“Retrato de Mariano Goya” – Francisco de Goya |
Oh, to start writing again.
Such angst! Such vision! Such ambition!
What do you wish you had known when you started? What would you tell your younger writing self?
Mine is pretty simple. When I first started out I was very focused on the end result. I wish I would have known that whatever happens with any particular manuscript: It’s all worth it.
What about you?
E. Arroyo says
I wish I had known that writing the darn thing was the easy part.
BP says
Ditto, Nathan. DITTO
Becky Taylor says
I wish I had known that other writers were in fact not lying. It can take 7, 10, 15, 20 years to see your book on a shelf. I will also steal your end product/outcome wish (it's very profound and will make me sound much more self actualized when I use it.)
Dan Blank says
That sharing is as critical as creating.
Anonymous says
I wish I had known that some people were telling the truth when they said sometimes you just need to quit.
Shelley Souza says
Don't worry. You'll figure it out. And when you do, you'll realize it was all in you, from the beginning. All you needed were the elements on some post its, to give your subconscious something to work with.
Hillsy says
I can only be my own audience for so long.
CourtLoveLeigh says
What I should have told myself and what I still tell myself…
Work hard.
Steve C says
The best way to learn isn't to read all those books on how to write. It's only in doing that you understand.
And for god's sake, stop trying to please teachers by doing everything proper and literary and write something straight across to a friend.
SMC says
That skill comes through practice. You aren't born a good writer, you're driven to become one. But it will not happen unless you work your tail off (and read enough top quality books to build yourself a house).
Dianna Zaragoza says
I wish I had known that I didn't have to be perfect the first time…that there's lots of opportunity for do-overs. That, in fact, the do-overs (editing) is the part where the story really blossoms.
I also wish that I knew that I could "borrow" from other writers better than me. Not plagiarize…borrow…take their writing and turn it to fit mine. Doing that has been unbelievably fun for me.
Mr. D says
I wish I knew everything I know now!
Jessica R. Patch says
I wish I would have told myself to read a few craft books first. 🙂
Rick Daley says
I don't think I would change anything. Not that I think I knew everything, or even enough…it's just that the way I've learned new things by networking has been a very rewarding part of the experience. If I took the things I've gleaned from other people and planted them in my beginner's brain, I would be missing the personal interactions through which I acquired said knowledge.
Or something like that.
WORD VERIFICATION: menicati. An angry feline, as addressed by someone with an accent of unknown origin.
Sierra McConnell says
That every word is precious. Even the bad ones. Because even when your writing terrible fanfiction, if you stick at it, you're learning something.
Those people who leave concrit are not trying to hurt you, they see something in you that is meant for better things. Take what they said and grow. Even today I remember every piece of concrit I got because it helped me become the writer I am today.
L.G.Smith says
The only way to get better is to write more. And that takes time. A lot of time.
Anonymous says
that it's all about character and that when the right story comes along, you just know it and – BOOOM – there's your novel right there.
Neil Vogler says
Er, I wish I'd known this one rule: However long you think a project will take, add 12 months.
Matthew MacNish says
I wish I would have taken the time to learn more about publishing.
I wrote my first novel trying on purpose to make it long because I loved long books. I never stopped to think that all those famous writers wrote short(er) books first.
Sean Thomas Fisher says
I wish I would have known that every story I write ends up coming true. I would've written about Amish lovers instead of zombies. Now I can't even make it to my car. And the cable is out. Again.
lora96 says
I wish I'd known that the word 'actually' is unnecessary in most sentences!
Bruce H. Johnson says
The fact there was an established Craft for fiction writing. I'd been Honors English in high school and a technical writer for years. What is a plot structure?
I'm having to do major re-writes on 4 novels in a series because there's no real structure.
I am offering a no-cost upgrade to any latest and greatest electronic editions, though.
Kay Elam says
I wish I had known to find a writing partner and a critique group.
Brooke Johnson says
Not that I needed to hear it at the time, but I would go back and say
"Don't you dare give up."
There were times I wanted to. I never did, thankfully. I was passionate enough about writing that I withstood the scrutiny and doubt.
I probably also would tell myself
"Don't write that epic fantasy right now. You're not ready."
That is still true. The epic fantasy I began at age 14 is still too large a project. Someday, I'll go back to it. And when I do, it will be glorious.
Anonymous says
I wish I'd understood earlier about the sheer amount of writing that every single writer, does no matter what their skill level– all the discarded drafts, half-finished novels, etc. It always felt like I was the only one producing 90% crap and 10% stuff I was satisfied with, and everyone else just had magic flowing from their fingertips. It wasn't until I read posts authors made of all the drafts and ephemera they wrote and abandoned before getting published that I realized I was not, in fact, the only person who stalled out on novels at 20K words, or short stories that didn't work.
If I could turn back time (if I could find a way…) I would tell my younger self to not think about whether a piece is "good" or not until they are finished, and not a moment before.
-Salom
Anonymous says
Until "it was," that is. It's early.
-Salom
Cynthia Lee says
I wish I had known that all those details that I find so fascinating aren't necessarily fascinating for readers.
mooderino says
Stop wasting time.
Mark Covington says
I wish I had known that PT Barnum and H.L Menchen were right. “You Will Never Go Broke Underestimating the Intelligence or the taste of the American Public”.
Bart Leib says
I wish I'd known that I wasn't as good a writer in high school as all my teachers said I was.
Or rather, I wish I'd known that being good for a HS student didn't mean I was good enough to send my stories to pro markets. Would've saved myself the years of self-doubt all those rejections cost me.
Cathy Yardley says
I wish I'd know that everybody writes alone, but nobody becomes a writing success that way. Not just the critique aspect, but the support. It's too tough a business to lone wolf.
