Editing My Life
I am putting the final touches on the outline for my next book. This effort includes a character biography that lists connections to other characters (knows Sally through work), facts (lives on Evergreen Terrace), and traits (shifty, dresses in expensive clothing).
I have learned that the most crucial part of creating a character is the negative traits, because they are the core of what readers relate to. Overcoming issues lifts positive characters (I better stop drinking if I want to get my life together) and gives the reader something to despise in a negative character.
I have learned the VERY hard way to avoid traits that read poorly. One of my biggest pet peeves is the know-it-all. I am sure in your daily life, you have encountered a person who cannot stop telling you how smart they are and goes out of their way to prove it at every opportunity (showing off). So annoying.
Yet… I adore this type of character. They get into bad situations and only have their minds to solve the problem. Wow, what a rush when they succeed.
This is opposed to the Kung Fu master who fights their way out of ten bad guys or the race car driver who speeds away from the police. Then there is the good-looking character who convinces a bunch of people to do what they want with a big smile, or the fast-talker who cons a millionaire out of their money. Too easy.
Readers (negative reviews), editors, and my beta reader (my mother) have all pointed out multiple flaws in my books. As a result, I now spend many hours at the outline stage, preventing problems, and even more time during self-editing, fixing them.
For example, the editor of my second book identified my first know-it-all character. Because the book was written, I could not alter the plot, so I reduced the impact of the arrogance. In one instance, instead of “thinking up” a solution, the character recalled how their snarky/extroverted former wife intimidated people into getting her way. The result was less “I know better than you” and more “I appreciate my former wife’s abilities.” The change made the character more likable without altering the plot.
Back to my outline work. I was looking for my “usual suspects” and did not spot any major issues, but I did feel there were some lingering side-plot problems. With those identified, I took a walk to noodle up solutions.
During this creative time, a plan began to form to change the character’s biography, adding targeted traits to address the issues. I think making a side character’s occupation a teacher will resonate better.
As I pondered, I randomly asked myself, “What would I edit out of my life to make me more appealing?” To be clear, this was not (though it is related) to a list of what I would change in my life.
Specifically, what changes would I make to develop a better life story (an autobiography)? Now, we must take a step back and recall that this is a writing exercise and writers have nearly endless freedom. This means I could have superpowers, but this was not where I wanted to go. I changed the thought to, “How would I edit my life to make it universally appealing (a better read)?”
This thought experiment rattled around my bonkers mind, but I did not develop a list of changes on my walk. When I get a thought stuck in my head, it builds until I force myself to make a decision. Drop it or embrace it. I decided to see the thought experiment through. To do so, I took a bike ride a few days later. By the end, I had developed some ideas.
I am not complaining, but my life is boring. Besides having a wonderful family, career, and good health, I have not had many noteworthy accomplishments. For example, no major awards, scientific papers, or media-worthy events. These are the kinds of achievements readers like to sink their teeth into.
But hold on. Readers (at least in my mind and in my books) dislike sudden dramatic events (winning the lottery), they prefer multiple realistic choices leading to something extraordinary. Thus, the first thing to address was improving my charisma and confidence. This is the “edit” I invented.
I have never been into sports, but I see how society gravitates towards athletes—and not normal ones. No, I am speaking about the exceptional ones who make a difficult sports achievement seem easy. The high school quarterback who wins the game with a well-executed pass or the baseball player who hits at least one home run per game.
So, let’s edit Bill’s life at a young age and give him a natural baseball talent. As a result, his fellow students, friends, and teachers would be impressed. This would lead to greater popularity and, in turn, naturally foster charisma and confidence. That seems like a solid edit.
How would this change my story? I can see two paths. The first is my present life with more confidence and memories of playing high school/college sports. The second is a professional baseball career. Mmm, I like the first. More tangible. But would this work? Yeah, I think it would because I knew kids who were good at sports, and they certainly had the confidence and charisma to show for it.
Let’s edit something else. It has been a lifelong dream for me to start a company, and my last attempt was three months ago. In total, there have been nine failures, so let’s make one a success. And it might as well be the biggest, my venture into the world of internet advertising.
This would have to be a careful edit because there were significant technical (business) and personality obstacles that stopped us cold. Plus, I must be realistic and admit that my faults were a major factor.
So, I came up with a creative solution — add another member to our team, who would have identified and solved the personality problems. The technical challenges, while substantial, were solvable but required a team effort. And we were far from being a functional team.
