Writer's Digest: Find inspiration in your completed writing

We're often cautioned not to dwell on the past — but to learn from it.

That's what Michael Woodson urges his fellow writers to do.

The content editor for Writer's Digest is the latest contributor to the magazine's series on big-picture mistakes that writers often make.

His suggestion to writers is to do what he did: look back at a previously finished story (in his case, one he wasn't satisfied with) and — with kindness — find what was done well and what you would've done differently at this point.

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