Enquiring Minds need to know…

[erastes]

(name that quote….)

I’m interested – published authors, do you read your stuff once it’s in print?

I don’t. I think it’s the equivalent of an actor who can’t bear to look at him/herself on screen perhaps.  I think mine stemmed from my first print sale, which was “Bright Souls” a vampire short story – and being Alyson they provided no back and forth editing, no galleys etc (lesson learned very early on) and when I got my author’s copies I was understandably thrilled. But oh the disappointment when I saw the actual piece – someone – god knows who, had put apostrophes all over the place and it looked awful.  I could have cried.

These mistakes weren’t mine – any of mine were still there too, and I think that’s what put me off.  So I can’t read my stuff.  I know I will have to at some point, read Transgressions because in case it goes into a second edition, I’ll need to winnow out the errors that I know are there, but I just can’t do it yet.

Part of it is also that I’m getting better, little by little, and when I do see an excerpt of Standish for example I think “oh GOD – I wouldn’t write like that now.”

What about you? Do you read yourself? or do you, like me, shove your author’s copies on the shelf and never touch them again?

 

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Comments

[liriaen.livejournal.com]

Depends. There was a time I couldn't bear to look at the stuff once it was printed. (Incidentally, that was a time I thought I was writing well. Rereading in print made me aware of all the things I should have changed/done differently.)

Now that writing has turned into a major, major battle for me, a fight in which not a single sentence comes easy, I make a point of reading it once it's out - if only to convince myself it wasn't all that bad as I thought, and ultimately worth the effort, and actually quite, quite decent...

[erastes.livejournal.com]

That's probably a good idea! Thanks!

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

I do re-read if I'm doing a public reading of it, which happens anywhere from 3-8 times a year. :-)
For pleasure, no, not usually. I always to edit it one more time.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I wish there was somewhere to do readings, there is one place in Norwich but I simply don't have the nerve - well done! And yes, that's the problem - i'd redpen myself.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Have you thought of doing a podcast somewhere?

[erastes.livejournal.com]

been meaning to for ages actually - i could do monthly readings and put them up on the website, if anyone would like to hear stuff. I could even read a bit of the WIPs or something .

Hmmm - what a good idea - thank you!

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Some of that's sf/f conventions; I spend a lot of time being a 'secondary' guest (not quite GOH material yet) which means I get in for free but I have to sing for my supper and do a minimum number of programming items. You might be able to get a simialr deal with your local cons, just saying. The rest is just me insisting on reading anywhere that'll have me. :-)
It gets better with practice.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

We just don't have cons at all, as far as I can tell!

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

This is sf/f/h fandom we're talking about here, one of the more ubiquitous institutions on a healthy chunk of the planet. Somewhere out there, there is always a convention going on. Whether or not the ones that are easier to get to are ones you want to go to is an entirely different matter, of course.:-)

Some links that include cons in the U.K. -
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/wilf.james/i_conlist.htm
http://www.locusmag.com/Resources/Conventions.html

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

I like my own fiction, and do reread it every now and then. [duck] Figure, if I don't like my stuff, why should I expect anyone else to?

There are definitely the wince moments here and there, where I'll spot a glitch I should've caught in edits, or think to myself, "Wow, that editor was really into commas," or whatever. But for the most part I do like my stories and have no problem rereading them.

Angie

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Part of it with me, i think is also the amount of time I spend with the stories, I think, just want to get on with something else, but I do like the stories, I guess I'm just scared of seeing the mistakes that I should have seen over those hundreds of editing sweeps...

[jessewave.livejournal.com]

You should always check the finished product. I just gave an author the bad news that although the name on the cover of her book was correct, inside the book, on every page, the title was incorrect. Now she has to figure out what to do and fight with her publisher to make it right! The final .pdf was right but the printer screwed up in this case.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'll have to stop being a chicken!!

[semioticwarrior.livejournal.com]

There are two of my short stories that I re-read every so often, because part of me always thinks that their publication was a fluke. I'm always amazed when I re-read them and find that they don't. There are a few other stories that I don't re-read, because I know that they suck =)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm sure they don't!!!

[sleveen.livejournal.com]

I generally don't go back and read it - for the same reason as I don't watch myself on television. It just makes me cringe.

However, if it's something I really like, or am particularly proud of, then I'll probably thumb through it but generally, I don't bother reading it again. Also, by the time it's in print, I'm so sick of looking at it (through the editing, re-editing and galley-proofing stages) that I just want it away from me. :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's exactly the same. Nod nod. I'm entirely sick of it when it's done.

[sleveen.livejournal.com]

And I'm often terrified I'm going to find some glaring error that I missed...one I'm better off not knowing about. :D

[markprobst.livejournal.com]

By the time it goes to print I am so sick of having read through it umpteen times I no longer have any interest to read it again. However when I do read passages (for selecting excerpts or whatnot) I sometimes cringe at stuff I know could have been better.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I agree - I can't tell you how badly I wanted to scream if I read "David was not where he should be, he rarely was." one ... more... time!

[sacchig.livejournal.com]

I had that problem with Alyson, just once, as far as I recall. A few gratuitous apostrophes and changing the word "civvies" to "skivvies", making it appear that my character was lounging around in public in her underwear, rather than civilian casual.