Bryce Daniels says
I wish I had known that "patience" was more than just another word in the dictionary.
Anonymous says
Nathan, you posted a link to a NYTimes profile on the iconic Amanda Hocking. Mentioned within the article is what you might call the beginning of Hocking's path to superstardom.
"She began treating writing like any other job."
This isn't just something I wish I could've told myself as a starting writer; I wish I could've told myself this as a younger man.
The great American distance runner Steve Prefontaine was fond of saying "Talent is a myth. There's no such thing as talent. If want to win at something, you find the best teacher and you practice as much as it takes to get good at it. And then you practice even more to become the best."
Like so many, I grew up believing that skill in sports, skill in academics…skill in writing…was like the powers in X-Men; some people simply had the mutation or the genetics to do the amazing. The rest of us muggles…didn't.
It's ironic this unfortunate conceit is so rampant in America; a nation built on the concept of self-determination and self-reliance.
I sometimes read about Hocking, or I check out weblit authors like Jim Zoetewey or J. A. Konrath and I wistfully wonder what might I have been if I wasn't sitting on my ass waiting for writing ability to "happen" to me.
The only thing that has lessened by bitter regret in my older years is that as long as I'm breathing…it's never too late to start.
-Bill
v.n.rieker says
Honestly… I wish I had observed more and typed less in writer forums. I'm all for interaction, but I was on AgentQuery for a while and I got myself into real trouble being snarky-turned-nasty. Trying to look smart and funny always makes me look dumb and desperate. A lesson I was shamed into learning.
Also, I wish I had believed from the get-go that editing is a LAST STEP. It would have saved me from deleting alot of perfect, irrelevant paragraphs.
Robena Grant says
I wish I'd known not to force my characters into situations but to let their story unfold as it should.
Jadi says
I wished I hadn't read so many writing books and just read fiction books.
domynoe says
I wish I had either figured out how I needed to write (versus how everyone told me "real authors" write, oh yes, I ran into those kind of people early in my taking writing seriously days) faster than I did (10 years being a long time) or that I already knew how I needed to write, thus being able to focus on the story rather than stumbling around on trying to finish the story.
On the other hand, if I'd done anything differently, I'd be a different kind of writer today, and I'm not sure that'd be a good thing other than the fact that my epic fantasy probably would have had a better chance at getting published 10 years ago than it does today. lol
Heidi says
Great Prefontaine quote, Bill.
I wish I had started sooner. I'd always written, but never considered it something to DO, just something that had to be done. I think about how much I could have accomplished if I'd realized at a younger age how much I truly enjoy writing.
But, I'm thankful to have found my appreciation for writing, and will "keep moving forward," as Disney said.
Thanks Nathan.
v.n.rieker says
Er… I meant, I wish I had known that copy-editing comes after structural-editing. 😀
Kevin Lynn Helmick says
I'm kinda pleased with the fact that I knew absolutely nothing when I started writing. No right or wrong, nothing got in the way, nothing to second guess. And I still approach it that way but with more dicipline. And I try to apply just the basic rules, in a mostly instinctive manner.
When I look back on something I wrote 20, 30 years ago and see, that wasn't half bad, I like that.
I wish I had known that I'd be writing novels at 45 years old, then. I would have hit the writing and the buisness, harder and faster. I would have made it my life then, and maybe I'd have gotten somewhere by now.
Once a fool always a fool.
Nancy Thompson says
I wish I had known how much I love to write twenty-five years ago. I'd be so much better (and farther along) by now.
Anonymous says
"Once a fool always a fool."
As long as you draw breath, it's never to late.
80s Queen says
I wish I had known that it would take a long time to see the book in print. That writing it would be the easy part and to really pay attention in those marketing classes you took because that is what you would be doing after you got the book into print. Also to make as many friends in the business as possible and buy a lucky rabbits foot for luck.
Stephanie McGee says
I would tell myself a) the fix to the story world that made it far less derivative and b) wait to revise until you've finished the first draft.
Maybe then it wouldn't have been 8 years before the first draft finally got completed.
H. N. Stone says
"Finish what you start!" is what I would tell my young self, as my muse is quite easily distracted, and inspiration not always readily available.
Beyond that, I'm not sure I'd have wanted to know anything then that I didn't learn at a later point. Going into all of this as a naive dreamer benefited me, I think, because it allowed me to make mistakes and learn and grow.
If I had known about the difficulty, the constant struggles and trials that accompany writing a publishable work, it could have made me much more self-conscious, possibly paralyzing me with premature doubts and fears. The reality of writing professionally is a lot scarier and a lot harder than first imagined, after all! Easing into it, slowly replacing myths about the industry with fact, was for me the best way to go.
Petrea Burchard says
I wish I hadn't shown my first draft to anyone.
And I'm glad I didn't know how long it would take to get to the finished product.
Anonymous says
I wish I'd known that some of these goddamn online romance reviewers would be so snarky, and able to get away with so many questionable things no one else seems able to get away with.
Courtney Cantrell says
I wish I could tell my younger writing self,
"Hon, this novel isn't as good as you think it is. This first draft you've got here? That's the rough chunk of marble you just carved out of a cliffside. Now, you need to start coaxing a beautiful statue out of it. This is a craft, babydoll. It takes time, patience, and hard work. Now go on. You can do this." 🙂
Bryan Russell (Ink) says
Sometimes dreams come true V…..E…..R…..Y……….S…..L…..O…..W…..L…..Y
Ranae Rose says
It would have been nice to know that the more I write the easier it becomes. When I first started it was easy to write the first part of a story, but difficult to finish. Now it's easy for me to finish what I start, too. It would have been encouraging to know that.