When I was a teacher, I remember lamenting that everyone who has ever been a student believed they could do the job themselves. That by virtue of sitting in a classroom for twelve years (or so), they’d been gifted with the competence to run one. It was one of the (many) frustrations of being an educator—despite your degrees, despite your training, despite the time and energy you put into bettering your craft, everyone thinks they could do your job, and likely better than you’re doing it.

 Then I retired and decided I wanted to try my hand at being a writer.

 After all, I’ve read a lot of books, right? I taught journalism; I spent much of my career evaluating the written word. This should come naturally, right?

 Hahahahaha! Joke’s on you, Lori Roberts Herbst. I owe a profound apology to authors who have toiled over their craft. This gig ain’t easy. 

 But this old woman is learning. The Trial-and-Error teacher is a grueling taskmaster as she clutches her red pen, but ultimately she is a fabulous coach. In the two years I’ve journeyed on this quest, I’ve come to realize that…wait for it…being a voracious reader doesn’t make you a gifted writer.

 I’ve made a lot of mistakes along this path. In fact, I still make a lot of mistakes. Just not the same ones, thankfully. And I’m getting better with every week that passes, with every chapter I write. But if I’d known when I started what I know now…

 What I’d do differently

 Understand my genre. I’m not interested in writing the Great American Novel. I want to write lovely, fun, puzzling, character-driven cozy mysteries. If I had realized that from the get-go, I would have saved myself a lot of false starts. I would have studied the genre, immersed myself in it. Now that I have, my path is a lot clearer.

 Lower my self-expectations. When I decided to write a novel, I expected the words to flow from my brain to my fingertips like inspired rays of sunshine. When that didn’t happen, I spent more than a little time mired in self-doubt. Wasted time, of course. Once I started seeing myself as a beginner rather than an expert, the task became so much more fun.

 Wait to spend money on a cover. The cover I had designed is lovely, but it is not suitable for the genre I’m writing. Jumping the gun cost me not only a few dollars but a bit of frustration as well.

 Revise more before querying agents. I’m a little iffy on whether I’d really do this one differently. I definitely started querying agents before my book was ready. But the querying process did help me improve the book, so maybe it was a “good” mistake. Still, knowing what I do now, I better understand the level of revision that needs to happen before putting the work out there for public consumption.

 In my next blog, I’ll explore what I did right—and there were a few things. But now, off to work on the book.

 Feel free to send comments and messages: what are some of the things in your own life, career, craft that you would do differently?