Would You? (IWSG July)

Just Life, Writing

Welcome to the monthly blog hop for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

Purpose: 
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!

Alex J Cavanaugh

This group is all about connecting. The awesome co-hosts for today’s posting are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise Fundy Blue.

This month’s question: What would make you stop writing?

Wow, this is a pretty hard one. I thought about it a lot. In the end, hubby and I decided that an alien invasion would probably be the most likely culprit, though it would only be a temporary pause. After all, there might be a new language to learn, new ways to express meaning. That sounds like a fun challenge.

Debilitating illness doesn’t count. Stephen Hawking had ALS and continued to produce wonders, didn’t he? What an inspiration. I have a book about him I read with my kids.

Depression might slow things down. It’s happened before. But sometimes, depression makes me curl into myself and write more. So that’s not really a full stop. (And never would be.)

What if I got paid to stop writing? A million dollars a day–why, thank you! *Cough* *Cough* Still, no. I’d switch up the writing, though. I’ll take that million bucks and raise awareness about social, environmental and sustainability issues that are dear to me. I can do that now, of course… but 365 million dollars would get the message further. Anyone want to fund that?

Taking the alien invasion idea further, what if there were a world-ending event? No more computers (where I write mostly). Scrabbling for a pencil and a scrap of paper. Reduced to writing in one’s own head. But in the deepest darkness of an apocalypse, people still need stories. Perhaps even more so than now.

And I’ve been practising flash fiction. Huddling in a cave awaiting the end, the composition of 50-word stories might at least be distracting.

What do you think?

sepia coloured image of the top of a lighthouse, 'The Insecure Writer's Support Group' in white and orange words in the foreground
The IWSG’s blog hop logo.
Header image by Positive_Images from Pixabay

Do check out our other blog hoppers via this Linky List. See you next month for another episode of Existential Writer Crises.

PS: If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health, please seek support from the services in your country. They are there to listen, and to help. ❤️

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18 thoughts on “Would You? (IWSG July)”

  1. “But in the deepest darkness of an apocalypse, people still need stories. Perhaps even more so than now.”

    So true. And if there’s any hope of rebuilding civilization after the apocalypse, we will need storytellers to make it happen.

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    1. Thank you, Pat! I did ask this question to my spec fic support group, and the answers came back mostly bleak… so I’m glad I went with a fun answer here to mix it up a bit. Thank you for co-hosting this month. All the best,
      Aleichem shalom, Emma 🙂

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  4. Hi Emma, first and foremost, I really admire writers who write Speculative Fiction. Its a genre I hope to write sometime in the future.

    Glad you feel the same lime me, “If I can’t write I’ll burst :)”

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  5. Hi Emma, first and foremost, I really admire writers who write Speculative Fiction. Its a genre I hope to write sometime in the future. Though I’m a huge lover of fantasy and humour.

    Glad you feel the same like me, “If I can’t write I’ll burst :)”

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  7. LOL! For a million dollars a day, I’d stop writing. But I’d also pay someone else to write the stories for me. Who knows, maybe my stories would sound even better that way. A win-win all around in my book.

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