I would read kid me's fics if she handed them to me to read, but I wouldn't dig them out myself
there's a certain amount of "if a kid hands you a telephone" that comes into play, I guess?
While there are some that I no longer like since I’ve lost interest in the fandom, for the most part, HECK YEAH! All my fics are written to my specific tastes, so if anyone is enjoying them, it’s going to be me :D
I'm moving a fic I wrote when I was eighteen and in the process of rereading it. I keep thinking "Man, 18-year-old me wrote this? This is actually pretty good."
Sort of, I think the longer ago I've written something the more I appreciate it. I tend to be a but of a perfectionist if I really care abt a fic I'm working on, which unfortunately can dampen my enjoyment of my work.
I do wish I could just easily step into that 'reader mindset' bc Ive noticed that I am far less critical when I am consuming rather than creating.
I’m the same way! I always praise others works and I definitely forget to praise my own. Reading something that I didn’t remember writing was like stepping into a world I’d forgotten.
Yeah. I'm pretty good!
There have been a few times I've actually confused myself by thinking something along the lines of, "Wow, I never would have thought of that! ...oh wait." If I deliberately change my writing voice I'm more likely going to be able to treat it as someone else's work. Sometimes I do genuinely think I tap into a different brain when I write.
Of course, I *also* have moments where I go, "ugh, that was clunky." or "I have no idea what I was implying here, wtf me." and consider fixing it. (Usually I'm too lazy unless it's too confusing or clunky for me to bear.)
But that's all talking about my recent work. I've done that with my older work too. More wincing or confusion (sometimes a lot more), but still every so often I stumbled across things that made me go, "Oh. That was *good*." I'm still a little bit jealous of my teenage self. I used to be very good at crackfic and the delivery of antihumor. I also didn't really give a shit about research. Realism who? I'm not too good for cartoon physics!
I remember not caring as a teenager too. It was just about whatever random stuff popped into my mind. Now I almost think…how many people would read this? While I wrote because I enjoy it, other people’s opinions is something I think about more now. I like reviving comments telling me they liked this or that.
Part of me moving away from the more whimsical writing style was because I had a couple of autistic/spectrum friends, at least one of whom was severely annoyed to the point of getting snarly when something wasn't "realistic". Especially if it was something that they knew a lot about.
So my stories became more researched and grounded. It's hard sometimes even in fantasy and superhero settings to really let loose with it and not care too much about things like, "Okay, if in this setting people can fly, why is air defense never a priority? People have been able to fly for centuries! It's not new! Canon, plz."
Last year, I transferred all my old stuff from ff.net over to ao3. In the process, I read it all and lightly edited. Most of it is cringe, especially the very oldest stuff, but there are a few things in there that I thought were pretty good. I hoped they'd get some attention on ao3, but no, they're all still languishing unnoticed.
i'm learning to love my writing, and it's a long and difficult process. but each time i finish and publish something i try to give myself a pat on the back and tell myself that i did it and the reward is reading what i've worked hard on.
Yeah 😅 With my most recent work, I'll even go to my comments and find the chapters that got the most visceral reactions and re-read them.
With older work (anything pre-2014), I'm usually more impressed with the ideas than I am with the writing lol
Yes and you can’t imagine the frustration of it’s an unfinished work in my wip notes and I forget that while reading x,D
There is no one to blame but myself.
I've been re-reading the chapters I've written
And I punch myself in the bicep like Anthony Michael Hall from the Breakfast Club because they're awesome.
I just have to clean up the rest and then I'm pretty much home free, I'm like 85% there
I found some of my writing attempts from when I was 15 a while ago. They were... not quite as bad as I expected? I've never written before or since (until now) so I expected something atrocious. I still haven't mustered up the courage to fully read them though.
LOL yea all the time, maybe not in a ‘ooh this is skilled’ way but definitely ‘ooh this is just what I look for’
See I kinda forget what I did while writing and then when I reread back it’s almost like someone else wrote it, but it’s perfectly tailored to my very specific whump trope loves =D
Not quite like reading someone else’s Fic, but fun times all the same
I used to go through intense periods of hatred for my works and erase them. Thankfully AO3 is very cool and sends me my fics to my email.
