When I was trying to decide what to post for A-to-Z letter K, I came across notes on sharing reflections. The idea was to share positive reflections about the writing journey, learned knowledge, and how it changed me. So, here we are.

When I reflect on my writing path, what stands out the most to me is growth: personal growth and growth as an author. My initial experience working with an editor was less than satisfactory. I realized after the fact that I needed to research the post-writing steps: editors, editing, publishers, publishing, and all the rest of it. Armed with this hard-learned knowledge, I took the hit and kept moving forward with my dream of becoming a published author.

My second editor-author relationship was amazing. This editor challenged me to become a better writer, and I learned a lot from the experience. The difference between the two experiences made me realize I wanted to help authors in the positive way my editor assisted me. So, I launched myself on a trajectory to earn an editing certificate from an Editors Canada-recognized program. I love editing; I would not have known if it wasn’t for my writing experiences. Now I am a certified editor, running a freelance editing business.

I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes; that is how we learn and grow. I learned that we, as the author, are always right about our manuscripts (even when we aren’t). I have learned not to rush any of the steps because each one is important and needs to be learned and understood to get the most out of it. There are resources out there for educating about the steps of writing, editing, publishing, and marketing.

When I sat down to write this post, I thought I would write about criticism and feedback because it can be such a rollercoaster and one of the harder places to consider or learn from. Instead of a long post about that, I will share one thing (out of many) that I learned about feedback, criticism, and reviews. They are subjective. What one person likes isn’t the same for another. Each person might read a book; one person hates it for a particular reason, but that reason is exactly why another loves it. Don’t get stuck here. Do your best, be proud of your manuscript, and aim to please your target reader groups.

My positive takeaway is that I will continue to do what I love, and I will continue to learn and grow while doing it. What could be better?

I wrote this post for letter K of the 2025 A-to-Z blog challenge.