Wednesday, April 7, 2021

April IWSG Post and my Risk-Taking Habit in Writing

 

I think it’s raining picture books for me. After I met my deadline of 31st March, I happily emailed my manuscript to my editor telling him I am sending it a day early. I had decided that I would take a week to ten-day break to catch up with my reading.

On day one of my break, I had few commissioned picture book offers heading my way from two editors. That was the end of my break. But I am not complaining. For a long time, I have been thinking of focussing on picture books. I have been writing very long books and I desperately needed a change. Hope all of you have loads of good news to share, because I am starved of good news, all I am hearing is Covid 19 news.

It’s time for another IWSG post. IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group), an online group of writers posting on the first wednesday of the month. Our posts are usually writing related. IWSG members are each others’cheerleaders. Its great to belong to a community of writers who understand us and our problems and support us when our books are published. If you haven’t yet joined IWSG, do go through the IWSG website and click on the join button. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

IWSG is the brainchild of Ninja Captain Alex J Cavanaugh, author of Amazon Bestsellers: CassaStar, CassaStorm, CassaFire and Dragon of the Stars, with many more on the way.

 April 7 question - Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work?

I’m a big risk-taker when it comes to my writing. I try all kinds of things, from the style (trying new styles, mixing two styles to create something new), to making the anti-hero the main character, to even making non-animated objects as the character of my picture books, to playing with the time, by following a non-linear time frame. I play with the plot and settings, make some elements so quirky, that my editor messages me in alarm.  

What about you all? Do you like taking risks or playing safe?