Do you re-read your own stories? How often? How do they strike you?

[AG31]

I re-read my first (and longest and best) story this weekend when I ran out of library books right at the holiday. I don't think I'd read it beginning to end since it was published three years ago. My reactions are below.

What about you? If you do re-read, how often? What do you think? If you don't, how come?

My two reactions

1 - I was very pleasantly reassured that the story was as good as I thought it was at the time I wrote it. Very satisfying to one of my sensibilities. I was even surprised that I had produced some of the well crafted sentences. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to pull it off today. The story was written at a time of heightened eroticism in my life, and that drove me to creative over-achievement. (Not so much stories 2 and 3...)

2 - The story is in its 9th version (on Smashwords... too cumbersome here on Lit.), almost all of it small fixes. Several editorial readings by friends. So I was flabbergasted when I came upon twenty two, count 'em, twenty two diddley squat things that needed fixing. Stuff like repeated words within a paragraph, extraneous words left over from earlier edits, extra spaces between sentences, wrong words (as if I'd been using voice to text). Blah, blah, blah.... How does this happen????

EDIT: In the course of fixing those twenty two I found three more!!!

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Absolutely.

Some, like the one I'm re-reading now, I revisit if they pop up on my activity log with a comment o a follow.

Others, I save for when I need a feel good moment. One in particular, Living up to the Legacy, makes me tear up every time I read it Another Just a Walk in the Park, is my favorite of everything I've written and is guaranteed to make me smile.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

 

[samhasstories]

I don't read my older stuff with much regularity, unless I'm working on a follow-up. Which, for better or worse (worse), I'm sometimes inclined to do after years.

The reaction I have reading my own works bears a direct correlation to how much time and effort I put into revising/polishing the work. Unfortunately I've posted a few after a pretty quick writing process, rushing towards the payoff, and it shows. The setup is clunky, the initial impression of the characters kind of wooden. I think those things improve as my stories develop, which just means I could have fixed them throughout with some revision/rewriting. But hindsight, as they say...

On the other hand, it can be really satisfying to read something that I put the requisite work into. When I'm in a good flow and have a feel for my characters, I (acknowledging some slight bias) think the result works pretty well. And revisiting that after the direct memory of the words has faded can feel pretty good.

The good stuff and bad stuff alike, though, still manage to turn me on.

 

[Imstillfun]

All the time, they still turn me on.

but the writing mistakes bother me.

but, they seem to still be doing ok, so I’m satisfied.

 

[HordHolm]

I look back on stuff from time to time. Mostly to see if the stories have aged well, and by and large they have. I do sometimes see mistakes, but I just reach for my coffee, look out the window at the seagulls, and pretend it hasn't happened.

 

[KeithD]

I rarely reread. When I do, I'm usually satisfied with how it turned out. Sometimes I'm surprised I wrote it.

 

[Codoc24]

Seldom do I read my old stories. Probably because I will see something and wish I phrased it differently or wish I hadn't said it all. I'm terrible at making myself stop editing. I keep tweaking it here and there. So I know if I read my stories then I'll see something and think about changing it and republishing it, so it's best to not step into that quicksand.

 

[SimonDoom]

Not often, but once in a while, and usually I enjoy doing so. I'm generally satisfied with the stories but not so much with the silly errors. But I still make those.

 

[AG31]

but I just reach for my coffee, look out the window at the seagulls, and pretend it hasn't happened.

 

[StillStunned]

I reread the first part of The Countesses of Tannensdal the other day, and you know what? I was quite impressed.

 

[AchtungNight]

I have a photographic memory and I’m a perfectionist who goes over each story from a detached perspective multiple times during editing, but yes, I still read already published works from time to time. Usually in response to feedback to see what people enjoyed. I usually still feel good about it. Or at least not willing to bother Laurel with an edit. It’s easier to fix errors on AO3 due to the greater level of trust, so if you dislike the spelling and grammar issues I sometimes display here- they’re fixed on that site.

Likewise for continuity issues and things I could no longer stomach after later developments. I was lucky to have never written a full on sex scene for Leah Remini in the Passion series, for example. When she quit the secret CoS reform movement in favor of being a bitter critic ten years after I had her join Erika’s team, it was easy to clarify in Passion 4’s canon version that they were briefly interested in hooking up but then changed their minds due to incompatible kinks and kept the alliance non sexual. Leah’s comedy bits in Counseling are still canon, but she and Erika were just friends. While it lasted. Heh. I clarify other issues through author notes on AO3.

