From Edie: A New Year message for writers on learning from past successes and failures without letting them hold you back as you move forward.
A New Year for Writers: Learning from the Past Without Living There
by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
“I wish I could come back.”
Every year, it happens. A student says it—most of the time, quite a few. High school freshmen who hated middle school. We middle school teachers tried to warn them about the transition to high school. We told them how much more difficult it would be. But they couldn’t wait to be delivered from the prison of middle school—or so they thought.
Then, the summer passed, and they entered the halls of the ivory tower they had longed for. But it wasn’t what they thought. The pace was quicker. The homework load was heavier. Several returned to the middle school hall each morning to tell us they wanted to return. Perhaps I passed them in the high school hall or the lunchroom. “Dr. Wiles, can we come back, please?” Sadly, I had to tell them no.
