What have you learned about your writing this year?

I've learned absolutely everything I know about myself as a writer in the past year.

I write better than I thought I did. Even fiction.

I've learned that I can write publishable fiction.

I've learned that I have a tendency to under-explain things to such a degree that the reader may be left confused (or not as well-informed as they ought to be).

I've learned how to listen to, accept, and incorporate very blunt criticism (because if you think SYW is scary, real life editors are scarier), without curling into a fetal ball.

I've learned there is some truth to the old adage: learn the rules so you can break them properly.

I've learned that I can't write and I'm wasting my time.

(disclaimer: I write scripts, so if you write fiction, relevancy may not be there for you. But I hope you get a nice laugh anyway.)

I've learned that it's harder than it looks.

I learned that a perfect masterpiece can always be improved. And may contain typos.

I learned finishing that first draft ain't finishing nothin'. (Pardon my colloquialism)

I learned 200 to 1 are not winning odds.

I learned that when the readers say they want solid structure, likable characters and an exciting intro, they aren't kidding. If they are a producer, it's "they aren't #%@&!*g kidding, you %@&!in %@&!."

Speaking of reading, I learned reviewing is harder than writing. Also, the other writer's deluded incompetence is not your entertaining quirk.

I've learned that while it's fun to fly around the country pitching your work, it's not worth flying coach. Unless you have a shot at actually making the sale.

I learned that when you really work hard, and market yourself, and polish your work to the absolute best it can be, the certainty of your crushing failure may actually become less absolute.

I learned you can come back to edit these. So I'll think of something else later.

You know how all those writers told you to "let go"?

Let go.

I've learned that I can finish a story. Making it publishable is another battle altogether.

I've learned that adjectives are my friends, and I need to use them more often.

I've learned that publishing is a sloooooooow business. No, really.

That my love of commas is rather a problem.

How to flesh out a climax so it's actually climatic as opposed to a rushed finale.

That sometimes I'm too subtle for my own good.

That I write lean in the first draft, and I must work to overcome my white room syndrome and plot hole-itis in the later drafts.

That I shouldn't fight my instincts to shorten pieces, that I can write depressing as all hell stories without letting it impact my personal life, that I can get published in decent lit journals again.

I learnt not to overuse description and how to begin scenes better. I think back to some of the scene openings in my novel Atlantis Reborn and shudder violently now. I opened almost every scene with a description of the weather or a supernatural event that would last from between a paragraph to seven pages long. The two worst ones I can remember have to be one that starts off with a cat running through a kitchen and another one that begins with a detailed description of an eagle flying through a city at night. I look back at it now and think to myself "WHAT THE HELL WAS I DOING?" I told myself at the time that I was "setting the scene" and that it was all relevant. I now know that it wasn't. It was all that description that caused my book to swell to over 1,000 pages long. I still do the odd bad opening. The beginning of a short story of mine called Tears of a Goddess got ripped to shreds by Queen of Swords if I remember correctly. lol. I try to use less description now and not begin everything with an epic image of gods controlling the weather. I've been experimenting with beginning stories with dialogue. I'm terrible at beginnings but I think I'm getting better. I've also learnt how important it is to create plot outlines and not let sub-plots get out of control.

What I've learned about my writing this year:

* That if I take a break from writing or stop making it a regular thing, I'll struggle to get back into doing it regularly.

* That I should really, really learn to take notes as I go along, the better to keep track of things (and not have to take a break to take notes and then lose my routine).

* That I must put a note to readers on my first chapters to let them know that the prologue, if there is one, is part of the story and if they've skipped it, they've skipped my story's beginning. (That one was honestly something I never knew until visiting this forum.)

I'm refraining from adding to the list above that I've learned my writing is useless and boring and bla bla bla because I always seem to feel that at some point, it's not unique to any particular year.

I've learned that I can do it in way under a decade. I can do it in more or less half a year.

I share a lot of the "I learned"s others have posted. The most important was this one:

I learned that my writing has the potential to be commercial/competitive.

When I first sat down to write my novel, I'd expected to write a quiet "indie" story that wouldn't make very much money but would give me some satisfaction. One of the agents who rejected me said that my writing had the potential to be more mainstream, and that she'd look at anything else I wrote in the future.
I worked on a more commercial story, which was WAY out of my comfort zone, and upon completing it was offered a contract by that same agent. I really truly feel that I lucked out, because that encouragement was all I needed to step past my comfort zone and dream bigger.

I've learned how to trim down my writing to cut out the excess fat. I was good at it when I was news writing nearly two decades ago, but I got into bad habits of wordiness by the time I started Freelance Writing Ver. 2.0.

I've learned that I can get a book contract if I just focus and submit, submit, submit.

I've learned that success can be dependent on (or at least hurried by) being in the right place at the right time.

I've learned that I'm doomed to non-fiction writing forever because I can't just can't sell a short story.

I learned that I like writing omniscient viewpoint far more than any other and have been probably trying to write in it for a long time.

I learned how to outline in a way that works for me.

I learned I can come up with a book with a great hook.

I learned how to deal with writing short.

I've learned that I use way too many "She's" and "He's" in my writing.

I've learned that I can be productive if I try.

I've learned that publication feels way better than rejection, but that either one can be a huge motivator to keep going.

I've learned that I'm not so sure I've got the "show don't tell" thing down at all.

I've learned to not keep rereading what has been published and mentally trying to make it better.

I've learned that I am most comfortable writing short stories of approx 1,500 words. (and the stories seem to always finish themselves at just around that word count.)

I've learned that there may actually be a genre for my writing: Magical Realism.

I've learned that I like writing magical realism so much more than anything else.

I've learned that if I stay off the Internet I get a helluva lot more work done. Which is why I haven't been here for the last year.

I've learned that taking a break after a first draft is a two-edged sword; too short and you can't see objectively, leave it too long and the project suffers.

I've learned that while my writing style is passable, I come up short in the storytelling department. Individual scenes are no problem, but a coherent novel is a stretch for me. Not insurmountable, but difficult.

I've learned that if you let the fear of failing take over, you'll fail.

I've learned that I'm never going to be as good as I wanted to be, but I'm not half as bad a writer as I'd feared I might be.

Oh, it still sucks. Just a bit less.

I learned that the majority of stuff I write isn't for mainly grown adults but rather for people the age I pretend (And will always) which is 16-20.

I also learned that even I sometimes get pretty good ideas.

And I learned that if all of these people can land agents, I can too =)

kuwisdelu said:

That writing is a whole lot more difficult for me in times of good mental health.

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I have never agreed more with a statement. DITTO.

That other people like it way more than I do. I think this year was all about learning to be more disciplined.

That I can't do plot books. Concept, character, and style books for me.

Ive lernt more bout righting in da ten months i been hear then i lernt my hole life.

Richard

That my writing can and should be improved.
That it didn't hurt to have some wind taken from my sail.
That I need, and appreciate criticism.