I hadn't thought about it that way, but it's so true. I'm 21, and even looking back at stuff I wrote just a couple of years ago makes me feel embarrassed. Plots and dialogues and witty one-liners that sounded interesting to me back then now sound hopelessly childish. This goes for all my writing, not just fiction writing - my old university assignments make me cringe too. I've completely scrapped and restarted a couple of novel projects I started in high school, because the original material couldn't be used anymore. Apologies for going off on a tangent, but I have a question for older writers... When you're in your 30s or 40s or 50s, do you still get this feeling often? Do you still look back at your work from a few years ago and shake your head at how silly you used to be? It's a rather scary thought for me. I'm not sure I want to publish a book that sounds awesome to my 21-year-old mind, and later on feel embarrassed that I ever let anybody read it.
Apologies for going off on a tangent, but I have a question for older writers... When you're in your 30s or 40s or 50s, do you still get this feeling often? Do you still look back at your work from a few years ago and shake your head at how silly you used to be? It's a rather scary thought for me. I'm not sure I want to publish a book that sounds awesome to my 21-year-old mind, and later on feel embarrassed that I ever let anybody read it.[/QUOTE] It's no problem, and i think you do sometimes and you don't. Don't take my word for it since i'm younger than you but sometimes i see stuff i wrote a few years ago and do feel embarrassed but sometimes i like it, and its like going back in time. So i guess it's different for different people.
