Fic Talk > General Discussion

Question of the day part 6

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Carter-Orange:
I don't know if I'd submit anything of mine because what's finished is finished and I have no plans to re-write.

mare:
As an added reading challenge for myself this summer, I decided it was time to go back and read my own stuff, since I can never remember most of the things I had written. I've always had mixed feelings about doing that because I am so critical of my stuff. I don't find it enjoyable.

I decided to start with A Million Little Things because it's the one I don't remember AT ALL! And one a lot of people have mentioned as being a favorite. I just finished it which to me is a big accomplishment! LOL I haven't even been able to get through one of my stories! I admit, for that one I didn't cringe once. I thought it was pretty good actually. LOL I'm sure I won't feel like that for all of them though. I just started reading my cough medicine one and already am cringing! LOL

So, here are my questions to you. There are quite a few!

How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?

One thing I found entertaining in A Million Little Things was how much stuff I managed to touch on in only 15 chapters. I never realized I wrote about that whole sketchy Lou being slimey with Nick issue or the whole Nick and Brian's waning friendship and blurry Brian confrontation LOL Weird to have no memory of that!

So things like that, maybe you've read something and realized wow I named this character after my ex boyfriend and didn't remember doing that!

Okay this was long, but I am curious :)

Sakabelle:
How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Not too often. I re-read some of it when I was copying things over to my site, and in December when I converted the completed stories to Kindle. If someone comments on a chapter or a specific thing that happened I might go back and re-read that chapter to refresh myself on what happened in it but I don't think I've ever sat down and re-read and entire one of my stories in one sitting.

Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
A little bit of both honestly. Re-reading In Pieces I cringed, honestly. I can't believe people liked that story so much and that it was even featured! It's not very well structured and the writing is a bit bland. Though there were parts of it I did enjoy.

Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
Nope. In fact if I go back to re-read something it'll usually be something someone else wrote that I remembered really enjoying, and I actually have stories in my mind that I re-read for inspiration for specific things. None of them are my own. Mare, your story "To The Magnificent Nickolas Carter..." is one I re-read often.

Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
I try not to do that because then I'll tend to be overly critical of my stuff and never be satisfied. If I were to compare my stories to ones I've read and loved, of course I'll feel like the ones I've read and loved are better - because I remember them and keep them in my mind for a reason.

If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
Typos and missing words, yes. Anything bigger than that like characterizati on or plot holes, no. I just leave it be. But I don't think that fixing the occasional typo is anything that anyone's going to miss or even figure out if they go back to re-read something of mine LOL.

Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
Ummm... depends on their assessment, I guess. I had a lot of reviews of praise for In Pieces and now I'm not sure I agree with them! There were a couple of con-crit reviews I definitely agree with now, like how Ashleigh and Nick's relationship moved too fast in the 2001 chapters. Definitely agree with that and I probably could have worked it better.

Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
Well, when I was converting over Left and Leaving I read some of it, and though the plotline made me cringe, the writing really surprised and impressed me. to the point where I thought to myself "I wrote that?!" I could really see the improvement from In Pieces to that story.

Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
YES. I don't even realize I'm doing it but in my copy over of all of my stuff to my site I realized that there's a line Ashleigh thinks to herself in My Happy Ending that is literally word for word something Brittany thinks in I Wish. Same situation, different outcome, but exactly the same train of thought. Not like anyone's ever going to read both of those stories so I'm probably okay.

There was also this scenario where one of the 1D guys was so nervous about going out on stage that he threw up in a trash can back stage. Then I re-read The Last Last One as I was copying... and I realized that I used that in there with AJ in the same situation. It was the same in both stories... the scene didn't actually happen, they were just relaying it to someone else. Oops lol. But I don't think it's happened in two fics in the same fandom.. excellent lol.

After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
Uh, In Pieces probably not, honestly.

What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
How much of myself I put into my longer stories, and how they are honestly a snapshot of what I'm feeling at the time. Some of them are less obvious than others, but to me the similarities are glaring. I wonder if I'll feel that way about some of my newer stories in a few years.

mare:

--- Quote from: Sakabelle on August 11, 2012, 12:10:34 PM ---How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Not too often. I re-read some of it when I was copying things over to my site, and in December when I converted the completed stories to Kindle. If someone comments on a chapter or a specific thing that happened I might go back and re-read that chapter to refresh myself on what happened in it but I don't think I've ever sat down and re-read and entire one of my stories in one sitting.


--- End quote ---

Good lord, I could never do it one sitting either lol A Million Little Things was only 15 chpters but it took me almost a month to finish reading it lol

Glad you enjoyed Magnificent Nick.... It's one of the few short stories I wrote that i'm actually proud of. I do tend to go reread my favorite short stories a lot. I don't really reread novels from start to finish much, even books, but short stories i'll do over and over again. (not mine but everyone else's) lol

Carter-Orange:
How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
I never read my stuff once it's posted, I would probably cringe at a lot of it, lol

Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
It would probably be a bit of both.

Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
No.

Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
Not really, we all have our own styles of writing.

If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
I know for a fact there's a major continuity mistake in one of my romance stories, but I've left it as it is.  Maybe one day I will go back and fix it, but then I'd be tempted to re-write it as it's a self-insert lol.

Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
If someone points out stuff to me that is wrong, then of course I agree with them, I know my stories aren't perfect (far from it!)

Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
I think if I were to go back and read some of my stories, I'd wonder if I actually wrote it.

Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
I probably have without realising it.  I know I've written two romance stories featuring AJ, lol.

After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
Depends which story.  I probably wouldn't recommend my early stuff, but as I've not read it back, I can't say how bad it actually is.

What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
I'll have to read some of it before I can reply.

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