Hello everyone

I decided to take a look at my earlier work (for ex: The Treasure Within; rated MA) for no particular reason; however, when I skimmed through the chapters, I became embarrassed at the poor quality of my writing lol I was looking at it in object surprise and horror! I really couldn’t believe that that was my writing. The plot was consistent, as was character development for the fluffy short story, but the grammar mistakes about killed me when I saw them. There are so many! So now, even as we speak, I am correcting those chapters. It surprises me with just how MUCH I have improved in just the past year and a half since writing it.

So I was wondering, surely I am not the only one who has seen a lot of improvement in themselves since they first started writing. I hate to admit this, but a lot of times, I can get cocky about my writing, thinking I’m so great, but it is times like this that I need a taste of humble pie and realize that I’m not as great as I’d like to believe. This is a lesson I try very hard to keep in mind when I realize I’m getting a big head, so I was also wondering if I am the only one who takes a step back and realizes their ego is getting just a little too high, and it’s the better choice to stay humble and have a reality check. This lesson can be learned in any way, and not just for authors and their writing.

So, I would love to hear stories of other members of how they had a taste of humble pie :3

Well I used to write dragonball z fiction once and I read through some of them which are so badly writen, they probably should be removed and me charged with crimes against literature! Of course the writers of twillight and 50 shades should be tried along side me. (being 14 around time of writing didn't help either)

I never thought I was very good but it's nice that I have improved, I don't even think I'm very good now but I do enjoy writing ideas I have not seen before, keeps the muse alive. Also the encouragement and feedback I get from my writing is amazing, so a little ego boost is allowed every now and again,

I wrote my first fic in 2006 and then went around to re-read and edit it in 2009. Already in that time I had improved a lot. The language felt REALLY clumsy and embarrassing to me. The plot was alright, some twists I was even a bit surprised of, like "Hey, that's actually pretty damn good!" Others, were more of the category "What was I thinking?!" - Not to say that they were bad per se, more like the writer I am now would never really take the plot into such a direction.
I had also conformed a lot to the fandom concepts. Something which I try my hardest to avoid these days. Sesshoumaru's beast talking to him and what not. There are a lot of silly things in that fic, but I still rather like the ending.

I haven't really read my first fic properly since 2009. You could say that I'm avoiding it on purpose. Because I don't want to feel embarrassed about it. I want to treasure it. It was an invaluable learning experience. Clumsy language and quirky concepts and all, if I had not written it, I wouldn't be here now. I think I progressed a lot already when writing that fic.

I mean, English isn't my mothertongue. Before I wrote my first fic, I had only written 500 word essays on English lessons at school, or tried my hand at translating some of my original short stories into English. So both my writing skills and my language skills saw a lot of improvement over the course of writing that 90 K chapter fic.

LOL, nicely said. I actually think my earlier stuff for Sess/Kag was alot better than the stuff I write now, barring my newest stint into TMNT. Love that show. Turtle Ninjas rock.

I'm less spontaneous now and more rigid and staid. It takes me longer to write anything for Sess/Kag, because it takes me longer to think about what to write for Sess/Kag.

I'm terrible and too lazy to write a chapter ficlet.

Meh.

My spelling can be pretty bad too, especially when I have to spellcheck everything. It also doesn't help when the spellchecker is WRONG too. . Stupid limited dictionaries, especially when you know YOUKAI is the correct word and it's not Yodel or Yours or any other derivative of You.



I also really struggle to write non-comedies. I mean I just can't be serious. I find myself twisting something in my stories to make them humourous! Ack! I should try to be serious for seriousness's sake and write something without Kagome doing something silly that makes people laugh!

I'm terrible!



I also find myself, repeating specific phrases in all of my ficlets. Like 'she blushed' or 'her eyes were round like twin moons' or 'his golden eyes glittered like polished coins'.

>.<

I make myself cross-eyed with how many phrases I know I've repeated in a lot of my ficlets. The plots are different, but some of the narrative is the SAME!

Blargh.

Sometimes I do wonder what I was thinking when I wrote some stuff. It's even worse when I spend like ages re-reading and re-editing new chapters or old stuff. I have to physically pull myself away from the PC or I'll be stuck there for fifty years trying to improve something I wrote a year ago.

>.>.

I'm terrible!

~ Pyre

Pyreite wrote:
I also really struggle to write non-comedies. I mean I just can't be serious. I find myself twisting something in my stories to make them humourous! Ack! I should try to be serious for seriousness's sake and write something without Kagome doing something silly that makes people laugh!

I'm terrible!

I'm the opposite! I mean I sprinkle in humour and I love writing humorous oneshots... But proper chapter stories? Nuh uh.

I once set out to write a pure crack fic, and yet it turned more and more serious towards the end! Gahh!

On a side note, typing this on a phone while on a bus is a challenge in itself...

I have gone back and read some of my favorite works.. and even my most popular stories I am horrified by some of the grammar mistakes. I have been trying to go back and clean up a lot of my works but it's time consuming and I'm dyslexic so I don't catch everything...

However I don't feel humbled by this experience. It makes me feel very proud of the growth and learning I have achieved over the years of writing. I can look back at even some of my best works and go "I have improved" "I'm getting better" and that is awesome. Maybe it's the artist in me that loved to compare drawings over the years and see what I learned each year and how far I have come. I don't know. I have to go back and read my first story soon... that will be fun.

What really stunned me was my change in point of view. I remember going back and reading "Say You Will" (MA) and shocking myself by thinking "this is kinda rapey." I never intended it to be, but rereading it in a different context one could see it that way.

Pyre-

I have the problem to. But the bigger problem I have is sometimes I worry I write the same story over and over again. Especially short dabbles. I have been going through my collection posting them and been like... ick this is pretty much the SAME story as this story only worded different. Same concept, different style ect. It's a little worrisome for me because I like to be original.

I go back routinely to reread older fics I have written.(Even non fanfic stuff) And I have noticed a definite progression in the way I write. I am not as careful as I was when I first started writing. I used to be afraid of offending people with how deviant my mind is but that has faded after over 6 years of writing.

I have found that in my earlier stuff I used some concepts that I just dont agree with anymore but i am too lazy to try and take it down or change it. its been that way so long and I like seeing the growth I have had over the years.

Its funny I think that some of my earlier stuff (not all but some) is better written than what I write now. its more well rounded and has better grammar. Though I am a shameless self promoter now, I have never considered myself an amazing writer.

I really do want to go further and progress to be a IRL novelist and I think that if it ever does happen to me its going to be from all the wonderful support and help I have had the privilege to have here on Dokuga that has helped me to grow and change and become a better writer.

Kirai wrote:

I really do want to go further and progress to be a IRL novelist and I think that if it ever does happen to me its going to be from all the wonderful support and help I have had the privilege to have here on Dokuga that has helped me to grow and change and become a better writer.

I agree Dokuga has helped me progress A LOT in such a short amount of time, along with the members who always seem to have each others backs.

Hopefully soon I will be hearing back from a publisher so that I can become an author IRL!