Insecure Writers Want to Know
Welcome, fellow IWSG writers, to Adventures in Writing. I’m so glad you are here. I’m excited to be cohosting this month.
In answer to this month’s question, I find it interesting that I still enjoy reading my earlier short stories and essays. Not that I read them often. I only have one longer published work. Determination: A Mother of Five Conquers College, my memoir published in May of 2025.
I probably need more distance from my stories, essays, or memoir to see if I still enjoy them in the same manner.
Now this is not to say that I don’t find myself tweaking sentences and word choice here and there in my mind as I read. But the main action or point of the story or essay holds firm. I write lean. I’m involved in the movement of the story or essay.
I don’t enjoy getting bogged down in the details when I read something. However, when I read my college memoir, I do wish I had added more scene or emotional details in some places.
I want to thank those of you, dear fellow IWSG writers, who have read Determination: A Mother of Five Conquers College and left a review on Goodreads or Amazon—or both. As authors, we all know the importance of reviews. I review every book I read on both social media platforms. For the reader, of course, but also for my fellow authors. This is an important part of marketing for our books. Reviews help our books get noticed in all the noise online. Reviews help readers find our books and decide whether the book is for them.
So thank you, kind IWSG friends, for reading Determination and leaving reviews on Goodreads and Amazon. Writers helping writers. That’s what IWSG is all about.
Now I’m off to see what you have to say about reading your previous work. Happy IWSG Day, everyone!
Thank you for stopping by my little spot on the web. Please come again! And please sign up for my FREE monthly newsletter to find tips on writing and camping. It’s greatly appreciated.
This post was written for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I’d like to thank my fellow co-hosts for February: J Lenni Dorner, and Sandra Cox! Please visit them if you can.
Our group posts on the first Wednesday of every month. To join us, or learn more about the group, click HERE.
Glad you still enjoy reading older works. Like you, I write lean, so adding more depth is probably what I would want to change.
Thanks for co-hosting!
Yes, I enjoy “lean” stories. But then again, like you, that’s where I would probably add more depth to prior prose.
Happy Insecure Writers Support Group Day, Alex.
I tend to get embarrassed by mistakes I’ve made with grammar that seem obvious to me now, but 10 years ago, I didn’t see it at all. Shows how much you learn over time when you keep fixing your own mistakes. 😁
Sometimes, I think, the grammar errors happen in the copy editing process, and even errors happen in the printing. I’m a grammar geek. I notice everything. And still, the AI programs introduce errors into the text.
Renee, there should be no “faults” in our previous writing. We are learning each day. Thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing!
Reviews are important. Keep writing and learning. 😊
Always, Jamie. Always. Thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing! Happy IWSG day!
I think we all see things we wish we had written differently when reading what we wrote in the past.
This is so true. To me, it’s like watching and listening to myself on a podcast. I always see something I wish I could have changed.
It’s always a pleasure, Natalie, seeing you here at Adventures in Writing!
I tend to like lean writing. It’s the trend these days. Too much purple prose is a thing of the past.
I so agree, Crystal. I like a clean, crisp story. I enjoy the action, the dialogue, and the inner dialogue.
Thanks so much for visiting Adventures in Writing. Happy IWSG day!
I am the opposite. I write fat and have to cut, cut, cut! Thank you for co-hosting IWSG today.
It doesn’t count on the first draft, Liza. First, we need to get the story out of our heads and onto the page. But then you are correct. Cut the fat when necessary.
Thanks so much for visiting Adventures in Writing. Happy IWSG day!
Same. I’m revising now. The messy first draft was about the right length. The revision is ballooning as I add more character depth, more description, etc. I’ll have to cut it back on my next pass.
The gift of revision. First the messy draft. Then we refine. And refine means adding depth to our stories. Then you are correct. Sometimes we need to cut after we have the whole story told. All the luck with your revision, Janet!
Even the book I just published… when I read aloud from it, I do a bit of tweaking and editing on the spot. And that’s in spite of having read it aloud as part of the final polishing process! Since I’m writing a series, in some ways it would be very good to do a re-read of the whole thing each time I’m about to start drafting a new book. Yeah, not happening 😀
I know what you mean, Rebecca, about revising as I read my manuscript. No matter how many times I read my manuscript. I can’t imagine dealing with a whole series. You go, girl!
I wish I spent more time reading things I didn’t write. I don’t do much intensive reading these days. Random reading usually and reading a book takes me a long time these days.
Taking a long time to read a book does not matter, Arlee. Go for it! Thanks so much for your comment here at Adventures in Writing. Happy IWSG day!
I find that I also itch to tweak and refine when I read what I wrote in prior years. My writing style and sensibilties have changed as I’ve taken classes, workshops, or gained feedback in my writers group. It’s all good, me thinks!
I think it is good to gain knowledge and insight through classes, workshops, or feedback, too, PJ. Thanks so much for sharing your insight here at Adventures in Writing. Happy IWSG day!
Reviews are important. I have a love/hate relationship with Amazon’s new star-rating-only option. I wish they’d at least have lists of pros and cons that readers could choose from (fast paced, well-developed characters, poor editing, etc.). When I’m deciding whether or not to buy a book, I want to know why readers rated it the way they did.