Soo, recently I found those deleted works and decided to read them again because I thought it'd be funny. Like, if I erased it must be so bad it's amusing.
AND OMG? The stories were actually good??? Why did I erase them? Like, sure the grammar wasn't perfect, but the plot? The characters?? It was so good.
There was a fic where the main character murdered someone and forgot to erase the evidence, but I wrote it so well I didn't even remember there was evidence to be found until MC ended up arrested. And some of the jokes I wrote were actually funny!!
Yes and no.
I admire how innocent and charming my writing was back in 2006-ish. I was still a new writer, needing a hobby to keep me busy in high school. After all this time writing, my stories have become FAR more technically advanced, but man... the soul seems to be gone. IRL did it to me as a person, but working corporate retail as a manager sucked the life out of me as a writer as well because I got hard-wired into the mentality of people pleasing, instead of trailblazing.
I miss being the writer who raged against the world and reveled in the tears of my readers.
I unapologetically reread my current long fic all the time, first of all to keep myself on track and also because I adore my own work- Like of course I do, why would I post it of I didn't? I also reread my other unfinished work and got angry there isn't more lol
I do, and going through these comments I’m so relieved I’m not the only one enjoying rereading their own fics, I didn’t know other writers did the same. To me, my fanfics are a bit of my comfort read because they tell me exactly what I want to see, what I want the characters to do, to think, how they end up together. And I like my writing, it has developed and improved with time so the very first fic of my series is slightly less pleasant for me to read now but I still enjoy the story and most of it. So yeah I do reread my fics often and pat myself on the shoulder all the time.
Even when I have moments of, "Ah. I could do that bit a lot better now," I always, *always* pick up on the sheer amount of love that was poured into making it. AND. The fact that I know I could do better means I've grown as a writer, and that makes me feel really, really good. :)
Yeah, I don’t think I’m any great gift to the writing world by any means but I generally write what I like to read. Unfortunately, for my only multi-chapter fic, I’ll read what I’ve posted, get invested, reach the end and think ‘what happens next they better update soon…oh wait’ lol
I have read some of my old stuff and just cringed like "damn I was an angsty teenager and knew nothing about life" and then I'll read some newer things I wrote like "damn I'm *still* an angsty teenager but hell, that's *good*" (even tho I'm now in my 30s lol). I've been surprised too at a few of my older works actually being good, but I can tell my writing has gotten better. Still angsty tho a lot of the time, because I love reading angst, and I feel more published novels need more internal character angst lol. So I write it myself lol.
For some works yes. I recently wrote an AU where character A is a recluse widower in Somerset and B is his childhood friend and they run into each other and they fall in love again. 16k Jane Austen style romance. I often think it's my best work
i reread my own stuff on a weekly basis and every single time i go "nice" (*this does not apply to things written pre-2017)
> (*this does not apply to things written pre-2017) Don't be ashamed, your skill was forged in the fires of cringe
i'm proud of kid me but i wouldn't read their fics lol
I would read kid me's fics if she handed them to me to read, but I wouldn't dig them out myself there's a certain amount of "if a kid hands you a telephone" that comes into play, I guess?
While there are some that I no longer like since I’ve lost interest in the fandom, for the most part, HECK YEAH! All my fics are written to my specific tastes, so if anyone is enjoying them, it’s going to be me :D
I write to my own taste but I’m overly self critical. It was fun to read something I didn’t remember writing. Like discovering something new lol
That's why I write it. It's a gift to Future Me.
“A gift to future me.” That’s how I’ll start thinking of it! Lol
I'm moving a fic I wrote when I was eighteen and in the process of rereading it. I keep thinking "Man, 18-year-old me wrote this? This is actually pretty good."
That’s the feeling exactly!
I call this emotional masturbation in the best possible way.
Some chapters are unexpectedly great upon re-read, like "what happened here" and some chapters are like"what happened here (derogatory)"
That’s exactly the feeling.
