At a writers club that I attended this past Friday, we discussed this same topic. Most of our members agreed that saving our past work; then, read it years later, not only displays to us how far we we have moved through the progress of improvement but gives us a boost of encouragement to write more. I can attest, after reading what I wrote when I was 16 to 18, my writing has not only matured it has by far s greatly improved as far as readability goes.
When I was ridding out my spare room, I came across a printed copy of the first thing I ever wrote. It was a bit of fan-fiction wish fulfillment for a friend. I didn't cringe nearly as much as I thought I would, in fact, it actually reads better than some of my recent efforts where I've tried to take on board the do's and don'ts. Go figure.
Since my earliest "writing" (I hesitate to even call it that, except that it was ink on paper and written with words) was done with a typewriter, the world is a better place if it has been lost forever. Geez it was bad. That machine did not have an exclamation point or a 1 key. You had to use a lowercase L and then backspace and hit the period. When you got five spaces before the end of the line, a bell dinged letting you know that you needed to hit the carriage return lever soon and throw that bad boy all the way over. However, my Mom saved all of my old emails because they were so humorous. I am glad for that When I read my old stuff, I don't remember writing it although a lot of work went into those missives.
Take less notice of the do's and don'ts. I don't believe in hard and fast "How To Write" rules. If you have a story to tell, tell it!
@cutecat22 Oh, I don't take any rule as being so hard and fast it can't be bent/broken if it serves a greater purpose. Problem is, I have several habits that the world at large finds dated to the point of being nearly obsolete in modern literature. I've found ways around some, and went back to some classic examples to give myself a better idea of how to present others in more palatable fashion. Gotta admit, one of the reasons I didn't cringe as much as I thought I would is because I was actually charmed by the naivety of that first piece. Ah, the blissful innocence of not caring what others think. Somewhere along the line I started caring. I hate that I do, but I do.
Hahaha -i have a few snippets here and there. I need to pull all the files from my parent's computer and put it on a flashdrive for safekeeping... It's amazing how stories change over time. originally my MC was a daughter of Ares, riding a red horse and had an eagle for a companion whose feathers she dipped in the blood of those she had slain. So... red red red. Then it changed to a little girl under a tree in a field with a basket, waiting for her brother. Then there's another one where the girl watches her mother die, is given the necklace, and runs off crying, only to bump into the other MC as a child in the orchard. Cute, but grim in a way. I think i'm rather good at that... the grim stuff i mean. I am absolutely hopeless with funny stuff.
I haven't looked at something I've written in the past for a long time. Usually what I got from going over it was a general feeling of "what the heck was I thinking!?" Most of it is currently stored on a flashdrive. I do have notebooks and countless sheets of paper floating around in my room somewhere filled with stories that I was embarrassed to let anyone read even back when I was writing them, let alone now. But there have been cases where I'd forgotten that I'd written something, gone back and read it, and then thought, "Why did I never finish this? The flow is terrible, the plot is stupid, but it was fun!" As much as it stinks and serves no functional purpose other than embarrassment, I like to see where I've been and how much I've improved since everything I wrote was in pencil. Some part of me won't let me throw them out. It's like they're sacred or something.
