Learning from my mistakes

In my reading for the week, I finished a short story.  It was a Christmas story—not the movie—but the time frame.  :)  The setting was perfect, and the main characters were lovely.  Even thought it was evident that they were going to end up together by the end of the story, it was fun seeing how they got there.  However, I noticed that there were several grammatical errors throughout the story.  How does this happen?  Does the editor not catch it?  Did the publishing company who printed the story make a mistake?  These are my first thoughts, yet most readers are going to blame the author.  Of course, this reminded me yet again how important it is to write, revise, write, revise, write, revise, and also to double and triple check my work.  We are all human; therefore, we are going to make mistakes.  Yet it is better not to make these types of clumsy errors when it comes to writing. 

It is so funny that I was thinking about this, because a friend of mine had an article covering this very subject on her blog this week.  Our writing truly does reflect who we are—our thoughts, passions, pursuits—absolutely everything—including our flaws and mistakes.  Our words are a presentation of ourselves.  That is such a humbling thought. 

We all know to be careful in our speech, but I have always thought we need to be even more careful when it comes to putting pen to paper.  The pen is mightier than the sword.  Once your words are down on paper, they cannot be taken back.  They are there forever staring at you and the person who receives them.  As a writer, this is imperative to remember.  What I write matters. 

With that thought, I began working on my own writing.  Remembering to do my best with the words I choose, because I want my story to make a difference in the lives of those who read it.  I don’t want them struggling to get through my story, because they have to stumble over my mistakes. 

I know that writing is a process, and I am definitely not an expert at it by any means.  I know I will make my own writing mistakes, but my goal is to continue to learn and improve over time.  Never stop learning.  :)  

I hope you all have a lovely week!  

P.S.  I wanted to let everyone know my writing schedule for my blog.  I will update my blog every Saturday.  For special events and announcements, I will have an extra entry.  Please sign up for my blog, so that you don’t miss an entry.  Thank you again for your support!