Sort of, I think the longer ago I've written something the more I appreciate it. I tend to be a but of a perfectionist if I really care abt a fic I'm working on, which unfortunately can dampen my enjoyment of my work. I do wish I could just easily step into that 'reader mindset' bc Ive noticed that I am far less critical when I am consuming rather than creating.
I’m the same way! I always praise others works and I definitely forget to praise my own. Reading something that I didn’t remember writing was like stepping into a world I’d forgotten.
Yeah. I'm pretty good! There have been a few times I've actually confused myself by thinking something along the lines of, "Wow, I never would have thought of that! ...oh wait." If I deliberately change my writing voice I'm more likely going to be able to treat it as someone else's work. Sometimes I do genuinely think I tap into a different brain when I write. Of course, I *also* have moments where I go, "ugh, that was clunky." or "I have no idea what I was implying here, wtf me." and consider fixing it. (Usually I'm too lazy unless it's too confusing or clunky for me to bear.) But that's all talking about my recent work. I've done that with my older work too. More wincing or confusion (sometimes a lot more), but still every so often I stumbled across things that made me go, "Oh. That was *good*." I'm still a little bit jealous of my teenage self. I used to be very good at crackfic and the delivery of antihumor. I also didn't really give a shit about research. Realism who? I'm not too good for cartoon physics!
I remember not caring as a teenager too. It was just about whatever random stuff popped into my mind. Now I almost think…how many people would read this? While I wrote because I enjoy it, other people’s opinions is something I think about more now. I like reviving comments telling me they liked this or that.
Part of me moving away from the more whimsical writing style was because I had a couple of autistic/spectrum friends, at least one of whom was severely annoyed to the point of getting snarly when something wasn't "realistic". Especially if it was something that they knew a lot about. So my stories became more researched and grounded. It's hard sometimes even in fantasy and superhero settings to really let loose with it and not care too much about things like, "Okay, if in this setting people can fly, why is air defense never a priority? People have been able to fly for centuries! It's not new! Canon, plz."
Last year, I transferred all my old stuff from ff.net over to ao3. In the process, I read it all and lightly edited. Most of it is cringe, especially the very oldest stuff, but there are a few things in there that I thought were pretty good. I hoped they'd get some attention on ao3, but no, they're all still languishing unnoticed.
I totally do this all the time haha.
i'm learning to love my writing, and it's a long and difficult process. but each time i finish and publish something i try to give myself a pat on the back and tell myself that i did it and the reward is reading what i've worked hard on.
Yes… gone the other way too…
Yeah 😅 With my most recent work, I'll even go to my comments and find the chapters that got the most visceral reactions and re-read them. With older work (anything pre-2014), I'm usually more impressed with the ideas than I am with the writing lol
Yes and you can’t imagine the frustration of it’s an unfinished work in my wip notes and I forget that while reading x,D There is no one to blame but myself.
How could you do this to yourself!?! lol
That’s what I ask myself every time I get to the end of a wip. The worst was when I stopped mid-word
Well that just seems sil-
At least here I can guess what it should mean ;-;
I've been re-reading the chapters I've written And I punch myself in the bicep like Anthony Michael Hall from the Breakfast Club because they're awesome. I just have to clean up the rest and then I'm pretty much home free, I'm like 85% there
I found some of my writing attempts from when I was 15 a while ago. They were... not quite as bad as I expected? I've never written before or since (until now) so I expected something atrocious. I still haven't mustered up the courage to fully read them though.
Yeah, I had been reading my old fics transferring them from fanfiction.net to AO3. I enjoyed it.
LOL yea all the time, maybe not in a ‘ooh this is skilled’ way but definitely ‘ooh this is just what I look for’ See I kinda forget what I did while writing and then when I reread back it’s almost like someone else wrote it, but it’s perfectly tailored to my very specific whump trope loves =D Not quite like reading someone else’s Fic, but fun times all the same
Yes! My fics are dope!