 

[soflabbwlvr]

On occasion. Usually when a topic in this forum prompts a revisit to a particular story. My reactions are typically one of the following:
1. Oh, damn. As soon as I get a few more stories up, this one is coming down. What was I thinking?
2. This one sure could have used another rewrite, and maybe another pass with a copy editor. Fucking deadlines.
3. This one is pretty damn good. Not perfect, but not much I would change.

 

[32aa]

Yes... a lot.

A while back I discovered the grammar software 'Grammerly' and went back through all of my stories and fixed the stuff that was picked up. Some of the grammatical and word usage errors made me just shake my head. Those revised chapters are in my personal folder.

I enjoy re-reading my stories. There are a number of times I'll re-read a particular scene, be it a sex scene or one that is filled with emotion that still gets to me, and I'll have one of those "Where did that idea come from?" and "Did I really write that?".

To me it's satisfying.

 

[AG31]

and I'll have one of those "Where did that idea come from?" and "Did I really write that?".

To me it's satisfying.

Ditto

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I don't really reread them like that. After writing and editing, proof reading before posting, I don't wanna look at it by the time it's done. When I do reread something, those feelings come back of pride and I can still what I wanted the characters to feel and all that, it's pretty good. Or I'm like; why did I allow this for public eyes?

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I don't really reread them like that. After writing and editing, proof reading before posting, I don't wanna look at it by the time it's done. When I do reread something, those feelings come back of pride and I can still what I wanted the characters to feel and all that, it's pretty good. Or I'm like; why did I allow this for public eyes?

I've gone back to re-edit some of my early stuff and I have trouble reading it.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I've gone back to re-edit some of my early stuff and I have trouble reading it.

Once mine are out, it's done, the work is over.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Nothing beyond proofreading it before it goes live. There are times where I do read something to freshen up my memory or to recycle old stuff, but I'm currently struggling with perfectionism issues, so whenever I re-read my own stuff I usually see mistake after mistake.

 

[gordo12]

I tend to reread stories when a really nice comment surfaces. For me, old stories are a trail of my writing history. A lot of mistakes back in the beginning, and now, not so much. I'm tempted to rewrite some, but that would erase my history, and I'm loath to do that.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Occasionally. Usually when I'm in a situation where I need to kill a little time and won't mind if I don't get to finish. I'm very pleased with how all my stories turned out. I wouldn't have posted them if I wasn't.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I'll go back and check specific bits if there's something I want to talk about in discussion here, or if I'm writing something new that references a previous story, but other than that it's rare for me to re-read my own work. Mostly I write stories as a way of getting them out of my head, and once that's done, I can go on to something new. I also suffer from perfectionism and re-reading stuff invariably means spotting something that could be tweaked and then having to fight the urge to edit.

Sometimes though, if it's been long enough, I can go back to it and read as if it was somebody else's story. It's nice when I find something good in the writing that I'd forgotten about.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

They're comfort reads. I know for sure I won't find anything that will unduly disturb me.

 

[Djmac1031]

Not as often as I used to.

I'm at a point now where, by the time I'm done editing and publishing them, I need a break from it because I've read it over way too many times already.

But after some space? Sure, I do still go back and reread them.

Although I'm really trying to make more time to read other people's stories now.

 

[ElectricBlue]

They're comfort reads. I know for sure I won't find anything that will unduly disturb me.

Yep! I have some older stories where the "timing" still works perfectly. I feel like my own Pavlov's dog.

I do on occasion dabble in my back catalogue, and find sections where I think, "You know what, I actually wrote some pretty good stuff at one point."

 

[WendyTrilby]

I re-read my stories for the first 48 hours after I post them, looking for those errors that can only be found after the send button has been pressed. After 48 hours, I upload a corrected version (primarily just for me). Then I read comments and don't revisit the story until the likes and comments slow. Finally, a few months after publishing, I give it a fresh read and see if the story still titillates and surprises me. I like those revisits because they make new ideas pop into my head and I like to remember what it was that made me write it in the first place.