The resulting change would have been a large, successful company, lots of money, and something big to be proud of. Of course, those are lofty outcomes, but there would be a dark side. I would have to put in 14-hour days, have infinite stress, and this fourth person would have to solve my issues as well. Side note: Success would not have left much time for writing, and I probably would have had to stop.
The result would be a big change to my life, and I think it would have been a good one. At the very least, it would be a fun autobiography to write long after I retired.
How about my personal life? At present, I am very happily married, but I met my wife later in life. It turns out, in a remarkable coincidence, that I lived across the street from her best friend for a year when we were in our early 20s.
Let’s do a little editing and have us meet back then. While a great idea, I must be realistic and admit I was not much of a catch at that time. (Low-paying/lousy job, and too desperate.) But how about a few years later, when I had my life together? By then, we were living in separate cities, and long-distance relationships never read well.
What about a different wife? The problem is that this is a significant change, and I need to take a detour to explain. The reason our relationship works is a combination of big and small aspects. This includes commonalities, differences, strengths, our connection, romance, and ethics. I dated several women who had traits superior to my wife’s. Still, those relationships did not work out, which means that more than chemistry and compatibility are required in a solid relationship.
Another way of stating this is that finding a woman who checked off all my requirements is far from being enough to maintain a stable relationship. Still, another way of saying this is that I could not “edit” a wife into my early life.
Taking a further sidetrack, the couple in my second book went through many relationship difficulties. Meaning, it was challenging for me as a writer to keep them together, happy, and realistic and interesting to readers. So, if a fictional character was that complicated, imagine a real person. The more I thought about a life edit, the more it seemed like a writing dead end.
Let’s tackle something else. I began writing in 2017, but what if I had begun earlier? In 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle service, so that seems like a reasonable start date.
At the time, I did have one good idea, which eventually became my second book. The problem, to put this mildly, is that my early story was junk. So, let’s get creative.
Enter the retired world-class editor who moved in next door. They get bored and need a project to occupy their time. So, they take young Bill under their wing, foster his ideas, and show him how to write. Because the editor knows all the writing pitfalls, the result is a fantastic book. And, of course, they have the best publishers on speed dial.
Hmm, that is a neat addition to my life. And with that solid foundation, I could have taken writing somewhere much earlier. The autobiography of an award-winning author? That would be a good read.
Alright, enough appetizers, let’s get to the main course. While I do not wish to share the details, school was difficult. What magic editing change would fix this?
That is a tough one because many aspects of my life were conspiring against me. Well, you know the drill. I took a walk, then went for a bike ride to develop an idea. (Yes, this article took some time to write.)
Here is the problem. In school, I saw other kids breezing through class, but it had nothing to do with their intelligence. Some kids picked things up quicker than others. Also, some kids were picked on, while others were not. In my case, I was a head taller than everybody else, skinny as a bean, and had -500% confidence. Meaning, I obviously had the strength to kick every kid’s butt if they messed with me, but I did not dare to hurt a fly.
The edit would have to be large enough to change my personality completely. This is not a minor fix, but a complete teardown. Allow me to pivot to explain.
In college, we had lab classes and lab partners. It is counterintuitive, but my least favorite were the A students. (One would think that I could ask them how to do the lab and get a better grade.)
The problem was that they were used to getting good grades by repeating what the teacher/book said (book-smart). Not me. I had to understand the inner depths of what was going on, or I would get completely stuck. So, I attacked the lab class projects like a wild animal and only proceeded when I knew things cold.
This is where the A students fell flat on their faces because a lab is not a book or a teacher. It is hands-on. My turn to shine because the A students said, “What are you doing?” “I cannot figure this out.” “This is not like the book.” Meanwhile, I was confident in my approach because I was hands-on with every aspect. As a result, I did well in those classes. Later on in life, I did even better. And engineers even have a term for it. “They know their stuff.” I do not wish to brag, but that is me.
So, the edit would be a binary choice. Either I would be an adult built on a weak foundation (had an easy education) or a strong one (built on painful lessons, humiliation, and struggles). Not an easy choice, nor an easy edit.
Allow me to pivot again. It turns out that the outline for my next book has parents raising a brilliant child. Spoiler alert. She is the ambassador to Earth. And I have the same choice. She is obviously intelligent, but should I make her education difficult? After all, I know what my education battle has made me. Well, this little thought experiment just got a little more interesting.
