If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

December 6 question: Book reviews are for the readers. When you leave a book reviews 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?

Jayden: I am woefully bad at leaving reviews. I should, really. I try to at least give stars (mostly so I remember which books I enjoyed). Otherwise, I go, “I read that!” but then I can’t remember what I thought of the book. I’ll read just about anything, but that doesn’t mean I’d read it again, haha. Anyway, I prefer to leave good reviews. Everyone likes different things, so I don’t think it’s fair for me to be too critical in most cases. Just because I don’t like a twist ending that’s too far-fetched for words *coughgonegirlcough* doesn’t mean that other people won’t like it. So yeah, if I give a negative review, it has to be *really* bad, and then I’m hoping to save other readers.

Richard: I couldn’t tell you the last time I left a book review. I don’t know why you would leave a review (on a traditional site like goodreads for a trad pub book) for the author. They might read it, I guess. But, broadly speaking, reviews are for the audience. I was going to couch that and say that on a smaller site/self pub forum I’d be more likely to leave a critique directed to the author, but even then I don’t think I ever have. It feels pointless, inappropriate, and maybe even a little presumptuous. Why would I invest the time and energy in a critique unless someone wanted it? Maybe if the book/story in question was being held up as some kind of exemplar of the genre, and I wanted to absolutely trash it? Even then, I think I’d be more inclined to leave a traditional review and include a link to a critique elsewhere than to write an essay in the review section.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

Oops, the 1st being a Wednesday threw us off, but we’re not even 24 hours late!

November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

Jayden: I sure have! I’ve done it every year since 2007, and I’ve managed to cross the finish line of 50k every time. Side note: I have rarely finished my Camp NaNo projects, but at least I’ve gotten November NaNo done. Richard and I have even taken charge of our local NaNo group.

Some other fun NaNo stats for you:

• I have managed to write 50k in 24 hours 3 times, and I never want to do it again.
• My longest NaNo was 114,458 words.
• I have written 1,534,861 words for NaNo.

I’m not off to a super strong start this November, but I’m sure I’ll be able to finish!

Richard: Yeah! That’s actually how Jayden and I met.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers! Happy anniversary to IWSG!

October 4 question: The topic of AI writing has been heavily debated across the world. According to various sources, generative AI will assist writers, not replace them. What are your thoughts?

Richard: I like to think of AI writing similarly to chess computers. Eventually, it will become good enough that it could replace humans, but it never will, because we’ll still value the human element. 
Short term: Talking to my friends who are professional writers, AI is not even close to the point of doing anything besides writing shitty SEO articles (which it’s been able to do for some time). The general consensus seemed to be that AI would need to get about twice as good as it is now just to do basic ad copy at the minimum acceptable level. AI could play chess in the 80s, but anyone who put any amount of effort in could beat anything short of the best of the best programs running on the best of the best hardware (and even those were only “okay.”)

Medium term: I think that learning to write prompts, revise, etc. is a valid creative skill. Sometime in the next year or two, people who are good at writing prompts will start being able to churn out something worth a couple bucks. Good human writers will still be able to do better. By the mid 90s, your computer could probably beat you at chess.

Long term: AI will probably be able to writer “better” than most or all humans, but we’ll continue to value human authors and consume their work. I’d put this somewhere between 5 and 10 years out, but hedge earlier ‘cause these things seem to really GO once they hit a certain point. Depending on how good AI detection winds up being, there’ll be some degree of drama about whether books are written by humans or not (and how much “help” you can get on a piece and have it still count as human written). Traditional pub will probably get even messier and harder to break into than it is now. But, in the same way that (conservatively) hundreds of thousands of people still watched the FIDE championship this year (and millions of people play chess), even though the player’s phones could probably woop them, people will still write and pay for human writing. On some level, this is already a thing with human writing. I forget who it was, but I read an article recently about a self pub author who was able to trad pub, and people still liked their first blog-published book better because it was raw, messy, etc.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers! Happy anniversary to IWSG!