Thanks for co-hosting.
Yes, Melissa. I do, too. There is always a “why” behind a rating. Sheesh! I didn’t even know Amazon had a “star-rating-only” option. As a writer AND a reader, I need to know why something is good or bad. Thanks for sharing your insight here at Adventures in Writing. Happy a beautiful day!
I like what I wrote in the past too. Sometimes, I would reread a story of mine and think: what a great story, as if someone else wrote it.
Good for you, Olga! Bravo! When I read my previous work, I look at it as a reader first. Then as a writer. Thanks for your note. Have a great day!
Like Olga, I often am pleasantly surprised by what I wrote in the past. Usually what I see that needs to be fixed is what I still struggle with: plotting and structure. But that is fixable.
In fact, I’m currently reworking my very first novel. And so far, it’s going well (I think).
Oh, and I just ordered your book!
God bless you, Jenni. Thank you with all my heart. Please let me know what you think of it.
Plotting and structure are sooo difficult. For many writers. But you are correct. They ARE fixable. All the luck with your “reworking” of your first novel. More power to you!
“lean” as a descriptive word for writing is new to me. That was my vice for many years. I’m still fighting to fatten up my stories.
Reading through old works is mostly a pleasure for writers I think. At least a majority of the posts and comments I read today say so.
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Charlotte! I’m so glad you are here.
No, sometimes I need to “fatten up MY stories,” too. Yes, I believe it can be a joy to read our old work, too. Thanks so much for visiting. Please come again!
We’ll probably always see something we would want to change if reading an old work. But the good thing is we can apply the lesson going forward. Writing lean is an aspiration for me because I do tend to overexplain things. However, I wouldn’t want it to be too sparse either.
Absolutely, we don’t want to be too sparse in our descriptions of place or character or what is happening in our story. It’s easy to overexplain things in story. Sometimes I start that way too. Then I revise. The best tip you offer, Nick, is to grow in our writing, learning from our previous work.
Thanks for sharing your insight here at Adventures in Writing.
I think there’s only one of my published short stories that I’d like to edit. But a couple of them still bring a smile to my face.
Thanks for co-hosting!
Not bad, Loni, if only one of your published short stories might need a bit of editing. Bravo that others make you smile! Good for you being published.
And thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing. Stay strong, dear friend.
Reviews are really important. Especially when readers are deciding to take a chance on an indie author.
Happy IWSG day! I’m co-hosting this month.
“A good book gets better at the second reading. A great book at the third.” — Tyler DeVries
J (he/him 👨🏽 or 🧑🏽 they/them) @JLenniDorner ~ Speculative Fiction & Reference Author and Co-host of the April Blogging #AtoZChallenge international blog hop
Thanks for cohosting with me this month, JLenni. I believe we get more out of a book the second and third time we read it. Thanks for visiting.
Happy IWSG day and thanks for Co hosting this month.
Like you I tweak a word here and a sentence there when I re-read my own work but on the whole I’m quite proud of it.
I don’t write lean and I wish that I left out some of the detail now. You live and learn.
And you should be proud of your own work, Kalpana. All writers should be proud of our work. That doesn’t mean we may want to tweak a word or two every once in a while.
And yes! We all should live and learn. Thanks for visiting Adventures in Writing. Please stop by again!
Great post! I was smiling and nodding as I read your experience with rereading 😉 Thank you for sharing and for co-hosting this month!
My pleasure, Diedre. And thank you for visiting Adventures in Writing. Thanks for your kind words. I truly appreciate them. Have a great weekend.
After conquering college, any self-doubt about writing is probably far less significant.
Seriously, Larry. Yet…doubt still creeps into my writing confidence every once in a while. Or rather, my marketing skills. A whole new endeavor that I really must take more seriously.
Thanks for your comment here at Adventures in Writing. Have a great week!
I agree about reviews. What a gift to an author. They say even a bad review is good because the author may discover something necessary to change in order to make the story better, especially if several readers point out a problem.
So true, JQ. This is how I read my manuscript comments as well. If more than one person fixates on a certain problem in the story, I need to fix it.
Thanks for offering your insight here at Adventures in Writing. Have a great week!
Congrats on the memoir publication. So great when hard work and perseverance pay off. I’m a reader of epic novels, but sometimes I feel the authors could have written “leaner” by not repeating concepts and story reminders every other chapter. Lol, this is why I don’t write reviews.
Thanks for co-hosting this month.
Hello and welcome to Adventures in Writing, Donna. I’m so glad you are here.
Good point with repetition. Always important to look for it in our manuscripts. I feel epic novels are truly difficult to create. The writer always worries about repetition or taking the chance that the reader will get lost in the verbiage.
Please stop by Adventures in Writing again. Have a great week!
Thanks for co-hosting this month. I think it’s cool that you’ve written a memoir. I’m currently in the process of writing one and it’s been an emotional process. I love that you write book reviews. I do too. I wish more writers would as well.
Memoirs are usually emotional experiences for the memoirist. But it helps the writer to remember to add the emotion level to the story.
And yes, Toi, I wish other writers would write reviews as well. Have a great week!