I have a massive ace up my sleeve: my daughter. It turns out (no surprise to fellow parents) that her education battle was far more brutal than it should have been, even though she had intelligence, confidence, and charisma. She even had many friends. I wish I had had that when I was going to school.
Sure, there were the typical student difficulties, challenges, bad textbooks, difficulty understanding topics, surprise tests, and teacher issues. Turns out, those were minor. Perhaps 5%. Then what was going on? We live in California, and several policies have been put in place that have hindered (I would have preferred to use multiple four-letter words instead of “hindered”) a large part of her education.
For example, when she entered middle school (junior high), the math teacher started teaching division. When I asked my daughter about it, she replied with a scowl, “We did this three years ago!” Yet the other kids in her class struggled.
To summarize, my daughter did not learn a thing in middle school. Amusing side story: The principal of her middle school was “reassigned” to a desk job a year after she graduated. There were rumors of an affair with a teacher’s aide and embezzlement.
Because of this thought experiment (these articles are working!) it was obvious that I could not allow my character to have an easy education. This is because in present American society, an easy education is no longer realistic, and writing up a flowery education to show how smart she is would upset readers. (Again, with the know-it-all. I cannot get away from that.)
Thus, I am going to put my character through the same hurdles my daughter went through. And boy, are her parents going to be spitting-nails mad. I am looking forward to writing this chapter—a little writing revenge on the school district. Writing is fun!
Well, what about me? My bike ride provided an idea. It occurred to me that I was missing something akin to a friendly big brother. Say, three years older. He would encourage me, take the time to explain how things worked, be a study-buddy, and tell the bullies to leave me alone.
I can see that working, but the life change would be too radical. Enter four best friends. Call them elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. They would be my surrogate big brother. Help me out and keep my spirits high.
I think my autobiography would read a lot better with someone like them in my early life. Thus, I am going to add a school friend for my character. This addition will read stronger/more realistically. And it would tone down the know-it-all. Nice!
What have I done? I think if I made these life edits, I would be more well-rounded, confident, and happier, resulting in a more readable autobiography.
It seems the only step left is to ask myself if I desire this? While I am a writer and enjoy dreaming up possibilities, I am also realistic. Like Popeye The Sailor Man, “I am what I am.” Meaning, I cannot change my past, and it is a waste of time to think about ways to do so. Still, getting that business off the ground would have been amazing.
You’re the best -Bill
December 24, 2025
I have learned that the most crucial part of creating a character is the negative traits, because they are the core of what readers relate to. Overcoming issues lifts positive characters (I better stop drinking if I want to get my life together) and gives the reader something to despise in a negative character.
I have learned the VERY hard way to avoid traits that read poorly. One of my biggest pet peeves is the know-it-all. I am sure in your daily life, you have encountered a person who cannot stop telling you how smart they are and goes out of their way to prove it at every opportunity (showing off). So annoying.
Yet… I adore this type of character. They get into bad situations and only have their minds to solve the problem. Wow, what a rush when they succeed.
This is opposed to the Kung Fu master who fights their way out of ten bad guys or the race car driver who speeds away from the police. Then there is the good-looking character who convinces a bunch of people to do what they want with a big smile, or the fast-talker who cons a millionaire out of their money. Too easy.
Readers (negative reviews), editors, and my beta reader (my mother) have all pointed out multiple flaws in my books. As a result, I now spend many hours at the outline stage, preventing problems, and even more time during self-editing, fixing them.
For example, the editor of my second book identified my first know-it-all character. Because the book was written, I could not alter the plot, so I reduced the impact of the arrogance. In one instance, instead of “thinking up” a solution, the character recalled how their snarky/extroverted former wife intimidated people into getting her way. The result was less “I know better than you” and more “I appreciate my former wife’s abilities.” The change made the character more likable without altering the plot.
Back to my outline work. I was looking for my “usual suspects” and did not spot any major issues, but I did feel there were some lingering side-plot problems. With those identified, I took a walk to noodle up solutions.
During this creative time, a plan began to form to change the character’s biography, adding targeted traits to address the issues. I think making a side character’s occupation a teacher will resonate better.
As I pondered, I randomly asked myself, “What would I edit out of my life to make me more appealing?” To be clear, this was not (though it is related) to a list of what I would change in my life.
Specifically, what changes would I make to develop a better life story (an autobiography)? Now, we must take a step back and recall that this is a writing exercise and writers have nearly endless freedom. This means I could have superpowers, but this was not where I wanted to go. I changed the thought to, “How would I edit my life to make it universally appealing (a better read)?”