September 6th question: The IWSG celebrates 12 years today! When did you discover the IWSG, how do you connect, and how has it helped you?

We started in April of 2021 (https://jrvincente.com/2021/04/11/the-insecure-writers-support-group-iwsg/) I don’t remember where we came across it, but it was probably one of the many blogs I follow and try to keep up with. It’s been one of our most successful blog challenges. I’m pretty sure we haven’t missed a month yet! (And the fact that is the 30th one we’ve done and the 30th month since April 2021, that math checks out!)

I like having a prompt to answer. I’m always better when I have a plan to start me off. It’s been really nice having a community of people who also struggle sometimes. I will admit that I haven’t gone out and found that many people who do IWSG. I’m bad at that. Often I feel like I’m barely keeping my head above water with my blog between that and all the other things I do on a daily/weekly basis. It’s something I’m working on! I (and Richard) appreciate everyone who stops by my blog, though! The comments and likes are very much appreciated!

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

August 2 question: Have you ever written something that afterwards you felt conflicted about? If so, did you let it stay how it was, take it out, or rewrite it?

Jayden: Yes! My first published novel is titled Slave. The main character is a submissive whose only name in the entire novel is Slave. She has no other name (and doesn’t want or need one). It’s a huge fantasy of mine, and I loved writing the novel. But looking back at it, I feel like it’s not an appropriate title given the history of the term. But I can’t just re-title the book. I would literally have to change the whole novel. So…I just took it off the market a while back. As it was my first published novel, I’m a better writer now anyway. What do you think? Should I put it back on the market?

Richard: Not in any kind of a professionalish context. I did some very weird prompts and roleplays over the years that I felt kind of icky about. I didn’t really do anything as a response, I think they’ve all just disappeared into the digital ether.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

July 5 question – 99% of my story ideas come from dreams. Where do yours predominantly come from?
Jayden: Fantasy, or often real life. Seeds of ideas will stick in my head for sex scenes I’d like or something someone says in passing. Other than that, I generally write romance, which has a pretty standard plot line.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

June 7 question – If you ever did stop writing, what would you replace it with?

Jayden: Music. I miss playing the piano and singing at home, but I haven’t had a lot of time. Truth be told, I don’t do a lot of writing these days, except for school. But it’s always there in my life.

Richard: Whittling. I keep saying I’d like to whittle more. Someday, I’d like to do a whole chess set.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

May 3 question – When you are working on a story, what inspires you?

Jayden: Real life often inspires me. It helps that I write kinky bdsm stories. That is my real life. 😀 But sometimes I write about things I’ve never done, or even things I don’t particularly want to do but sound hot in a story. In any case, any kinky sex scene gets me inspired.

Richard: Spite! It’s not very profound, but it is a powerful motivator.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

April 5 question – Do you remember writing your first book? What were your thoughts about a career path on writing? Where are you now and how is it working out for you? If you’re at the start of the journey, what are your goals?

Jayden: I do! I was in high school, and I was annoyed at someone in my friend group, so I wrote a murder mystery where a person who bore a suspicious resemblance to her gets murdered. It was a great outlet for me at the time. Looking back, I think it was more of a novella than a novel (which seems to be my sweet spot in story length, which is why blogging is great for me). Over the years, I’ve thought many times about being a full time writer, but it doesn’t appeal to me, particularly. I like writing, but not editing or advertising, and to be full time, I would need to do more of that. I like the steady paycheck by day job affords me and writing on the side when I have time. I’m back in school right now, so writing has taken somewhat of a back seat, but Richard and I have done better this year at staying on top of blog posts than in previous years, but it is only April. But right now you can read our A to Z stories that we’re writing as we go! Join us for the A to Z Blog Challenge!

