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Obviously we all improve at whatever crafts we take up with time. Skill in a craft is like a fine wine that undoubtedly improves with age. This is why hardly any great writers are under the age of thirty, though there are a few notable exceptions. Even though I am not yet close to the average age of the successful writer I am well aware that I have improved by leaps and bounds over my abilities a decade ago. In terms of my essays there is much I should have known.

I should have paid a bit more attention to the rules of grammar and proper punctuation. These things can kill ones appreciation for your work quicker than anything else and I learned it too late in some cases. While I would fly through my essay with no care in the world for the rules of others little did I know I was losing valuable readers along the way. Most notably my English teacher.

I should have given greater heed to the preliminary processes of preparing for the essay itself. Brainstorming and even more importantly outlining allow you to organize your thoughts. This makes the process of writing the essay not only easier but has a direct effect on the end result by keeping it highly organized. Many times I would write off the cuff and let my emotions carry me on a diatribe few would follow.

I should have learned more about the subjects at hand before writing about them. There were times in class when I would think that my ability to embellish ideas would allow me to take a skeletal amount of information and give off the illusion that it was something more substantial. By underestimating my audience (and teachers) writing those ill informed essays amounted to little more than wasted time.

I should have cited sources. This was a common flaw in my expository essays. Parenthetical citation and myself were not well acquainted. Not only does this mean I was at times violating Copyright Law, it also robbed me of a chance to add the weight of outside credibility to my articles.

I should have rewritten my work more often. Twain said, "Writing is rewriting." This was probably my biggest flaw. I would think the essay done as well as I could the first time around and thus laughed at the need for revision. Huge mistake.

By not thoroughly proofreading my work I made obvious errors that showed a lack of professionalism to all who read them. You can write the most brilliant thing in the world but no one will truly and fully respect it if you misspell the word "the" twice! And even after I started using spell check that would not save me entirely. I make mistakes like writing "form"instead of "from"all the time. These are the type of things that escape the spell check but would be caught with a thorough proofreading. I left that for other people to do and the results of my work suffered for it.

I have plenty of regrets in my life. Who doesn't? Writing is actually one of the things I feel most good about overall. This does not change the fact that if I had known then what I know now about the rules of writing my work would have been much better for it. I suppose the lessons we make harder for ourselves seep in all the deeper when they take hold, though. For that much I am thankful.

Learn more about this author, Royce Radcliffe.
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