This thought experiment rattled around my bonkers mind, but I did not develop a list of changes on my walk. When I get a thought stuck in my head, it builds until I force myself to make a decision. Drop it or embrace it. I decided to see the thought experiment through. To do so, I took a bike ride a few days later. By the end, I had developed some ideas.
I am not complaining, but my life is boring. Besides having a wonderful family, career, and good health, I have not had many noteworthy accomplishments. For example, no major awards, scientific papers, or media-worthy events. These are the kinds of achievements readers like to sink their teeth into.
But hold on. Readers (at least in my mind and in my books) dislike sudden dramatic events (winning the lottery), they prefer multiple realistic choices leading to something extraordinary. Thus, the first thing to address was improving my charisma and confidence. This is the “edit” I invented.
I have never been into sports, but I see how society gravitates towards athletes—and not normal ones. No, I am speaking about the exceptional ones who make a difficult sports achievement seem easy. The high school quarterback who wins the game with a well-executed pass or the baseball player who hits at least one home run per game.
So, let’s edit Bill’s life at a young age and give him a natural baseball talent. As a result, his fellow students, friends, and teachers would be impressed. This would lead to greater popularity and, in turn, naturally foster charisma and confidence. That seems like a solid edit.
How would this change my story? I can see two paths. The first is my present life with more confidence and memories of playing high school/college sports. The second is a professional baseball career. Mmm, I like the first. More tangible. But would this work? Yeah, I think it would because I knew kids who were good at sports, and they certainly had the confidence and charisma to show for it.
Let’s edit something else. It has been a lifelong dream for me to start a company, and my last attempt was three months ago. In total, there have been nine failures, so let’s make one a success. And it might as well be the biggest, my venture into the world of internet advertising.
This would have to be a careful edit because there were significant technical (business) and personality obstacles that stopped us cold. Plus, I must be realistic and admit that my faults were a major factor.
So, I came up with a creative solution — add another member to our team, who would have identified and solved the personality problems. The technical challenges, while substantial, were solvable but required a team effort. And we were far from being a functional team.
The resulting change would have been a large, successful company, lots of money, and something big to be proud of. Of course, those are lofty outcomes, but there would be a dark side. I would have to put in 14-hour days, have infinite stress, and this fourth person would have to solve my issues as well. Side note: Success would not have left much time for writing, and I probably would have had to stop.
The result would be a big change to my life, and I think it would have been a good one. At the very least, it would be a fun autobiography to write long after I retired.
How about my personal life? At present, I am very happily married, but I met my wife later in life. It turns out, in a remarkable coincidence, that I lived across the street from her best friend for a year when we were in our early 20s.
Let’s do a little editing and have us meet back then. While a great idea, I must be realistic and admit I was not much of a catch at that time. (Low-paying/lousy job, and too desperate.) But how about a few years later, when I had my life together? By then, we were living in separate cities, and long-distance relationships never read well.
What about a different wife? The problem is that this is a significant change, and I need to take a detour to explain. The reason our relationship works is a combination of big and small aspects. This includes commonalities, differences, strengths, our connection, romance, and ethics. I dated several women who had traits superior to my wife’s. Still, those relationships did not work out, which means that more than chemistry and compatibility are required in a solid relationship.
Another way of stating this is that finding a woman who checked off all my requirements is far from being enough to maintain a stable relationship. Still, another way of saying this is that I could not “edit” a wife into my early life.
Taking a further sidetrack, the couple in my second book went through many relationship difficulties. Meaning, it was challenging for me as a writer to keep them together, happy, and realistic and interesting to readers. So, if a fictional character was that complicated, imagine a real person. The more I thought about a life edit, the more it seemed like a writing dead end.
Let’s tackle something else. I began writing in 2017, but what if I had begun earlier? In 2007, Amazon launched the Kindle service, so that seems like a reasonable start date.
At the time, I did have one good idea, which eventually became my second book. The problem, to put this mildly, is that my early story was junk. So, let’s get creative.
Enter the retired world-class editor who moved in next door. They get bored and need a project to occupy their time. So, they take young Bill under their wing, foster his ideas, and show him how to write. Because the editor knows all the writing pitfalls, the result is a fantastic book. And, of course, they have the best publishers on speed dial.
Hmm, that is a neat addition to my life. And with that solid foundation, I could have taken writing somewhere much earlier. The autobiography of an award-winning author? That would be a good read.
