Look Back At Beginnings

Those who read this blog are in various stages of their writing life. I know people like John Grisham do not read my bits and pieces here at Writer Granny's World, but there are many beginners and intermediate level writers who do.

Think back to the very beginning of your writing days. Were you like the little guy in the poster--looking out at that big baseball stadium and field, clutching you writing tools and dreaming about making it big one day? We all have big dreams when we start down a new path. We play the What if...? game and see an image of our picture above an interview on the literary page of our Sunday newspaper. Or being interviewed on a TV show after our first novel broke sales records and received outstanding reviews.

We all have hopes and dreams of where this writing world will take us. Go back to those beginning days again and ask yourself these questions:

• What goals did you set?
• How many did you achieve?
• How long did it take?
• Where were you published first?
• Was it for pay or a freebie?
• Has your writing improved since the early days?
• In what way is your writing better now?
• Have you regressed or made progress?
• Are you as passionate about your writing now as then?
• Did you work at educating yourself as a writer?
• Have you attended conferences to spend time with other writers?
• Do you submit to higher-paying markets now?

All of us cannot claim being an expert in the writing field but, hopefully, we can say that we are a much better writer now than when we first started. Even so, we still feel a little depressed when we aren't farther along than in our plan. Writers don't always progress in leaps and bounds. It's more often done in small steps, sometimes so small that we don't realize that we are moving upward. That's why it would be worth your time today to look back at those beginning days and see where you're at now.

Whenever I run across something I wrote years ago, I read it and mentally edit as I go. I know now that it could have been so much better but I wrote whatever it was at a time when I was feeling my way and learning on the go. I know that I am a better writer today and I hope that, five years from now, I'll be beyond where I am now. Grow as you go might be a good motto.

And yes--experts in anything were all beginners at one time, just like you and me.