How does it feel like looking at your past works

[witch_sorrowful]

Just found a story that I had written many years ago. Surprisingly still adept. It was on a different account, and on Wattpad (that was a thing, eh?) and it had about 100 or so views. Can't believe so many people favourited it though.

It feels like a different story altogether, when I read it now. Somethings made me cringe - but I think the motivation was there. I different time, a different person, eh?

Wonder if it is worthwhile to update it after six years on Wattpad....

 

[Nonameavailable]

I started writing in November last year and I have to say, I am addicted to writing. But even so, when I look back on my first work...oh the mistakes...the plot holes...the grammatical errors...Ughh. If it didn't have so many views and collections on web novels...I would have deleted it right this instant.

 

[bafflinghaze]

When I look at my past work, I'm like, wow, past me sure writes well (and current me sure doesn't )

 

[ArcadiaBlade]

My past work might be called unrefined than good. Just like an unpolished motivation I gave up in the past, I was surprise given that as a Lazy and creative person, I was mostly surprised at how good my story like I want to reread it over and over. My current works are kinda polished and now well grammared than in my past but given with my limited english skills, lack of every descriptive and even a well-developed story, Its meresay to call it an online than a story.

My old work 'Black Crows' in Wattpad is my first novel and it was made about 6 years ago I think? Now my current work is 'My Yandere GF and Me' is a lot more polished and well-developed story but it can't catch up to the charm of how I made it in the past. I was ripping off Fairy Tail Plot but I actually made it more of an Original than I thought Given that I was copying the story. It might had just been short but given that I was just starting out as a writer from a Comic Artist, I was kinda surprised at how well I developed it.

 

[hauntedwritings]

Writing is often said to be formal thinking.
This means that whatever our thoughts were at the time of writing, they have become a record of our past selves, that is far more intimate than any pictures or videoclips.

And we humans have a tendency to look at our past selves with scorn. Because we grow with time, and become new people. And there is nothing more embarassing than remembering who you once were, as you can clearly recognize now the flaws you had at the time. Don't tell me you have never rolled in bed at night, pulling your hair out in frustration over the cringeworthy memories from your past, because I know you have them.

The only reason you wouldn't look back at your past works and cringe, is because you either haven't grown enough since that time, or because your work was simply exemplary enough to be considered objectively good. In which case, it was likely a much less personal creation anyway.

 

[NotaNuffian]

I wrote porn and I find a fuck load of segments making no sense. I tried to rewrite just for fun and found out why I did not do so earlier.

Fun fact, I was laughing at how scatterbrain my past self was without including a crucial point and type it out to make it more smooth, only to notice that I had written the point in the next sentence and that my present self is an egoistic POS who once again suffers from read a bit, talk too much instead of following the old mantra, "read it all, then think and type".

In a sense, I regressed.

 

[Deleted member 46002]

Cringed, still cringing, will cringe.

I do like my ideas, but I have a long road to go to make them readable. However, I am not going to give up.

 

[Agentt]

My first work, Delusion Of Dead, was a dream I had. I wrote about 15 chapters regarding it before I realised what disrespect I did to such a great idea.
My second work, This beautiful world, was again a dream. Again, my immature writing style ruined the great idea.
My third work, Strange individuals, was, believe it or not, also a dream. This time, it was my lack of creativity which ruined it.
I still have the drafts of all three on my tablet as a word file. While I don't feel cringe reading it, there is just a feeling of abruptly ending it.
I still believe that my writing was a work of genius, my idea was genius, but I did, and I still do, lack the skill to express my emotions.
Convey my message, and justify the thought process. Building the world from scratch, naming every character,progressing their relationship. I still have much to learn.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

I was like, "I wrote this shit?"

Then take the good ideas and merge those in my new story.

 

[Toomanysorrows]

I realise that wow, actually rereading my stories to edit out typos was the best decision I ever made

 

[Generik0]

I found my first work to be my best. Although it is deleted I still have some chapters placed on google docs.

My first work was the novel where my creativity peaked but after experiencing severe burnouts I deleted it. I tried posting it again but my enthusiasm lowered. I tried writing other novels but it didn't work out and troubles with editing became a problem.

My novel now is still problematic but the concert gave me at least the enthusiasm to give time to write it. Even though there are still some issues with my editing I felt confident and happy that I can write the same way as I did in my first novel.

 

[witch_sorrowful]

I was like, "I wrote this shit?"

Then take the good ideas and merge those in my new story.

This is actually what I thought. Wish I had better skills in just describing things. But, man, imagination stagnates as we grow older...

