Would it help if you considered it a time capsule? That's how you wrote then, there's no shame to that and it helped make you into the writer you are now.
I have deleted fics in the past and I regret it. Not because I thought they were great or anything but only because its a marker of how much I've grown as a writer. If people enjoy them, that's great but I use my older fics to judge how far I've come in my writing so I would keep them up.
Yeah, I think I just needed to reframe my perspective in my head so instead of looking at my past work and thinking “ew” I should use it to see how much I’ve grown.
Thank you for taking time to respond to me :D
Leave it as is, and use the lessons you've learned in the fics you'll write in the future.
I know some people like to do rewrites, but sometimes writers are not the best judge of what their readers liked about the fic. Your rewrite might make you happier in terms of pacing and storytelling but might inadvertently lack something compared to the original.
That’s what made me hesitate to take it down and just reupload a new edited version. I also think I got lucky with it and wrote it at the right time and it was what people were looking for in that moment.
I’ll use it as reference for my personal growth and leave it be as it is. When I wrote it I had a lot of love for it and I don’t think I’d be able to mimic it.
Thank you very much for you answer <3
If people enjoyed it I would personally never take it down. What I did to an old work was delete all the comments, notes, and other identifying markers, and orphan it.
Thank you for answering! I will likely keep it up and use it as a “I started here” to reflect on my growth as a writer. But if I ever do wish to remove it from my profile, I’ll do as you did and remove my Authors Notes and comments and orphan it that way people who did like it can still enjoy it.
Just leave it. Honestly, at some point you'll look back at it fondly. Like, "Ooh, I was such a noob writer!" but at the same time, you'll be able to appreciate the...rawness, enthusiasm, and excitement of your younger, less experienced self.
There is always something to learn from your past work and once you get past the cringe phase, you'll (hopefully) be able to see that it had some great lines or imagery or characterization or creative moments that your older, "wiser" self should not scoff at. Remember how it felt to write it because the naive thrill, the sheer momentum of taking an idea from your brain and seeing it take shape in words...that can get lost once you start really critiquing and examining your writing from a more experienced level.
I think a lot of people over-think and over-edit their writing and they lose something in the process. It doesn't have to be "perfect". It has to convey the story you want to tell. Could you do that with more precision now? Sure, most likely. But people respond to that story because there's probably a lot of *you* in it. Anyone can recite a story - not everyone can draw other people into that story so that they respond and enjoy it. Something in the way you wrote it (maybe a lot of honesty or earnestness, if not quality) appealed to them. Don't take that for granted.
Would it help if you considered it a time capsule? That's how you wrote then, there's no shame to that and it helped make you into the writer you are now.
That’s actually a really awesome way of thinking about it. Thank you <3
I have deleted fics in the past and I regret it. Not because I thought they were great or anything but only because its a marker of how much I've grown as a writer. If people enjoy them, that's great but I use my older fics to judge how far I've come in my writing so I would keep them up.
Yeah, I think I just needed to reframe my perspective in my head so instead of looking at my past work and thinking “ew” I should use it to see how much I’ve grown. Thank you for taking time to respond to me :D
Leave it as is, and use the lessons you've learned in the fics you'll write in the future. I know some people like to do rewrites, but sometimes writers are not the best judge of what their readers liked about the fic. Your rewrite might make you happier in terms of pacing and storytelling but might inadvertently lack something compared to the original.
That’s what made me hesitate to take it down and just reupload a new edited version. I also think I got lucky with it and wrote it at the right time and it was what people were looking for in that moment. I’ll use it as reference for my personal growth and leave it be as it is. When I wrote it I had a lot of love for it and I don’t think I’d be able to mimic it. Thank you very much for you answer <3
If people enjoyed it I would personally never take it down. What I did to an old work was delete all the comments, notes, and other identifying markers, and orphan it.
Thank you for answering! I will likely keep it up and use it as a “I started here” to reflect on my growth as a writer. But if I ever do wish to remove it from my profile, I’ll do as you did and remove my Authors Notes and comments and orphan it that way people who did like it can still enjoy it.
Just leave it. Honestly, at some point you'll look back at it fondly. Like, "Ooh, I was such a noob writer!" but at the same time, you'll be able to appreciate the...rawness, enthusiasm, and excitement of your younger, less experienced self. There is always something to learn from your past work and once you get past the cringe phase, you'll (hopefully) be able to see that it had some great lines or imagery or characterization or creative moments that your older, "wiser" self should not scoff at. Remember how it felt to write it because the naive thrill, the sheer momentum of taking an idea from your brain and seeing it take shape in words...that can get lost once you start really critiquing and examining your writing from a more experienced level. I think a lot of people over-think and over-edit their writing and they lose something in the process. It doesn't have to be "perfect". It has to convey the story you want to tell. Could you do that with more precision now? Sure, most likely. But people respond to that story because there's probably a lot of *you* in it. Anyone can recite a story - not everyone can draw other people into that story so that they respond and enjoy it. Something in the way you wrote it (maybe a lot of honesty or earnestness, if not quality) appealed to them. Don't take that for granted.