IWSG 23 - Against The Odds

It's April. A new month. And that fact totally slipped my mind until I saw Lidy Wilk's tweet about her IWSG blog post. So this is going up super late, but it's still Wednesday so yay!


I wasn't sure what I wanted to talk about since nothing new is going on with me. Until Monday, I was still avoiding edits, but have slowly gotten back to them. I also managed to finish my novelette which is about 16,000 words. I'm proud that I managed to write a complete story in such a low word count. I am a self-proclaimed #wordcount rebel.

Then the topic hit me as I was still scrolling through Twitter and saw a post by Alyssa Cole. If you aren't part of RWA and don't follow romance writers on social media, you may not know of a rumbling storm surrounding RWA's top contest the RITA. The reason for the upset, a lack of PoC finalist. That issue steam rolled into a larger issue talking about how AoC writers struggle in the publishing industry.

As a new member of RWA, and a WoC writer, to say the news was disheartening would be an understatement. Talks out blatant discrimination faced by AoC at the national conference in past years. Every thing from non-black authors moving tables to avoid sitting with black authors, to publishers shunning their own authors if they had happened to final in the RITA. RWA even put out a statement saying they are trying to change because they are aware of issues. It's 2018 and this is still a thing?

Hearing the stories that came out made me second guess if I wanted to continue in an organization such as that, on top of thinking about the added challenges faced with trying to make it in this business. I'm an Indie author, so trying to get an agent or a publishing house was low on my radar. However, the two stories I mentioned before I had plans to try and submit them, if for nothing else but the experience. Now I'm not sure. How can I know for certainty if my possible rejection has less to do with the story and writing and more to do with the race of my characters.

All the talk of wanting 'diversity' and the #ownvoices movement, the numbers put out by The Ripped Bodice shows the talk it just that. Talk. It's an added stress and worry that shouldn't be a factor, but sadly is. Crimson romance, ironically the one with the highest percentage of PoC authors, closed it's line. Harlequin is set to close it's segregated line this year as well.

So, my insecurity this month lies not with my writing, but with the odds being stacked greatly against me before I type a single word.

This month's optional question: When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

** I take a break. I walk away from whatever project I'm bogged down on and do something different. I play a game called The Sims and I write little stories to go along with that game. It's a nice easy way to relax and write for pure fun. If not that, then I start a different project for the heck of it. The novelette I finished is one such project.I'm a pantser, so I can't force the words. I have to sit back and let the characters tell me when they are ready.

Until next time and thanks for stopping by

~Meka

Thank you to this month's co-hosts:   Olga Godim, Chemist Ken, Renee Scattergood, and Tamara Narayan!

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.