Monday, May 19, 2014

I can't believe I wrote that


Recently, I read through my first published short story. I couldn't believe the number of small mistakes such as filter words and word echoes in that story. Looking at it now, I think it's lucky someone decided to publish it. Last night I was making some more touches to my recently-finished novel. Once again, I spotted several word choices that I know now not to do.

At one point, I thought there would be a time when my writing would become fully developed.  It seems no matter how much effort I put into a piece, however, I could always write it better if I came back to it later. Now, I'm thinking that moment I 'arrive' as a writer will never come, and that's actually a good thing.

Would you really want to reach a point where your writing, or any other endeavor for that matter, stops improving?  Athletes don't stop training the moment they win the gold medal. Most business men do not stop earning money after they reach their first million.

One advantage of writing is your words are permanent. You can see exactly what you wrote a year ago, twenty years ago, or even in your first story.  It gives you a great yardstick for measuring your progress year to year.  Hopefully, that progress will never stop.

14 comments:

  1. writing is like life... we always strive for perfection and so even in our writing we are always trying to improve. if we stop, we stagnate and die.

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    1. Agreed. We either are always growing, or we are stagnating. I prefer to keep growing.

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  2. Art is never finished, only abandoned. I don't know who said that, but it has always resonated with me. I know my book will never be as good as it could be. I don't know when it will be good enough--for now, at least.

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  3. It's hard for perfectionists like you and me to say something's "good enough." What I'm finding is that if I keep going over one project over and over, I never move on to other projects.

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  4. I think when you stop learning, you start stagnating. My early stuff isn't as good as the stuff I write now and the stuff I write now won't be as good as the stuff I write in the future. I hope.

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    1. I think that's true for everyone who achieved something. If the stuff you write in the future is as good as what you have now, you won't have progressed very much.

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  5. I know I'm constantly improving my skills as a writer. When I look back at earlier stuff, I realize how far I've come and how far you'll go if I keep studying the craft.

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    1. I think it's interesting that no matter how much you've improved, you still have room to grow.

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  6. I look at stuff I wrote twenty years ago and know I've improved a lot. but recently I came across something I wrote ten years ago and my heart practically stopped. It seemed better than the stories I'm writing today. Hmm. what did I know then that I forgot? You can see I still have learning to do, because now I need that answer. Maybe I just got lucky on that one particular story. But I also have to wonder why I never did anything with it, though I do remember thinking I'd save it for a collection of stories. Silly me.
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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  7. There are many possibilities, I guess. Maybe you were more relaxed that day, enjoyed what you were writing more, who knows? In general I think your writing has to have improved through the years. I know of virtually no one who gets worse as something the more they practice.

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  8. I don't think anyone ever reaches a point where he/she stops improving. That's always going to be part of it. But sometimes we have to send our work out into the world and hope for the best! Then work on something else and know it will probably be even better...

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  9. I can't agree more. I could work on my most recent novel for years and never have it 'just right'. If I did that, I'd never have time to work on my current novel.

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  10. I hope you've sent the first one out for nibbles while you work on the next, or are work you letting the first cool for a bit while you work on something else?
    Deb@ http://debioneille.blogspot.com

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  11. Thanks for asking, Debi. I've submitted it to a couple publishers and not gotten any nibbles yet. I'm trying a hybrid strategy, submitting to a few markets while doing another rewrite taking into account your advice and the comments of my personal rejection. If one of the people I submit it to picks it up, great. If not, I'm hoping for some more personal feedback to see if I can find any patterns I need to address. I'm also feverishly working on Ghost Tree and hope to have it ready to submit by late summer.

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