(no subject)

[graculus]

Just inspired by my fear of re-reading older stuff, when I went back and re-read a story I'd written about 5 years ago and it wasn't anything like as bad as I worried it would be...

[Poll #512664]

Comments also welcome in greater length.

Comments

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Until very recently I wasn't happy for any of my zine stories to go on-line. However, I have finally allowed three of my older Pros stories to go to the Circuit Archive.

So it sounds like you're kind of doing the same thing as me, just over a slightly longer time frame. Usually I put up my timed-out stuff without a whimper but this time round we were talking about a 3 year gap instead of a year and I would hope that I've improved as a writer over that period, hence the trauma. ;)

But I certainly do re-read my stuff, maybe that sound narcissistic, but after all if a writer doesn't read her/his own writing, how can she/he expect other people to? :-)

Well, I admit (as I've said in another post here) to always rushing to read my fic in a new zine first, and then I'll read stuff when I code it since I code my own site, and I might pick up the zine again later on since it's *there* and my fic is part of it. But I don't go out of my way to re-read my stuff when there's other stuff out there to be discovered... not because I think my stuff is so crap (because then why inflict it on other people?) but because I know how those work out and want to hear other people's stories. Does that make any sense?

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

a 3 year gap instead of a year and I would hope that I've improved as a writer over that period, hence the trauma. ;)

I fully understand this. Most writers do improve as they go (as long as they care about their writing and want to improve), so yes, there is always trauma involved when people 'see' your earlier stuff :-) Mind you, that could happen just as easily in zines as with web stuff. People do buy older zines when they get into a fandom. Mind you, that's different in a way, isn't it? Because we don't have the option of changing the zine stories, so it's 'out of our hands', whereas going onto the web.....

But I don't go out of my way to re-read my stuff when there's other stuff out there to be discovered... not because I think my stuff is so crap (because then why inflict it on other people?) but because I know how those work out and want to hear other people's stories. Does that make any sense?

It makes perfect sense. I tend to re-read my own stuff when I want to know how things work out, when I want that 'safety' factor, for want of a better word. Or simply when I want 'my' kind of story and I can't instantly put my hand on someone else who'll give me that. It's not as though I re-read my stuff all the time. Like you I rush to read it when I get the new zine, but then it's usually some time before I re-read it.