IWSG Day Question: What is one valuable lesson you’ve learned since you started writing?
Yep, just answering the question this month. Figure it’s better than my fretting about pretty much the same thing I have been for months.
I guess the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that I need to write what makes me happy. If I can make some others happy along the way, great! If not, well, at least it’s still my story. I went through I forget how many revisions on some projects, trying to make the massive changes people suggested and suddenly it wasn’t my story anymore and I was forcing my characters to act in ways they wouldn’t.
And of course this meant they didn’t play well with me.
In a way, I suppose this is also a lesson in finding people to look over my work who aren’t trying to change it to their story. I was losing what made it mine. I’m completely open to fixing issues and ramping things up in areas or what have you, but also in recognizing when a recommendation isn’t worth taking.
On that same note, those recommendations can shed light on an aspect I need to bring more to the forefront. While I may not take directly what is said, I do pay attention and take it under consideration.
And I’m sure my groups think me weird when my brain starts taking off on a suggestion, trying to figure out how I can incorporate what is being said.
J.C. Jackson 
Yeah, I’ve had to do my share of learning which ideas to follow and which ones to ignore in my stuff too. Many ideas I can’t use because they either don’t work with my world or the character or even the timeline. But occasionally there’s a gem there that I’ll pursue. And sometimes, if it’s backed up with enough to convince me of its necessity, I’ll rewrite the entire book and change the series to implement a suggested change. 🙂
You definitely want critique partners who only fix the technical and flow, not your voice.