Conversations with the past
What would you say to your sixteen-year-old self if you could go back (assuming you're over 16 as you read this)? My first thought was 'read Neuromancer' but when I thought about it, I'm fairly sure I was told about William Gibson at, if not 16, then not much older than that, and I didn't listen. Or rather, I stored the name at the back of my mind, never happened to see a book by him in a library or second-hand bookshop, told myself for a couple of years that I didn't read sci-fi, then finally got round to him in my late 20s.
My next thought was 'don't feel obliged to keep reading a book you're not enjoying' but then I can think of a couple of books I've loved, that didn't impress me during the first few chapters. If I took my older self's advice too seriously, what might I miss out on?
A fairly safe one would be 'don't let the doubts set in about writing'. I used to write stories all the time, and when I was 18 or so and confident of my own undeveloped abilities I even sent a couple off. They were of course rejected, and as I got a little older I experienced the horror of realising I'd sent out some pretty poor material. Instead of using that as a spur to learning the craft, looking at what I thought was wrong and trying to improve it, I decided I'd been presumptious. I wasn't a writer and never would be, and it was best to admit that, sit back and enjoy reading other (real) authors' efforts. If I'd kept going, I might have reached the level I'm at now a few years sooner, when I had more time and energy and less in the way of responsibilities and competing activities. But then I wouldn't have written the stories I have written, and my experiences would have been different. So maybe I should let the sixteen-year-old me get on with it and make the same mistakes I did. I wouldn't have listened to my older self anyway.