Richard: My first “book” was basically a thirty thousand word character study that I wrote during Nanowrimo one year. My first book that I’d even consider trying to publish is my thesis, which I’m chugging away on revisions on now. It’s a queer superhero rom com. Gotta hit those niche markets. I’d love to make enough on writing to go back to only having to work a “real job” part time. I had several part time jobs that I enjoyed over the years. I don’t think I’d want to try for the 100%-writing-100%-of-the-time life (too much hustling and writing bullshit copy for shady companies), but I’d love to be able to have more time to write and still support myself.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

March 1 question – Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy?

Jayden: Oh, many times. Mystery twists that take me by surprise are the ones that usually cause me to have author envy. I’m not good at figuring them out, much less writing them myself. (And let’s be real: I have major author envy for E.L. James. Fifty Shades isn’t even that good and she’s earned over $50 million. That would set me up for life.)

Richard: I don’t think so? There are certainly times I have a lot of admiration for a well written paragraph or great idea or whatever, but not envy.

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

February 1st question – If you are an Indie author, do you make your own covers or purchase them? If you publish trad, how much input do you have about what goes on your cover?

Jayden: I’ve designed all of my own covers.

From left to right, in the order I designed them. The first novel I published, Slave, I took off the market. It needs some editing just because I’ve learned a lot in the years since I published it. I also have different feelings about the title, but since the main character is only ever given that name (in a kink context), it would require a total rewrite. But, fun fact, the person on that cover is me.

The sneakers on Runaway are also mine. (In retrospect, at least when it’s small, it’s hard to read the “A choose your own erotic novel by” part.

The last one is also a picture I took. The rest were ones I purchased online.

I have a minimal amount of graphic design knowledge, and since I’m just publishing for fun, I’ve decided that although the covers would be better done by a professional, they’re fine for my <$5 novels. My first pinned post has the purchase links for all available books if you’re interested.

What makes a good book cover for you?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

January 4 question – Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year?

Jayden: My word for 2023 is consistency. I need to be more consistent in many facets of my life. Work is the one place I’m probably the most consistent because I’ve developed my routines. But I need to be more consistent at home with completing the chores that pile up (Richard helps me to be good at staying on top of the daily chores). I need to be more consistent with getting my school work done on time. I need to be more consistent with advertising for my side job. And the big one is that I need to be more consistent with my blog. On that note, did you see our big announcement on December 31st? I really hope that I can stay consistent this time, so be sure to read my posts, like, and comment, so I know you’re out there reading!

Richard: Graduate! Once I’m done with grad school, it’ll open up a ton of time and energy for other things. I have a ton of writing projects that are kinda sorta ready to move onto the next step, but keep getting shoved out of the way for schoolwork instead.

What is your word of 2023?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

December 7 question – It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

Jayden: I think it’s bad. I get out of my routine so much that I fall behind on everything. Even though I have more time off of my day job, it’s hard for me to keep a writing routine when I’m not working. It’s weird, honestly, that when I have more free time, I get less done. I guess it’s just a mindset.

Richard: Probably about neutral? There’s a bit more free time to write, but I’m also usually recovering from Nano. I usually hit January pretty hard though.

Do you find that that you catch up or fall behind during the holidays?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

November 2nd – November is National Novel Writing Month. Have you ever participated? If not, why not?

Jayden: Yes! I’ve been participating since 2007 or so. I’ve made it to 50k or more every November (but rarely in the Camp months). I’ve even managed to write 50k in 24 hours three times. Never again, haha. It’s a lot. But I was proud of that accomplishment. With how busy I am now, I’m only planning to aim for ~50k this year for NaNo. I’m sure I’ll feel like I need to get more, but we’ll see what happens.

Richard: My first NaNo was also around 2007 or 2008. I’ve won the last 3 or 4 years. NaNo is actually how Jayden and I met. (Jayden: THANK GOODNESS FOR NANO! <3)

Are you participating in NaNo?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

October 5th – What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

Jayden: My favorite genre is romance. I love that there’s always a Happily Ever After. Real life is often serious and sad, so when I invest time in reading, I like that it can have a nice, neat conclusion. What’s your favorite romance novel or who is your favorite romance author?

