Writing regrets, I have a few: 3 things I wish I’d done

Hot take: Be wary of anyone who says they have no regrets. At best, they probably aren’t very self-aware. At worst, they’re sociopaths who don’t know they’ve hurt other people or, more likely, don’t care. Anyway. Today I’m going to talk about regrets, specifically my 3 biggest writing regrets.

But first: This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) blog hop. On the first Wednesday of every month, we IWSG-ers share our doubts, fears, struggles, and triumphs. Our awesome co-hosts this month are Shannon Lawrence, Diedre Knight, Liza, and Pat Garcia. Please stop by and leave them some comment love. Each month our fearless leader (Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh) gives us an optional question to answer. This month’s question is, As a writer/author what is something you regret? Or something that you wish you’d done differently in your writing process?

My 3 biggest writing regrets

Writing regret #1: not starting sooner

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to write stories. I just never thought I could. Here’s a lesson for anyone reading this:

If you really want to do something–even something that seems wildly impractical or even impossible–look into it. Don’t just dismiss it. Read about how to do it. Talk to people who are doing it. Dare to try. You might fail, or you might decide it isn’t for you after all, but at least you will have tried. You’ll know from experience whether you can do it, rather than just assuming you can’t, like I did.

Otherwise, you might figure out in your late 40s that you can, in fact, do the thing you’ve always dreamed of doing, and you could have been doing it for 30 years.

Why didn’t I start writing sooner? Glad you asked! Here’s why:

Writing regret #2: Assuming I had no “talent” for writing

Talent is Overrated. That’s the title of my first-ever IWSG post, and it includes the story of why I assumed I had no talent for writing fiction–and, like an idiot, stuck to that belief for 30 years.

As for talent: Talent is awesome. Some writers are super gifted, and I’m super jealous of them. However. Courage and persistence kick talent’s butt every day of the week and twice on Sundays.

I’m not saying everyone can be a great writer. I’m saying 1) you don’t know if you can until you try (and really try, not give up after one high school assignment like, ahem, *somebody* did), 2) talent can be developed, cultivated, and nurtured through study and practice, and 3) plenty of entertaining stories are written by writers who aren’t, “great.” Good is OK. And one person’s “good” is another person’s “I’ll buy everything this person writes including their grocery list.” Believe people when they tell you that reading taste is subjective, because it is.

Plenty of merely “good” (or even, dare I say it, not-so-good) writers get published and sell books. Most of them have two traits in common: the courage to start and to put their work out there, and the persistence to keep going in the face of exhaustion, frustration, rejection, more rejection, still more rejection… you get the idea.

If you want to write, write. Read books on craft, take workshops if you can afford it (if you can afford annual dues for a professional organization in your genre, do that – most offer tons of workshops), and, most importantly, write. Write as much as you can, as often as you can without burning out.

Writing regret #3: Not taking creative writing courses in college

I majored in English because I thought I wanted to teach high school. I considered taking creative writing classes, which would have counted toward my degree, but I didn’t, because I was convinced that a) I had no talent, so b) taking those courses would mess up my GPA.

Yes, I was an idiot.

I still have no formal training in creative writing. Sigh.

A lesson

While revising this piece, I noticed something. All three of my biggest regrets are things I didn’t do because I lacked two things: courage and confidence. For 30 years, I let fear stop me.

Don’t be me.

DO. THE. THING.

Writing updates

I actually have some actual writing updates this month! (Do try to contain your excitement.)

First, the bad news: I didn’t place in the Central Valley Fiction Writers flash fiction contest. Disappointing, but there are some very good writers in that group, so the competition was stiff. Still, I have a flash piece I didn’t have before, and I can always revise it and find a home for it elsewhere.

Now the good news: I wrote a new short story! For the first time in at least 3 years! About 3 years ago, I started brainstorming a short story for the annual Bouchercon anthology. Its theme that year was music. Then life happened, and I ran out of time. I shelved the project, but every now and then, I’d think of it and say, someday. Then in early July, for no particular reason, I looked to see what the theme was for the annual Malice Domestic anthology, and it was: music. Just the excuse I needed to dust off those old notes and get to writing. The only trouble was, the deadline was the end of July, and I am a slow writer.

I busted my butt all month and got it done. Thank goodness I’d planned to take a vacation day Friday, because I needed almost the entire day to get the thing finished. I think it could have used another round of critique and editing, but there was no time. Sometimes you have to do the best you can and hit that submit button.

Life updates

Life is lifin’. The slower summer workdays will end soon–the semester starts in 3 weeks. Long-Suffering Husband and I spent a week in Berkeley at the beginning of July. While there, I picked up a library card from the Berkeley Public Library. In California, most public libraries provide cards free to any California resident, so now I have another source of audiobooks, ebooks, and other cool online stuff. Yeah, I know: nerd alert!

I was attending a higher education leadership academy for work, so I didn’t have a lot of time for sightseeing, but I did snap a few pics. Note that of the 3, one is of a library, and another is of a bookstore. Like I said: nerd alert!

The last pic is fuzzy, because it was taken through our hotel room window, and the glass wasn’t all that clean. Oh, well–we still got to watch the sun set over the bay.

Husband is hanging in there, tolerating his treatment well and coping as well as can be expected. His doctor suggested we meet with the lung transplant team soon-ish, though he isn’t at the transplant stage yet. I’m trying to find joy in small moments, which is a good thing to do, no matter what else is happening in my life. We’re having fun planning for our Hawaii cruise next month. Having something to look forward to helps both of us.

The memery

I have a fresh batch of meme-y ridiculousness this month. Here we go:

First up: AI. Here’s a little reminder for the incels out there:

If you think there were no good uses for generative AI, I give you this:

In case you’re wondering, Willie Nelson is 93, and Keith Richards is 82 (but looks 93).

And finally:

They forgot one: author vs. writing. I live that one every. single. day.

And on that note, I’m outta here. If you’re a fellow writer, what are your biggest regrets?