Boosting Your Writing Energy: The Power of Collaboration and Support

#1 in the FWSG Series

I feel a familiar, historic writing energy as the new year begins. Specifically, academic dissertation energy.

One’s dissertation is a research piece where you either confirm someone else’s research or bring forward a new idea. You may have found your niche if your work brings something new forward.

If you don’t know what it’s like to write a dissertation, it’s hard. The process is complex. Long and drawn out. It follows tedious rules. It goes through committees that approve, suggest, or deny movement forward. It can be so demanding that many of us called it “the final book report” for school to shrink it to a manageable size.

Why do I share this? Well, I think I used my writing energy and completed an unintentional dissertation on writing sex for authors with a bit of help from my friends.

How Did I Use My Writing Energy to Create a Writing Dissertation?

Since transitioning from academics to the writing community, I have finished my nonfiction book, and working on it reminded me of all these processes. Since writing was never on my radar, writing this book for authors has a similar feel.

It starts when somebody asks a question that piques your interest, and you gather information to answer it. And with my writing dissertation, I had an unexpected writing muse. Let’s meet him.

Why Did I Write It?

I blame Darryl Bollinger in the best way possible for this dissertation writing project. He has been a fiction writing buddy since the beginning. While we don’t write in the same genres, we share the same love of the process of craft. Remarkably, his 8th book was released at the end of the year.

Early on, every time we talked, I’d share how I was taking my past life of sexuality and weaving it into my current life of writing sexuality. He’d lament I had a book that authors needed.

I should tell you I met Darryl in April 2015 at the Tallahassee Writers Association. So, he has had a lot of time to press me, and he did. And the really cool part is that he is visiting me this week as I begin the process of sharing the book.

What Was The Process?

The book must have started the day I decided I would write. Okay, it took a while.

The book idea morphed and changed. So did the title, as I understood what I could provide in a new writing paradigm with sexuality thinking.

My manuscript went through revisions based on suggestions by others. Through presentations, conversations, courses, and applications, the way I came to see what I could offer was unique. Elements were added, which others proposed. I honed in on the most specific parts about how our thinking about sexuality affects how we write about it.

So, What Has My Writing Energy Created for You?

I’ve created a non-fiction book called The Fiction Writer’s Sexuality Guide: Sex—It’s More Than a Scene. It releases on May 28, 2024.

Three content areas comprise the book Frame Your Sexuality Writing—A Paradigm Shift, Know Your Characters, and The Writing Elements of Sexuality. There is an annotated story highlighting concepts in the book, plus 30 pages of worksheets for your use.

Until the release, I will bring you blog posts highlighting the book’s components. Stay tuned. Read the FWSG Blog Post # 2.

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