because I have to tell my story, even if it's just for me. Thanks.

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  14. And I'd emailed my guest post earlier this week for next Wednesday. Hope you got it.

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  15. Immeasurable insight and wisdom from a wonderfully creative mind—I expect nothing less from you Melissa!

    Great advice and terrific promotion for a worthy cause.

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I love, love comments, so please leave your thoughts. I may not always be able to answer directly, but please know that what you say is very important to me.