Uh Oh! I Made a Mistake

Writing is a wonderful experience when things are going well and the words pour from your fingertips like water over a fall, but what about those times when you realise you’ve got it wrong?

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The great days can be great indeed. Words tumble from your fingertips with ease and this writing lark seems like a walk in the park. Other times things can be tough and frustrating. But whatever sort of day I’m having there is a chance that, as I write away, a nagging doubt starts to creep into my mind.

I’ll probably try ignoring it at first. But, these things can be persistent little wotsits. Nag, nag, they go. Eventually, I’m worn down to the point of defeat and run up the white flag, humbly seeking terms for my capitulation.

The cause of this is the realisation that I’ve made a mistake, got something wrong or can simply do better. For example, I was writing a scene this morning where I already knew what scene would follow. In fact, I’d already scribbled down quite a few notes for that follow-up scene and was most pleased with it.

Unfortunately, however, that familiar nagging doubt began to make itself known and, when I stopped to see what the problem was, I realised that follow-up scene just wasn’t going to sit in the right place. It needed moving.

I had another experience the other day where a character I had been working with for a couple of weeks began to feel wrong. As the story progressed I realised they simply didn’t fit the role they had been given.

These are two fairly tame examples and there have been other occasions when I’ve got a lot further down the road before that persistent nagging doubt has begun to make itself known.

It can get a little frustrating. After all, by the time this happens I may have invested significant time and energy into a character or scene, but I have to come realise that the only possible reaction I can have here is to simply run up the white flag, make my changes and move on. Resistance is futile, as I’m sure somebody somewhere once said.

Anyway, sure as eggs is eggs, if I don’t do something about it then my editor certainly will. She knows a duff piece of writing when she reads it and she gets plenty of practice, or so she tells me. And, if I leave things that long, I’ve simply got to spend even more time and energy correcting things.

So, when the inevitable happens, I say own it, correct it and move on, however much time and effort you’ve invested up to that point. It’s the only real way to deal with that mistake.