For the last blogfest I participated in, I remembered a character I'd used in a previous flash fiction challenge. Since I thought there was potential in writing from her perspective again, I went back and opened the file for the story, just to refresh my memory.
Oh, horror.
There were typos, the plot was odd, and the overall tone was just ridiculous. The character sounded too young, parts of what she said didn't make sense, and I really should have cut to the chase a bit faster.
That's what usually happens when I read something I haven't thought about for long, or didn't spend a lot of time editing. Some of my writing I can look at without cringing, but the rest of it . . . well, the rest of it shouldn't see the light of day. In fact, I'd be happy if it tumbled into a deep underground abyss that I'd forgotten the location of.
I try to avoid running into this. That's why you'll find me pre-writing flash fiction posts a day or several days before the actual event--or at least trying to. (The above example was written on a bit of inspiration and posted the same day.) That's also why the idea of having a a critique partner read chapters as they come out (which, I gather, some people do) scares me. I rarely if ever write something good on the first try.
Does this happen to you? How do you make sure what you write one day won't seem completely out of whack the next? And do you ever read your own writing for fun?
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Also, I'm guest posting today at Stuart Nager's blog Born Storyteller, about creativity. I hope you'll stop by!
-----The Golden Eagle
