Happy Wednesday, and welcome to another edition of IWSG!
What's IWSG, you ask? It's a group of writers who lend support, encouragement, and guidance to each other. Once a month, we share our insecurities about writing, marketing, and the publishing industry. On occasion, we also share insecurities or struggles from our daily lives. Want to take part? Click on the image at the end of my post. We'd love to have you join us! This month's question:   What would make you quit writing?

Hmm . . .  Honestly, despite the fact that I haven't written a whole heck of a lot since Covid began, I don't think I'll ever fully toss in the towel where writing is concerned. Writing grounds me. It's a way for me to sort through emotions and life's happenings - call it my personal therapy.

Saying that, this is a good opportunity to come clean about the reality of my writing. When my middle grade publisher closed back in April of 2019, saying I was bummed is putting it lightly. But, I picked myself up and forged ahead. Thankfully, my MG book and the sequel were picked up by another publisher. And then Covid hit. Most of us experienced a lot of similar emotions and issues during that time; it's all kind of self-explanatory. For me, it was also a time of self-(re)evaluation. The three major deaths my family experienced in 2019 just prior to Covid, my MG pub closing, my mom's failing health (MS & dementia), and the stresses of owning our own business began to line up like lights on a runway. I found myself asking "Why am I writing? No, really? Is there a greater purpose for my stories and for what I have to say?"
This question led me back down the spiritual road that God had set me on years ago. I've always loved my faith as a Catholic, but this whole Covid ordeal made me look deeper, made me seriously search for God, for purposes, for lessons I needed to learn to become who He wanted me to be as opposed to the 'who' I thought I should be. I'm not here to talk about faith, but to express the need to find and reinvent my purpose for keeping pen to paper and fingers to the keys instead of quitting. (I mean, I do still have another MG book coming out late this year and a short story in an anthology, and I am working on a new middle grade novel. So no, I'm not quitting. LOL) It's my focus and kind of stories I feel I should be writing that's changed.

Writers, throughout your writing journey have you discovered the need to reinvent your purpose(s) for writing?
 MORE PARTICIPANTS Thank you to all our co-hosts for this month! Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise – Fundy Blue! Click on this image to find other participating writers or to join our group!