I recently found a large box in my basement labeled “Writing Stuff”. In it, I found a decade’s worth of old manuscripts and notes. Feedback from long ago critique partners. It made me think about growth as a writer.
On one page, was a piece of advice relating to showing and not telling. I remember getting that feedback. And I remember not knowing what to do with it. I am showing. How can I show more?
I wasn’t able to use the advice, so I put it in the back of my mind and moved on.
Now, I can guarantee, if I pulled out the piece in reference to that advice, 2024 me would see all the places that I could’ve improved my writing. All those places that I, in fact, did tell instead of show. All those little moments that I could have made stronger in my writing.
There are two pieces of writing advice for today’s blog post.
First, we aren’t born great writers. We aren’t born terrible writers either. We just are. Growth as a writer doesn’t happen overnight. It’s slow and steady. The more we read, the more words we put to paper, the more we grow.
Advice that seemed so over our heads five years ago, makes sense now. Plot holes that seemed insurmountable, can be overcome with time.
Second advice, sometimes, staring the novel down will make your vision blurry. Put distance between yourself and your words. Put down your story and pick it up a week later. A year later. Ten years later. When you see those little points that could be made stronger, you will see how much you have grown as a writer.
Here is your challenge for the week: Find something you have written a long time ago. You define a long time. For some, it might be something they wrote last year. Others may be able to dig deep and pull stories from decades ago. Reread it. What would you change? What do you know now that you didn’t know back then?
And then smile at how much you have grown as a writer!
And if you want to jump-start your growth as a writer, here’s a cool website I found with a ton of writing advice: https://blog.reedsy.com/.