Welcome
to the first Wednesday of the month. You know what that means! It's
time to let our insecurities hang out. Yep, it's the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog hop.
If you're a writer at any stage of career, I highly recommend this blog
hop as a way to connect with other writers for support, sympathy,
ideas, and networking. If you're a reader, it's a great way to peek
behind the curtain of a writing life.
Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. The awesome co-hosts for the February 5 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Louise Barbour, and Tyrean Martinson!
This month's question:
February 5 question - Is there a story or book you've written you want to/wish you could go back and change?
__________________________________________
Short answer: no.
Longer answer:
I'm always growing and learning, as a writer, and as a human. And, at least from my own biased perspective, my writing is getting better the longer I focus on it and work on it.
But, all those poems, essays, stories, and books in my past can stay just the way they are.
Sure, if I was to write the same thing now, I might be able to improve upon the craft or come up with a more original take on the theme--but past Samantha wrote those and I'm just not her anymore. Present Samantha has her own stories she's passionate about telling and future Samantha will have her own, too.
So, no time travel for me, at least not down my own timeline. I'll just take what I've learned along the way and use it to make the next thing even better.
How about you? Do you/would you go back and change some of your past creations? I'd love to hear about it in the comments!
In other words, move on and write something new and awesome!
ReplyDeleteJust so!
DeleteExcellent attitude, Samantha!
ReplyDeleteThanks :-) It sees me through.
DeleteIn the distant past I wrote with no idea about really how to write and I had no Grammarly. Not too long ago I was learning how to write and I had free Grammarly. Now I know even more and I have paid for Grammarly. Anything I wrote before I just have to turn Grammarly loose on it and I can see I've got a way to go.
ReplyDeleteGrammarly can be a really useful tool.
DeleteSame for me. I've grown and my past self never changes. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
Exactly!
DeleteEach book or story is a reflection of who you were at the time. That's sometimes the frustrating part of revising. When you're working on a novel for years, you sometimes realize you're not the same person who started the novel. :) It sounds like you have a healthy view of your past writing.
ReplyDelete
DeleteTrue! Mostly, I finish a book in 1-3 years these days, but I have some I've noodled on for far longer.
Several of my stories could benefit from a revision to reflect changes in the politics of the era. But I won't touch them. They are true to when they were written.
ReplyDeleteYeah…my published work isn't that old yet--My oldest published story that wasn't student work is only 10 years back. But I can see where that would get to be a thing over time.
DeleteI'm in agreement with your philosophy regarding redoing past works. The passion I had for those stories made them what they became. My passion has moved on. Blessings, Samantha. :)
ReplyDeleteYou, too.
DeleteI love your take, Samantha! I have so much I want to do going forward that I can't think about going back ~ lol! Happy new writing!
ReplyDeleteExactly. There's only so much time, after all.
Delete