Our Twitter handle Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. Remember, the question is optional! December 6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book review, do you review for the Reader or the Author? Is it about what you liked and enjoyed about your reading experience, or do you critique the author?
MY ANWSER:
I review for the reader. I appreciate when reviews help me decide if a book is worth my time to read and whether it will give me my reading fix. My TIME is precious and I am selective where I spend it. I don’t won’t to waste it reading something I won’t enjoy or get my reading fix.
Reviews in retail are for the reader, not the author, although the author can use what is liked and/or disliked or mention to help improve their stories. There is a place for critique, but reader reviews is not it. The review is about the reading experience (although how good the writing is affects this, but should be relayed in how it affected the reading experience, not what the author did wrong so much).
The review should tell if the book is something I will enjoy reading or not—sharing your experience allows the reader to make an informed decision/selection. Mistakes are not so important to me as GIVING me a GREAT immersive story—give me that and I can overlook A LOT and I will continue to read the author. Suck me in–Pull me in and make me CARE about your characters and I am there and happy.
I started a newsletter for writers. I included a couple of bonus when you subscribe. I have a few plans with sections on tips, resource, a form you can ask me questions, and I may answer in the bulletin. I thought writing prompts once in a while might be fun too. Any suggestions of what you’d like to see and read, I’d love to hear from you.
I’m also working on a secret project—stay tuned to stay updated or sign up for Writers Talk and get info and news in your inbox.
Subscribe to WRITERS TALK Get a story level checklist as a bonus, plus a few extras. A writing tips and resource bulletin for writers.
“Write. Just do it. Then again. Then some more. And more. Do not wait for inspiration; if you do enough of it often enough, inspiration will eventually come.” ~Nancy Kress
Take a guided deep dive into story creation.
Storyteller’s Gambit Book Coaching
Do you need help to build a framework for your story? Saggy middles giving you the blues? Are you stuck and just can’t get past it? Let me help you shape your story bones, develop your five plot points, develop your story stakes, hooks, scenes, figure out strong character motivation and drive, or workout a few key scenes to get you going. Whatever you story need big or small I can help.
Testimonials ” In working with Juneta I realized things about my story that I hadn’t recognized, issues with pacing and tension, plot points that didn’t make sense..”~Mark Ingram Vella Author of Steve Saves The World
“I kept abandoning each one and coming up with new ideas. Juneta Key held my feet to the fire, made me choose one world to work on, and helped me plot three books in that world and possibly a fourth! “ ~Megan Stewart Fantasy Author of Where Are My Pants?
“Juneta is the BOMB! We call her the velvet hammer and if you work with her for half an hour, you’ll know why.“ ~Shaunta Grimes
Create Stories That Linger In The Mind Long After The Story Is Over!
I have three Story Coaching spots open. Find out about my coaching services here. This is July Camp NaNo the perfect time to invest in your writing and turn the NaNo story dump into a solid story with good bones and high stakes. Invest in yourself and your writing today.
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
July 5 Question – 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?
My ideas come from my dreams, people around me, the world, myth, music, art, books, and sometimes even the news. My ideas come from everywhere. My stories spur ideas. I’m not able to write a story, short or long, that does not spur a series idea. It’s not the ideas I struggle with, but sometimes the execution of them. My biggest problem is time to finish and produce more consistently. I am learning to be better at this as I learn to juggle my schedule and priorities. Be warned, you could end up in a story associating with me. You may just spur an idea.
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.
They inspired ME to start my Midlife Ghostwalker series project. These short form episodes are a outline for the first book and short story in this series. It was a Medium experiment I did. Some things could change in the novel, such as names, arrangement, and more stuff, magical hijinks and fun added.
The IWSG Book Club Presents: Falling Down Rabbit Holes by Toi Thomas, images by Ronel Janse van Vuuren
It’s the year of the Rabbit.
So, what does that mean for the IWSG Book Club?
Well, did you see that Tubi Superbowl commercial?
This next book club phase is all about discovering rabbit holes in your reading. We want you to discover or re-discover the joy of reading through exploration.
As an additional tool provided by the amazing Insecure Writers Support Group, the book club will never lose sight of its original objective to help writers hone their skills. Plus, we still like having the option to spotlight the talents of this dynamic group. So, while some things will never change, it’s time to shift gears and remember why we all started this journey- the joy of reading.
We’ve decided to place the book club in a position of comfort and support, giving each member a chance to shine their own light on what matters most to them as a reader. We are keeping our craft books and member spotlight books but will only be hosting discussions every three months. This is a perfect opportunity for those who’ve wanted to participate in a group read in the past but simply didn’t have time to join in. As always, we set up our discussions in a way that’s easy for anyone to participate in, even if they haven’t read the books. We are returning to our three-question format because people seemed to like it better. Sometimes the discussion is a good place to ask questions and learn more before committing to reading the book(s) if you haven’t already.
In addition to quarterly discussions, we’ll offer monthly activities and encouragement for members to pick and choose from, and perhaps, fall down a rabbit hole or two.
Each month we’ll offer a themed reading challenge where you call all the shots. All we do is provide the theme and some suggestions (which you are welcome to ignore). This is another opportunity to be part of the crowd but on your own terms. You pick your genre, your platform, your medium- it’s up to you. You could take the challenge each month or join when the theme calls you. (Sooo hoping to see some memes on this one!)
Each month we’ll host a discussion called, “What are you reading?” This will be an opportunity to talk about the books you are excited about, apprehensive about, or reading for work/education. Tell us all about it. We want to know. Perhaps we’ll add one of your books to our TBR or provide you with some encouragement to get through a tough read. So go ahead, get on your soapbox, and let us know, “What are you reading?” (Wouldn’t mind seeing a few memes here either.)
Last but definitely not least, in the grand IWSG tradition, we’ll host a monthly check-in poll allowing members to update the group on their reading progress. Perhaps they are taking the Goodreads Challenge, the book club challenge, or some other personal challenge or goal. Tell us all about it and we’ll be there to root you on.
Our first quarterly read is starting a little late but that’s okay. We have to start somewhere. For those interested in our quarterly spotlight reads, the first official discussion will be on April 27, 2023 (Yes, that’s 2 months, not 3 months, away). The featured titles are:
So, whatever it is that you are or aren’t reading, The IWSG Book Club is here to offer you encouragement. Remember, you can participate as little or as much as you like, but we truly hope to see you around. We wish you all the best with every rabbit hole you dive into. -Thank you. Toi
This website uses cookies with the sole intent to improve your experience as is common with most websites. If you continue to use this website we will take that as your consent. OKRejectRead More
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
