Writing and reading

[azziria]

A question for those of you on my flist who are writers: how much (or how often) do you re-read your own stories? Is it a write-post-forget thing for you, or do you often read through your own back catalogue?

Personally, because I write what I want to read, I quite often go back and read my older stuff. What's good is that I'm often pleasantly surprised at how good I find it, or I find a passage or turn of phrase that makes me think "Did I really write that? Because it's really quite good...". I guess that's because time gives me some objectivity and distance and the chance to appreciate the writing when I'm not totally wrapped up in the creation process.

So... post and forget, or re-read?

Comments

[shinysylver.livejournal.com]

I reread my stuff a lot as well. I tend to reread mostly the week or two after I post and do find that even just that time makes me appreciate myself more.

I occasionally reread my older work but not as often.

[azziria.livejournal.com]

I occasionally have a re-read session where I go back and go through a lot of older stuff all at one go. Other than that, like you I re-read quite a lot in the week or so after I first post.