I tend not to read my stories in the books, but anytime I'm submitting them for reprint or even sending them to a friend, I go over them and tweak things I think I should have done differently.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*snorts tea over screen*

skivvies - oh dear...

Oh definitely - reprints, I'll always rework. And if I needed to send Standish out to someone else, as the contract's only for ten years, I'll rework it then, it will be an interesting thing to do.

[pepperlandgirl4.livejournal.com]

I cannot stand to read my own stuff. Occasionally, when I get a print copy of something, I'll flip through the pages and skim a few things. But that's about as much as I can handle. Hell, I don't even like re-reading my stuff before I submit it. I don't mind edits/galleys at all, but otherwise, I would prefer not to look at it. Without a fair bit of distance, alll I see is how much everything clearly sucks. And then when I get the distance, everything still sucks because I've learned new things and developed new writing ticks to replace the old bad habits.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it's not just me!

:)

[copperbeech.livejournal.com]

i read almost the whole thing lightning speed when i first got it to make sure everything was where we all agreed it would be. of course it wasn't. but no. i've not read a word of it since and that was almost 5 years ago. mine was an autobiographical work, so i don't really want to look back at those eras of my life, and i cringe at the thought of the writing in it. while i recall some of it is quite artful i recall some that isn't, as well.

weird you ask, as i was just thinking this the other day. *shudder*

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I know I should - but i can't even do as much as you did, well done!

[jl_merrow]

As a not-quite-published author - all going well, this should change by the end of the week *trembles* - I have to say I loathe reading my stuff. I have to really grit my teeth to do edits.

I can love something I'm writing, and adore the process of getting the story down on paper/screen - but as soon as, for me, the story's finished, I'd be quite happy to never see it again!
(It's not always because I see all the flaws, btw. I am quite capable of looking at something I've written in the past, liking it and then getting depressed because nothing I'm writing lately is a patch on it).

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Heh - you'll have to get used to it to a certain degree when you DO get published - and you will - and have to edit!!

[kittymay.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd know that quote anywhere..!

Yes, I do read my own stuff back sometimes, if only to reassure myself in the dark hours that I wrote well once and can again ; )

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Nod nod - actually I will do that - but generally only with short stories...

[vashtan.livejournal.com]

Rarely - I tend to avoid it. But when I do, some surprises me pleasantly, and some is downright horrible. I tend toi re-read when I re-visit characters or work on a sequel (happened twice). :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It can have nice surprises, I suppose, sometimes I think "did I write THAT?? blimey!" but mostly I'm thinking I'd do it differently.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I do the "make sure the proofs I read got into print all right" examination.

Since I'm writing a series, I usually skim through the previous book before getting into the next one. I also skim through a book if I'm looking for something different in the way of excerpts to post--something interesting without putting the whole book up, a thousand words at a time.

And in general... they aren't as ineptly done as I remember them. There are even a few spots where I think I nailed it.

Sure, I see the mistakes. My own bugbear is using the same unusual word more than once in a handful of pages (or, worse, on the same page) and there are lots of those. I see them--friends apparently don't, because I've asked. But by and large, I've told the stories I meant to tell. They'll never be Great Lit'rature, but I'm not embarrassed to admit to them. I'm not trying to be egotistical, but if I didn't believe I could produce something decent, I'd never ask a reader to pay for my stories.

But for the first six months to a year after it's done...? Do Not Want. The edit/rewrite process makes me so sick of the thing I don't want to even look at it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, exactly. After it first comes out, especially. I can't even open the cover...

:)

[valarltd.livejournal.com]

Depends on the piece.

I do readings a few times a year.
And sometimes I will go back and reread my own work for pleasure.

There are some I have been influenced to dislike because of negative reviews or excessive editing sessions. When I return to them, a year or two after publication, I tend to be pleasantly surprised when they are enjoyable reads.

If I don't like it, why should anyone else? as someone said.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

It's true - you have to like your writing, and I do, it's not the writing, so much - although Standish is a lot more purple than I now like - it's the head hopping and the amateurish errors.

[crawling-angel.livejournal.com]

I don't think I would have a reason to read...if I ever get in print, lol..other than (I wonder if this is weird, cuz I'd do it reading my fanfic) reading something written years ago...like it's written that long ago you forget what's there? Honestly, I'd forget what I'd written and read a bit and think, 'shit, was it me who wrote that bit?' My memory is made of sponge/seive and I find it hard to retain stuff that many other people seem to have no problem with.

Maybe I've talked myself into re-reading, haha!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

You will, and i'll be interested to see your journey when you do!

[ginnhale.livejournal.com]

I avoid reading my own writing. I'm sure it's different for every author, but when I look at my own work I'm simply too aware of all the effort and tinkering that went into any given scene or turn of phrase to really enjoy it.

Anyway it frees up more time for me to read other people's stories, like yours!

[erastes.livejournal.com]

*blush*

Thanks Ginn!

[dvl-spencer.livejournal.com]

I don't have as much experience with publishing as you, but I think it depends on the story. Some pieces I'm really proud of and I will lovingly reread them over and over...lol. If something was ridiculously tough to write, it may be awhile before I can look at it and really see it.

The printing errors do make me cringe horribly and if I know I could have done better, I'm less likely to revisit the material. But for the most part, these are stories that I wrote because I loved them so much in my head, so I like to go and get that picture in my head back every so often. :)