I found myself reading through short stories I'd written - wait for it - over a decade ago! Oh my gawd, I don't wonder now why they got rejected. After my first reaction, EMBARRASSMENT, that I sent them out in the first place and my second reaction, LAUGHTER, I read over them again with a fresh eye and with something I have now that I didn't have before; EXPERIENCE.
Some of my earlier stories lack satisfying conclusions, others have some good paragraphs in them that I could create a new story around and others, well let me just say, 'What was I thinking?'
I've decided to do a list, two in fact, one list of hopefuls that I've got loads of material to work with and another list which although needs a lot of creative work are possibilities.
Well, I'm off to revamp.
Keep writing....
Best of luck with the revamps!
ReplyDeleteI've kept my early stories - some because I either have, or will work on them and improve them but others are just to reassure me I have improved since I started.
Thanks Patsy - I like the reassurance reason :-) That's a good point you made there.
DeleteI'm sure after the revamp some will find a home, good luck with them.
ReplyDeleteIt constantly amazes me how much room for improvement I can now see in my old stories, or how I'd do something completely different. But as you say that's experience.
Thanks for the confidence boost Carol! I'm really glad that I did keep all those old stories; something to work with when I'm out of new story ideas.
DeleteIt's always good to take another look with fresh eyes. Good luck with them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jarmara :-)
DeleteGood luck with your revamps - I think when we look through our old rejects years later we can see straight away what the problem with them is :-) x
ReplyDeleteThanks Teresa and yes, you are absolutely right. x
DeleteGreat idea, Diane - I often go back through those embarassing early stories that never deserved to be sent out, never mind published! And it's always good to know we do improve over time (hopefully!).
ReplyDeleteThank you Rosemary. I agree whole heartedly it is good to realise we do improve over time, lol, and yes 'hopefully'. That comment made me smile :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much how I felt when I went through my file of completed works. Man. Don't know what I was thinking back then. It's good to see how much we've improved, right? :)
ReplyDelete:-) Right!
DeleteHey Diane. I use a lot of my old stories for my RomanticFridayWriter posts. So fun to find something and revamp it. I'm with you! D.
ReplyDeleteHey Denise, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment. It is good - gives me something to work with when my mind is blank for new ideas.
DeleteGood luck revamping and writing. I feel like you do about your writing when I look at some of my old college pictures and wonder WTF especially when it comes to the hair styles and clothing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mr Shife. Oh yeah those old photos...lol
ReplyDeleteHi Diane, good luck revamping. I know what you mean-I read some old stuff this morning and found myself cringing with embarrassment-time to rewrite it properly!
ReplyDeleteThank you Anita - it is good to know I am not the only one. :-)
DeleteHappy revamping, Diane. Course in ten years time you might just look back and smile at the stuff you're producing now, but let that be a spur to you. The Virgin Soldiers is an all-time best seller, but the author - Leslie Thomas - can't bear to look at the darn thing now without squirming at his mistakes.
ReplyDeleteYou just may have a good point there Mr V. I can only hope not, lol. Interesting about Leslie Thomas. Thanks, as always, for leaving a comment. :-)
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