Alright, enough appetizers, let’s get to the main course. While I do not wish to share the details, school was difficult. What magic editing change would fix this?
That is a tough one because many aspects of my life were conspiring against me. Well, you know the drill. I took a walk, then went for a bike ride to develop an idea. (Yes, this article took some time to write.)
Here is the problem. In school, I saw other kids breezing through class, but it had nothing to do with their intelligence. Some kids picked things up quicker than others. Also, some kids were picked on, while others were not. In my case, I was a head taller than everybody else, skinny as a bean, and had -500% confidence. Meaning, I obviously had the strength to kick every kid’s butt if they messed with me, but I did not dare to hurt a fly.
The edit would have to be large enough to change my personality completely. This is not a minor fix, but a complete teardown. Allow me to pivot to explain.
In college, we had lab classes and lab partners. It is counterintuitive, but my least favorite were the A students. (One would think that I could ask them how to do the lab and get a better grade.)
The problem was that they were used to getting good grades by repeating what the teacher/book said (book-smart). Not me. I had to understand the inner depths of what was going on, or I would get completely stuck. So, I attacked the lab class projects like a wild animal and only proceeded when I knew things cold.
This is where the A students fell flat on their faces because a lab is not a book or a teacher. It is hands-on. My turn to shine because the A students said, “What are you doing?” “I cannot figure this out.” “This is not like the book.” Meanwhile, I was confident in my approach because I was hands-on with every aspect. As a result, I did well in those classes. Later on in life, I did even better. And engineers even have a term for it. “They know their stuff.” I do not wish to brag, but that is me.
So, the edit would be a binary choice. Either I would be an adult built on a weak foundation (had an easy education) or a strong one (built on painful lessons, humiliation, and struggles). Not an easy choice, nor an easy edit.
Allow me to pivot again. It turns out that the outline for my next book has parents raising a brilliant child. Spoiler alert. She is the ambassador to Earth. And I have the same choice. She is obviously intelligent, but should I make her education difficult? After all, I know what my education battle has made me. Well, this little thought experiment just got a little more interesting.
I have a massive ace up my sleeve: my daughter. It turns out (no surprise to fellow parents) that her education battle was far more brutal than it should have been, even though she had intelligence, confidence, and charisma. She even had many friends. I wish I had had that when I was going to school.
Sure, there were the typical student difficulties, challenges, bad textbooks, difficulty understanding topics, surprise tests, and teacher issues. Turns out, those were minor. Perhaps 5%. Then what was going on? We live in California, and several policies have been put in place that have hindered (I would have preferred to use multiple four-letter words instead of “hindered”) a large part of her education.
For example, when she entered middle school (junior high), the math teacher started teaching division. When I asked my daughter about it, she replied with a scowl, “We did this three years ago!” Yet the other kids in her class struggled.
To summarize, my daughter did not learn a thing in middle school. Amusing side story: The principal of her middle school was “reassigned” to a desk job a year after she graduated. There were rumors of an affair with a teacher’s aide and embezzlement.
Because of this thought experiment (these articles are working!) it was obvious that I could not allow my character to have an easy education. This is because in present American society, an easy education is no longer realistic, and writing up a flowery education to show how smart she is would upset readers. (Again, with the know-it-all. I cannot get away from that.)
Thus, I am going to put my character through the same hurdles my daughter went through. And boy, are her parents going to be spitting-nails mad. I am looking forward to writing this chapter—a little writing revenge on the school district. Writing is fun!
Well, what about me? My bike ride provided an idea. It occurred to me that I was missing something akin to a friendly big brother. Say, three years older. He would encourage me, take the time to explain how things worked, be a study-buddy, and tell the bullies to leave me alone.
I can see that working, but the life change would be too radical. Enter four best friends. Call them elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. They would be my surrogate big brother. Help me out and keep my spirits high.
I think my autobiography would read a lot better with someone like them in my early life. Thus, I am going to add a school friend for my character. This addition will read stronger/more realistically. And it would tone down the know-it-all. Nice!
What have I done? I think if I made these life edits, I would be more well-rounded, confident, and happier, resulting in a more readable autobiography.
It seems the only step left is to ask myself if I desire this? While I am a writer and enjoy dreaming up possibilities, I am also realistic. Like Popeye The Sailor Man, “I am what I am.” Meaning, I cannot change my past, and it is a waste of time to think about ways to do so. Still, getting that business off the ground would have been amazing.
You’re the best -Bill
December 24, 2025
