The Insecure Writer's Support Group is the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. He, his clones, minions, friends, and fellow authors make it an amazing event every month.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!
January 5 question - What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?
As a teacher, I believe that a person who doesn't make mistakes is a person who isn't trying anything new or challenging.
Making mistakes and taking wrong turns is part of learning. We get something from every step we take, whether that step works out or not. I don't spend a lot of time looking back and thinking about mistakes. I'd rather look forward to what I can do better next time.
However... I think my biggest regret might be not realizing I had uploaded the wrong file for one (okay 2) of my books. Instead, I uploaded the files from the next-to-last edit round. With multiple typos and errors. Not a ton, but still far too many!
It took me almost a year to realize my errors and correct them. Sigh.
How about you? Any publishing horror stories in your past? Anyone else upload the wrong file? Anyone else learn the hard way to triple-check their uploads?
48 comments:
Oops! Hey, at least you caught it.
Making mistakes is how we learn.
Happy New Year, Jemi!
For me, the word 'regret' is not the correct word.
Ups-and-downs are an integral part of the journey and help to shape us into the writers we are!
P.S. A visit to my beautiful country is a 'must' on your bucket list!
Hi and Happy New Year!
I can identify with the publishing mistake. I did it with one of my books, and it took me six months to get it right. Yet as you say, I learned a lot and hopefully will not make that same mistake again.
All the best and take care.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
Uploading the wrong file would be a nightmare for me. I stress when I make a mistake like prodding my illustrator for the full wraparound when I haven't even ordered the bar code yet. Yup, done that!
I think you have a great outlook on making mistakes and not looking back and regretting things.
I've noticed errors right after i hit that send button to agents/publishers because i used the wrong file to copy from. I learned to just breathe and not hit send so quickly. Thanks for sharing!
I agree that we learn from our mistakes as they are our best teacher.
I've definitely learned the hard way to triple check those file uploads. :)
To learning from our mistakes! Cheers!
That could happen to anyone! And such a good point about mistakes being part of the learning process.
Big oops - but at least it's fixed! :)
It's definitely on the bucket list! Hubby and I are mostly homebodies, but one day when the world is in better shape we may just venture forth!
We live and we learn!
All the best for 2022, Pat!
LOL - there's so much to keep track of! Thank goodness for spreadsheets!
It's not worth my time and energy! I always need more of both!
Just breathing and taking time are such smart ideas!
Cheers!!! And onwards!
It was such a silly mistake, but I've got a better process in place now!
Very true about making mistakes,,,, yes we do learn from them.
Hope you are well and have a wonderful New Year.
Year,
Oh yeah. I've definitely made a few mistakes. I agree, we are all learning. Mistakes get made as we learn and thankfully, we do learn. :)
Thanks, Yvonne! We're good here - sending best wishes your way for 2022!
Thankfully!!! I'd hate to keep making the same mistakes over and over again!
That is the best regret I've seen all day. So true! Never did it. Having readers comment on the occasional type is cringeworthy enough for me!
I know exactly what you felt when you uploaded the wrong files! Been there. You definitely do not have the corner on that mistake. Grrr. However, you fixed it and the world continued to spin. Have a great 2022 with lots of learning mistakes that can be fixed. :-)
Your mistake was infuriating - but you DID catch it, and fix it. Which is a plus.
And yes, we learn from our mistakes (and sometimes sadly repeatedly).
I truly believe things learned the hard way are a little easier to remember. Speaking as a student of the School of Hard Knocks. ;-)
Anna from elements of emaginette
Mistakes are inevitable if one is making any kind of effort, but I just cringe at the kind that are on view for the entire world to see. I have to fall back on the line I used to use with my daughter, "well, at least it didn't kill me." 😆
I know!!! I rarely read reviews - but one complaint about an error caught my eye - and had me realizing what I'd done!
Sounds like a perfect wish to me!!
All the best to you as well, Lee!
Yes, I'm so glad I eventually caught it!! Phew!
You and me both, Patty!!
I agree - didn't realize we'd been to the same school!!! :P
LOL - sounds like my new mantra!
I agree. We DO learn from our mistakes. Or, WE SHOULD. That is terrible about your downloads. Thankfully, you didn't lose your manuscript altogether.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, JEMI! All the best for 2022!
Happy new year, Michael! Congrats again on your story being in the IWSG anthology!
Great post, Jemi. I agree absolutely: you learn from your mistakes and then put them behind you and look to the future. Otherwise, we would all be mired in the past and not accomplish anything.
As someone who just meticulously checked and uploaded files for ye new booke that freaks me right out! But yes, mistakes will happen. After all, how can we learn without making mistakes?
The Warrior Muse
Mistakes are certainly the best teachers. Ooops about uploading the wrong files. The stuff nightmares are made of. Happy New Year :)
Exactly! Life's tough enough without dwelling!
I know!! You have no idea how careful I am with files now!!!
LOL - I've had more than a few nightmares over that one!!
All the best for 2022, Kalpana!
Ooooh... I could see why that regret would stick with you after all this time. After working so hard to get rid of errors, it's a killer to let a few through anyway. But what's done is done and you learned from it, so count your blessings.
Happy 2022!
I am! Sometimes you just have to shrug and move on! :)
That is a good way to look at it. We have all made mistakes along the way.
We have - and hopefully most of them aren't too big!
I love your outlook on mistakes and learning from them. I sometimes think we can't grow if there aren't a few mistakes along the way.
Totally agree, Mason!!
Happy New Year to you and your family, Jemi! I'm still on hiatus but slowly returning to online life--here's wishing you all good things in the new year. So inspired by your take on mistakes--learning from them is so important.
Thanks, Damyanti! I hope you and yours have a positive and peaceful 2022!
Post a Comment