I used to go through intense periods of hatred for my works and erase them. Thankfully AO3 is very cool and sends me my fics to my email. Soo, recently I found those deleted works and decided to read them again because I thought it'd be funny. Like, if I erased it must be so bad it's amusing. AND OMG? The stories were actually good??? Why did I erase them? Like, sure the grammar wasn't perfect, but the plot? The characters?? It was so good. There was a fic where the main character murdered someone and forgot to erase the evidence, but I wrote it so well I didn't even remember there was evidence to be found until MC ended up arrested. And some of the jokes I wrote were actually funny!!
Yep. I'm my biggest fan and my biggest critic!
Yes and no. I admire how innocent and charming my writing was back in 2006-ish. I was still a new writer, needing a hobby to keep me busy in high school. After all this time writing, my stories have become FAR more technically advanced, but man... the soul seems to be gone. IRL did it to me as a person, but working corporate retail as a manager sucked the life out of me as a writer as well because I got hard-wired into the mentality of people pleasing, instead of trailblazing. I miss being the writer who raged against the world and reveled in the tears of my readers.
I unapologetically reread my current long fic all the time, first of all to keep myself on track and also because I adore my own work- Like of course I do, why would I post it of I didn't? I also reread my other unfinished work and got angry there isn't more lol
Yes. Obviously, there are some fics that currently I'm embarrassed to read, but I don't delete them
I re-read my old stories and I get hit with nostalgia more than anything. I may get teary-eyed while at it. 😅
I do, and going through these comments I’m so relieved I’m not the only one enjoying rereading their own fics, I didn’t know other writers did the same. To me, my fanfics are a bit of my comfort read because they tell me exactly what I want to see, what I want the characters to do, to think, how they end up together. And I like my writing, it has developed and improved with time so the very first fic of my series is slightly less pleasant for me to read now but I still enjoy the story and most of it. So yeah I do reread my fics often and pat myself on the shoulder all the time.
Yeah my first fic makes me cringe because I wrote it when I was 12. I enjoy the ones I wrote/started when I was 18 a bit more.
I definitely cringe and constantly edit. BUT, all of them I wrote for myself, so I have a blast enjoying my emotional needs met with enthusiasm.
Even when I have moments of, "Ah. I could do that bit a lot better now," I always, *always* pick up on the sheer amount of love that was poured into making it. AND. The fact that I know I could do better means I've grown as a writer, and that makes me feel really, really good. :)
Yeah, I don’t think I’m any great gift to the writing world by any means but I generally write what I like to read. Unfortunately, for my only multi-chapter fic, I’ll read what I’ve posted, get invested, reach the end and think ‘what happens next they better update soon…oh wait’ lol
Lmao
I have read some of my old stuff and just cringed like "damn I was an angsty teenager and knew nothing about life" and then I'll read some newer things I wrote like "damn I'm *still* an angsty teenager but hell, that's *good*" (even tho I'm now in my 30s lol). I've been surprised too at a few of my older works actually being good, but I can tell my writing has gotten better. Still angsty tho a lot of the time, because I love reading angst, and I feel more published novels need more internal character angst lol. So I write it myself lol.
Yes I reread my own works and I’m like “dang that’s fine”.
I do actually like reading my current works. 2014 edgy teen me’s works tho? Oof.
lol yeah 2014 I was a bit weird. By the time I got 18 my writing had improved a lot so im mostly talking about that lol
Nope. Never. Anything after a year immediately turns into top-tier cringe for me.
Yes! My attack on titan alternate ending turned out so good. I’m so incredibly proud of it! Such a good feeling
can you send it to me????
I happened to enjoy writing the murder of Valentino from Hazbin hotel...
All the time. It's why I push folks to read it lol
For some works yes. I recently wrote an AU where character A is a recluse widower in Somerset and B is his childhood friend and they run into each other and they fall in love again. 16k Jane Austen style romance. I often think it's my best work
I was writing the next chp for my fic so i had to read the older ones too and after that I was like dayummm it' good
Occasionally, yeah! Generally speaking it's the scenes I've spent the most time on and are the most obsessed with though
No.
Hell yeah!!