Richard: Not a genre per se, but I’m going to go with serial fiction in all its forms. I like the way the spread out pacing gives a story room to breathe and for people to speculate and interact in “real time” with it as it develops.

What do you love about your favorite genre?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

September 7th – What genre would be the worst one for you to tackle and why?

Jayden: Historical fiction. I don’t have a great grasp on history, so I’d have to do *a lot* of research, which I don’t particularly care for. I love to read it, but writing it would be awful.

Richard: Does Fanfic count? I’ve tried it a couple times, and I just can’t wrap my head around writing other people’s characters.

What would be your hardest genre to tackle?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

August 3rd question – When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

Jayden: I write for myself. I tried writing to get published, but especially in the world of kinky smut, they often want very specific things. As a bisexual switch, sometimes I want a variety of things in one story. It depends on my mood. So when I write and self-publish, I can write whatever combinations I want. It’s very freeing. I just keep reminding myself of the best writing advice I’ve ever been given: write what you want to read.

Richard: For most genre writing, I think you should be trying to do both. If you’re writing a fantasy story, people want to see some dragon slaying or whatever. But you should be trying to do your dragon slaying in an original way. Have your peasants give the dragon more and more tributes until it’s suffocated/crushed under it’s horde!

Original or Give ’em What They Want?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

July 6 question – If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

Jayden: That’s hard because a lot of the books I read are dystopian, and that doesn’t sound so great! Harry Potter is a very cool world to live in, once You Know Who is gone, anyway. I guess I’ll stick with that one.
Richard: One of those safety instruction books, where people drop blenders into tubs and stuff. It just seems like a very strange place, I’d like to find out more about it.

What book world would you want to live in?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

June 1 question – When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If you have not started writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

Jayden: I know that if I don’t finish a project in one go, I won’t ever finish it. It’s too hard for me to come back to it after a lot of time away. That’s why NaNo is so great for me–I can write the whole novel in one shot. (Not one day, generally, but one month at least.) When I switch between projects, I tend to get distracted and lose track of details, even when I outline what I’m writing as I write it. So that motivation of knowing I might not ever finish the project is a big part of getting to the end.

On the other hand, I’ve been kicking around this erotic novel set in a world with societies of Dommes (and dinosaurs!) but I haven’t, and Richard and I even did the whole worldbuilding outline! I don’t know what’s stopping me there, but I am hopeful that I can get to in July for CampNaNo. Having other people to support me definitely helps a lot!

Richard: My favorite trick is to switch how I’m telling the story. A lot of my writing has mini-epistolary sections, so those are a great opportunity to think about it from a different angle and get unstuck. Swapping to a different part or character can work too, but I find the little snippets I get from writing travel guides, new casts, etc. are more useful.

How do you motivate yourself?

If you’d like to chime in and let us know your answers to the questions or drop a link to your post if you’re participating, please do so in the comments! And check out the IWSG website for more answers!

May 4 question – It’s the best of times; it’s the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

Jayden: Oh, well, let’s see. The best times were writing times with friends. I can’t count the number of evenings I spent laughing, writing, laughing some more. My best friends and I co-wrote a story. We all sat with our laptops taking turns writing paragraphs. It was entertaining. Slow going, but entertaining. Then we would get distracted talking, but it was an amazing experience, and I hope that we’ll be able to get back to it.

The worst times were the deadlines. Self-imposed deadlines, for me, but still. Staying up late, getting up early, squeezing in words in every available moment. The times that I had to type with my eyes closed because I literally couldn’t keep them open anymore. But all worth it for the novels and short stories I’ve written, and the love I have with my writing friends. And of course, the fact that through my writing group, I met my partner. We blog together, we live together, and now we’re married. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Richard: The best part of writing is when you finish a project. The worst part is any time anyone reads anything I write.

What are your writers highs and lows?