writer-friends:

[lirazel]

Do you ever go back and read something you wrote quite some time ago and think, "Damn. That was actually pretty good. Where did that come from?" And just have no idea where it came from because you can't imagine that line/scene/insight actually coming from you because it's more than you think you're capable of?

Or is that just me?

Comments

[gryfndor-godess.livejournal.com]

IT'S NOT JUST YOU.

That happens to me a lot, normally when I'm having writer's block. Sometimes it depresses me, but I usually try to take it as a sign of encouragement, like "Look at the amazing stuff I'm capable of producing! Surely I can do it again!"

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

It's so surreal. Like, I don't ever remember thinking that thought. It must have just come from my fingers, which clearly have a mind of their own.

but I usually try to take it as a sign of encouragement, like "Look at the amazing stuff I'm capable of producing! Surely I can do it again!"

This is exactly what I'm doing right now!

[mollivanders.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I go back to read my own fic because there's so little fic for that fandom or ship overall (hi, Haven, I'm looking at you), or what's out there is just not my style. Ahem.

But sometimes I do like to go back and objectively view the work and see if it stands up and I think I do a fairly good job of standing up to my own harsh criticism :)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I go back to read my own fic because there's so little fic for that fandom or ship overall (hi, Haven, I'm looking at you), or what's out there is just not my style. Ahem.

Oh, goodness, I understand that. Do that all the time.

and I think I do a fairly good job of standing up to my own harsh criticism :)

I'm always pleased when I'm not actively embarrassed by my own writing. That means I've made progress, I think, because when I first started writing, I'd be embarrassed after just a few weeks after posting!

[blackfrancine.livejournal.com]

Haha! I do this with essays. I'll go back and read, and think "Good gravy, I'm clever" and "Wow, I'm so surprised I know how to use that word in a sentence! Look at me with my rock star vocabulary!"

I'm easily impressed with myself.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

"Wow, I'm so surprised I know how to use that word in a sentence! Look at me with my rock star vocabulary!"

HAHAHA I do this too!

I'm easily impressed with myself.

Oh, me, too. Definitely!

[pocochina.livejournal.com]

THIS. Because what I remember of writing an essay is the process of trying to weed through all my deranged thoughts and wrangle them into something linear. So it's a little bit of a surprise when all of those associations have faded and it's sometimes actually worked.

[ever-neutral.livejournal.com]

lol. this.

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

ALL. THE. TIME. Almost with anything I write. I don't consider myself a fiction writer, so when I do write something it's astounding, and when I write essays it suddenly occurs to me that DAMN, that was GOOD! Then I'll also be hypercritical of stuff I wrote, thinking "how could you allow that to go public?!" Sometimes both happen in the same piece.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Sometimes both happen in the same piece.

I totally understand that. Been there often!

[crackers4jenn.livejournal.com]

I don't have the "more than you think you're capable of" thought, but every once in a while I'll read a fic I wrote a long while back and think to myself, "Self, that was not half bad!" But that is rare, because mostly I will get only a few paragraphs in to whatever I've written, old school or not, and be hit with a wall of cringing. So, hm, I guess there is a little bit of that "more than you think you're capable of" feeling involved...

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I do the cringing a lot, mostly with my older stuff. With my newer stuff, when it doesn't measure up, it's more of the eye-roll variety.

[ladysophiekitty.livejournal.com]

Well, I wrote most of my stories when I was pretty young (ages 12-16) so usually I'm like "Ugh, what is up with this story and why do people keep favoriting it?" But I did write some ficlets for a while and I liked some of them because I got to focus on emotions more than any actual plot, or if there was a plot it was pretty small. And I wrote a one-shot a year and a half ago that is one of the best stories I've ever written, so I have re-read it and given myself a pat on the back.

I do that with stories I haven't finished yet, though, which is a shame because a lot of them I lost my train of thought and don't remember where I was going, so will probably remain unfinished.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Ugh, what is up with this story and why do people keep favoriting it?"

Hahaha! I feel that way about my oldest stuff!

I do that with stories I haven't finished yet, though, which is a shame because a lot of them I lost my train of thought and don't remember where I was going, so will probably remain unfinished

One of the perils of being an writer, I think.

[evewithanapple.livejournal.com]

I sometimes look at this, blink, and go ". . . how the hell did that happen?" I think maybe certain character inspire more poetic prose in me? I don't know.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

It's almost like an out-of-body sort of feeling, because it feels like it's from somewhere beyond you, you know? Like, how are you capable of that? I can't wrap my mind around it.

[hkath.livejournal.com]

That happens to me all the time! Especially with unfinished things, or pieces of writing I never necessarily showed anyone. I sometimes have no memory of producing them, and I'll start to wonder if they're even mine!

I always take them as encouragement, though. :)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I sometimes have no memory of producing them, and I'll start to wonder if they're even mine!

I've totally done that! And it's a weird but good feeling!

[angearia.livejournal.com]

OH YES I DO THIS

And it's like you forgot that you wrote it? Enough time and distance passed, so it's a bit foreign to you now.

And of course, you feel stupider, like you've become less, as you look at that finished product and see how well it turned out, and you're overly aware of how hard it is for you to create something that good. It's as if you've forgotten the effort of past creations, so your past self makes it look effortless and brilliant while your present self feels the pressures of the moment that make creation so painful a process.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

OMG YES. I have lived this out so very, very many times in exactly this way.

[pocochina.livejournal.com]

Me too! I mean, with fic I'm usually surprised I've ever gotten anything down at all, so my standards are conveniently low, but still.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Hee! :D

[alwaysjbj.livejournal.com]

Yep. I usually only reread when I'm suffering from writer's block and hoping that something will inspire me.. I find that I tend have one of two reactions...one being 'god that's so awful, what was I thinking?', and the other being, 'shit...that was actually really good...go me! Now why can't I write like that NOW?' lol

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

that I tend have one of two reactions...one being 'god that's so awful, what was I thinking?', and the other being, 'shit...that was actually really good...go me! Now why can't I write like that NOW?'

Both very, very familiar reactions for me!

[dollsome.livejournal.com]

STRAIGHT UP ALWAYS.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

HAHAHA YOUR ICON.

I am very pleased to know that this isn't just a me-thing.

[pamsblau.livejournal.com]

I almost always reread sth and think: MAN HOW COULD I HAVE WRITTEN SUCH CRAP? lol

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've definitely been there, too!

[garnigal.livejournal.com]

Totally not just you. :( If I could do that consistently, I wouldn't have to work.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't it be awesome?