Also, thank you everyone else for posting. Didn't think there would be so many replies. I think someone mentioned that writing freezes our thoughts of our past selves in words. It's a very interesting thought; makes me feel more alive.

 

[Localforeigner]

Depends. Sometimes I see old stuff and I'm like, damn, this is awful! But I came across a short story I wrote around 8 or 9 years ago and I was like...there is no way I wrote this. So, mixed feelings I guess?

 

[gaylolis]

i had written a shitload of stuff, but i didn't find the need to go back to them. when i tried remembering them one by one, i started to get a headache.

i already remembered the story in general and i kinda grew outta it, so it probably wouldn't be as good anymore. the sort of stories i love writing last year might be much different right now.

though i also put more emphasis to experience what i write, while writing it. that's why when i re-read my works, i'm not that excited.

 

[EternalSunset0]

I still go back to them from time to time and realize how horrible at detail and content pacing I was. Things went by with a blitz plotwise, and there are lots of typos. However, I still enjoy reading them (they're almost all collabs on Wattpad and Fictionpress) and reminiscing the times and memories. A decade sure flies by quickly, and I get to a reflective mood while enjoying my old works despite them not being well-written.

The fact that I finished a rather long story, even if it's with a friend who I don't keep in touch much anymore, is still an accomplishment imo.

 

[Deleted member 29316]

This is actually what I thought. Wish I had better skills in just describing things. But, man, imagination stagnates as we grow older...

Also, thank you everyone else for posting. Didn't think there would be so many replies. I think someone mentioned that writing freezes our thoughts of our past selves in words. It's a very interesting thought; makes me feel more alive.

Ya know, you could still stimulate your imagination even as you grow older. For me, I refused to leave the child in me even though I'm already 31.

What I mean is, I'd let my thoughts run wild, interact (play and joke around) with my students in a level that they'd understand, and even go full throttle on letting out my imagination.

We only grow old when we let the child inside us sleep.

As I always tell to others, my story, DECK, took me a decade to finish one volume (the first). What I meant by 'What the fuck did I just wrote' is that, I managed to outgrow my edgy self.

Nowadays, I prefer to chill and get along with everyone. I think (based on my life experiences) it's more important than proving to others that you're the smartest (or one of the smartest) asshole out there.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Couple past works I feel like its lacking somewhere. Though, I also feel like its not great to leave a story incomplete.

To me I can reread it. But of course, some of it will also feel cringe-y bc "inspired by" vs creatively imagining own different stuff. It can also feel like watch a recording you did for a presentation in class - real extra cringe-y cause we tend to nitpick and wonder what we thought of when we were in that moment saying/doing/writing stuff.

Going back to Shrouded in Darkness always make me feel like I want to merge chapters, and rewrote it because the middle plots don't make sense and that's why I stopped. I think some of my writings were a bit dark during that time I started writing. It was a very stressful time.

I think part of it is looking back and trying to see how far we have come or what we have become compared to back then. So we look to the past trying to see if we improved. In many cases, we do improve so when we look back to previous works that we did, we no longer see it on the same level.

The good part is being able to feel a sense of achievement or realizing hey, the story we wrote back then is actually not so bad. It missed some stuff, but it did hit certain points. So that is the good thing, being able to see the flaws, and improvements, but also what has been achieved in writing those works out at that time.

Positive outlook (what achieved and worked) + negative (seeing flaws, mistakes, etc.) = more balanced way of viewing ourselves and our work.
What was flawed, can be improved. What we achieved, we call it a step in the right path.

*Also, if you really want to, it's up to you if you wish to improve a story. Part of the charm of a web novel or a story online is that we can update and rewrite it to how we see fit for the most part. ;)

 

[witch_sorrowful]

Ya know, you could still stimulate your imagination even as you grow older

Yes. Wish there were some set exercises that let you do those. Also, I recollect something Stephen King said, that writers will have a lot of ideas - it's the writing part that is the difficult one. I feel as I grow older, life intrudes a lot more than when as a Child, so even though I want soak in my imaginations, I rarely can. It's work or something else that pops up.

But, you're right. Maybe what is needed is to learn to become a child again, very quickly in small portion of the day.

*Also, if you really want to, it's up to you if you wish to improve a story

Yeah... but I don't know if I can. Perhaps, I will change the bits of it, but the title was so good - maybe, I'll rewrite it with completely new characters.

 

[Deleted member 45782]

Yeah... but I don't know if I can. Perhaps, I will change the bits of it, but the title was so good - maybe, I'll rewrite it with completely new characters.

Well gl to you anyways. Titles can stay same, just plot change too. Time will then if the story gets a new revision. Goodluck. ;)

 

[witch_sorrowful]

Thank you!