Your Writing Isn’t Always Going to be So Great and That’s Okay!

You’re going through old essays you wrote when you were in school. Maybe those you kept for one reason or another from that creative writing course you took during your freshman year in college.

Or, to make it maybe a little more relatable, someone comments on a story you wrote a year ago. So, people are still finding your older stories. Great! You go back to read that almost forgotten story you wrote so long ago.

In both situations, do you find your writing as good or at least the same as it is now? Or do you read your older stories and think, “Ugh! What was I thinking?”

Other times, that feeling of looking back at older work doesn’t just apply to work you’ve written years ago, but even just last week or even yesterday.

One of the best writing advice I’ve came across is the fact that sometimes you’re writing isn’t going to be the greatest from the get-go. There will be times when you’re going to look back at something you wrote and simply think,

No, I can do better than this!

Writings that you just want to delete or tear out and crumble up.

In a way, that’s a great thing to happen because it means you’re growing and improving as a writer! There have been stories I’ve written in the past that I look back on and realize improvements I could have made. It’s a learning experience that comes with being a writer.

I’ve always liked this advice because it gives me reassurance that bad days in writing are only temporary. Sometimes, when I’m writing a story, the words I want to use just don’t come to me at the time I need them. I write down the basics of what I mean so I don’t forget what I want to say. It’s not my best writing but at least I got my thoughts down. I can always go back to it as I edit.

Days later, I’m going to look back at that section of writing and think, “Um, no. I thought of a better way to write this.”

Delete and rewrite.

I assure you that your writing does NOT suck. You're just becoming a better and more experienced writer!