Sometimes I think that old adage about hindsight being clearer than foresight is true. There are a lot of things I wish I had known before becoming a writer. Writing is not easy sometimes. Those days where pages fly by under my fingertips don’t happen the way they used to. I have an internal editor that is a mean little woman.

But since writing is so personal and intimate, and you are following this blog to get insider details, here goes a list of things I sure wish sometime had told me.

I wish I had known being a writer would be so hard. I pour myself out on the page and then turn around and delete all of it. I write like I think and sometimes my thoughts are jumbled.

You are supposed to LIKE what you write, but sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I think I am just a hack. I wish I had know that to enjoy your writing is sort of a given.

You are supposed to enjoy the process, but sometimes I just want to be done with this book and go to the next one. I wish I had known about learning the process and mastering it will bring contentment with it.

Sometimes I love my characters so much I can’t bear to write the end. I think it is like saying goodbye to my beloved sister who lives far from me. It might be a while before I can see them again. I wish someone had told me that you can write as many sequels and continued stories as you want to. Series are very popular now.

Editing is hard work. It takes time and you cannot rush it. Wish someone had told me the value in editing so I would have better edited work.

Something that I did in the early days, and have only recently gone back to, is to write for myself. You have to do this because YOU love it — not because you think you will be rich from it. HA! If only!

I have been a writer for a lot of years, but I have never had a special place for writing. I believe that you can get more mileage from your efforts if you switch it up. So, I wish someone had told me that you should change writing places OFTEN. I might have been more productive through the years.

As I said recently, ideas are EVERYWHERE. I wish someone had told me to be a better observer of human interaction and body language, so that I could be a better writer of emotional clues in the unspoken language going on between people.

I think that sometimes those people who say I want to write a book someday are filled with a sort of fear, a fear of failure. Or maybe it is a fear of success? Who knows? I had it once. I wish I hadn’t spent so many years doubting my ability to success, or whatever. I might have more work out there.

I wish someone had told me to figure out what the story is about from start to finish BEFORE writing the first word. I have had to TRY to explain the story to someone in the middle of writing it and I couldn’t tell them what it was about. That is sort of important when you are trying to get someone interested in it.

And I guess lastly, love this life. Love the process, love the effort you are putting forth, love the editing, love your work. LOVE IT. Or else, don’t write. Just…don’t. The work you will put out will be a waste of your time and mine when I pay to buy it. Don’t make me a mad reader.

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HOW TO WRITE is coming on July 1st! Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss even one post!

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