Do you cringe at your own stories?

POSTED BY: reginaroadie
UPDATED: Monday, July 21, 2014 19:58
VIEWED: 14003
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YERSINIA

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 11:33 PM

No.

Then again, I haven't written any Firefly fanfic (yet).

"Call me if anyone interesting shows up..."

SAFEAT2ND

Sunday, August 16, 2009 3:57 AM

I agree with Mal4prez. In fact her line "You never get good at anything unless you spent a lot of time being bad first. Fact of life. " is so incredibly spot on its uncanny. But then again, when you consider her skill....

I've looked back on the stuff I've written and yes I've cringed at some of it. But that is when i realize just how far I've progressed.

I'm sorry to say, I've stepped away for writing in the verse, (I really want to continue my Firefly Battlestar Galactica crossover) and I've tried my hand at writing in various differnet genre's (not wanting to be pigeon-holed).

I think the thing that drives me is the over-whelming need to improve, get better, hone my skill, stretch my legs.

Everyone is entitled to a "Shitty first draft". What was the line from the kids show The Magic School bus? "Make mistakes, get messy." It's the only way to improve.

There is no such thing as a bad idea, the only fault lies in pitching it to the wrong audience.

_______________________________________________________________
"Got a headful of lightning
And a heart full of rain
And I know that I said
I'd never do it again
Oh and I love you sweet baby but I always take the long way home."

SIMONWHO

Sunday, August 16, 2009 10:58 AM

I've only done one proper Firefly piece and re-reading it, it's not too bad, especially given that I wrote it purely as catharsis for a break-up:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/sunroomitem.asp?i=12021

SYDNEYDEBS

Friday, August 28, 2009 10:48 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by reginaroadie:
Hey All

But I'm just wondering. Are there any fanfic writer's here that look at their older works and just cringe and say to themselves "I can't believe I actually wrote that."

God yes, ever time I re-read over something! Seriously though, my writing background is fanfic and I do love it but getting the characters right can be a challenge.

I find Firefly particularly difficult to write, firstly as I've only known about it for about a month or so and secondly their way of speaking.

I am nothing if not persistent so I'll just keep at it as its something I love.

Cheers, Debs

http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/CastleDownUnder/
http://z6.invisionfree.com/Crazy_for_Castle/

DMAANLILEILTT

Saturday, August 29, 2009 1:02 AM

i agree that whatever you're doing, you're always entitled to a period of shitiness, whether you're writing stories, songs or whatever.

although whenever i think of my own work, i always say at least i'm not the worst. if you want to hear some of the worst go to this website:http: // www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/bt/the-sage/fanfic-theatre. a guy reads some of the worst ANYTHING ever written i think some people here might enjoy it

BYTEMITE

Tuesday, June 17, 2014 3:31 AM

Revisiting this thread after several years, I can safely say that my fanfic I was writing at the time also turned out to be garbage.

So don't despair. Get through it, learn from it.

AGENTROUKA

Wednesday, July 2, 2014 9:30 PM

Hee, I don't think I saw this thread before. :)

I don't re-read them much. I started out writing Farscape and, yes, I would cringe at most of that stuff. Those were my first attempts at writing and in spite of the bad, those are good memories.

But I'm pretty okay with what I created for Firefly. They're not all winners, and I'm sure many could use some tweaking, but I don't hate them. I'm not ashamed of them.

CAPTAIN_COOPER

Sunday, July 20, 2014 10:40 PM

I think most writers I know are their own worst enemies.

Or... at least the good ones are! The ones who are confident their work is fabulous are the ones I usually make any excuse I can think of NOT to read...

Captain Bet Cooper,
Firefly Transport Jin Dui

BYTEMITE

Monday, July 21, 2014 7:40 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AgentRouka:
Hee, I don't think I saw this thread before. :)

I don't re-read them much. I started out writing Farscape and, yes, I would cringe at most of that stuff. Those were my first attempts at writing and in spite of the bad, those are good memories.

But I'm pretty okay with what I created for Firefly. They're not all winners, and I'm sure many could use some tweaking, but I don't hate them. I'm not ashamed of them.

I would second the opinion of AR's stories being generally fabulous, and affirm that I want to steal her writing ability somehow, perhaps by mugging, as I lack subtlety.

THIS IS A STICKUP ROUKA, PUT THE SKILLS IN THE IMAGINARY BAG.

BYTEMITE

Monday, July 21, 2014 7:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Captain_Cooper:
I think most writers I know are their own worst enemies.

Or... at least the good ones are! The ones who are confident their work is fabulous are the ones I usually make any excuse I can think of NOT to read...

Captain Bet Cooper,
Firefly Transport Jin Dui

There's also something to be said about watching out for the ones with false modesty too.

A lot of people complain that their stories aren't very good just for the attention, instead of their stories being legitimately flawed and terrible in retrospect. Get off my lawn you mangy kids!

Some of us have worked HARD to be awful and take pride in that, then we have to watch someone trot out some 1k drabble that they churned out in a few hours and whine.

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