Forgetting my own stories.

[Imstillfun]

Ever look at your list of stories and realize you forgot what the story is about? Or is that just me?

 

[MrPixel]

Just you.

I look at my list sometimes, immediately recall the story in question, and think to myself, "Ohgawd, that one was awful. Maybe I should ask Laurel to delete it." But I just shrug my shoulders and try to remember why I was messing around with the list in the first place, before I was distracted.

 

[mildlyaroused]

I never forget what a story is generally about - but sometimes I look back on a story and I'm just like, "What the FUCK was I thinking with this [scene/symbol/motivation/etc]? Waaahh I should delete it and forget I ever wrote it!!!"

I reckon that's healthy, though. I'd never delete old stories, here or anywhere else, but the fact I look back on them as things which I could improve tenfold makes me confident in my growth. It feels good. It makes me sure that I am constantly progressing as a writer, even if I'm just changing styles and not generating objective improvement. Any change, in my eyes, is hugely important, because the more change I undergo (positive or negative), the more perspectives and styles I get to incorporate into my own writing.

I can remember everything I've written, but I can't put myself into the brain which wrote those stories - but I think that's a good thing. We all get the privelege of getting to read our own garbage, iterate on that garbage, and slowly create a story which is genuinely worth telling.

Whether we remember it or not, we can read it, and therefore we can improve it.

 

[NotWise]

You have more stories up than I do. I haven't forgotten any of my stories, but there are some early stories where my recollection is pretty hazy.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Ever look at your list of stories and realize you forgot what the story is about? Or is that just me?

Nope - I do have the thing of re-reading old stories and thinking, “This is better than I thought.”

 

[old_prof]

None of my stories are very old, since I only started writing last year, so no for me.

Nope - I do have the thing of re-reading old stories and thinking, “This is better than I thought.”

I have this thing right now of looking at an old story and thinking "This could be so much better if I cleaned up the writing."

That's been most of my life recently. So far it's been all cleaning up the writing. And rewriting the ending for three of them.
One of the ones in the queue now needs a story rewrite -- there is a nice three month flirtation which I liked (the writing could still be better of course), but then they go on a date and by teh end of the weekend, they're professing undying love and solving each other's deep psychological problems. That's worth restructuring more than a bit.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Nope - I do have the thing of re-reading old stories and thinking, “This is better than I thought.”

I have converted most of my stories to audio books that I listen to while driving (windows rolled completely up), and think similar.

It's like experiencing the story all over again when you hear it read back by something other than the monotone, robotic, read-aloud voices of many applications. Hearing the inflections and tones conveying the emotions of the characters is rewarding.

It makes me wonder if the voices in readers' minds did as well when the stories were just being read. I have found myself focusing more on "How will this sound?" when writing now.

 

[Duil2]

I forget what mine are about all the time and then have the pleasure of reading them like a reader. Naturally I still usually like the basic story but there will always be room for improvement.

 

[Cagivagurl]

I forget mine the moment I post them...
By then I have usually started on another, and I become involved with that one...
Post and forget. I never read my old ones. I never check the comments, or go over them...
It is like giving birth... Releasing a child into the world.
writing is addictive. I already have another story developing whilst in the middle of one. I think I have over 100 unfinished stories on my desktop. Unfinished because I've already started another...
Once you get past 10 or so, it's impossible to recall details...
If somebody asked me a question about a particular one. I would have to skim read it to remember...

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I have converted most of my stories to audio books that I listen to while driving (windows rolled completely up), and think similar.

It's like experiencing the story all over again when you hear it read back by something other than the monotone, robotic, read-aloud voices of many applications. Hearing the inflections and tones conveying the emotions of the characters is rewarding.

It makes me wonder if the voices in readers' minds did as well when the stories were just being read. I have found myself focusing more on "How will this sound?" when writing now.

I’d be interested in your process to get this done.

 

[EmilyMiller]

This could be so much better if I cleaned up the writing

I’m mostly pleasantly surprised as I assume my stuff from three years back is middle school level

 

[EmilyMiller]

I have converted most of my stories to audio books that I listen to while driving (windows rolled completely up), and think similar.

It's like experiencing the story all over again when you hear it read back by something other than the monotone, robotic, read-aloud voices of many applications. Hearing the inflections and tones conveying the emotions of the characters is rewarding.

It makes me wonder if the voices in readers' minds did as well when the stories were just being read. I have found myself focusing more on "How will this sound?" when writing now.

The robotic read aloud was perfect for my novel as the FMC and narrator was a gynoid.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I can that it could be a problem for someone who specializes in one or two categories, but I'm too all over the place.

 

[StillStunned]

It makes me wonder if the voices in readers' minds did as well when the stories were just being read. I have found myself focusing more on "How will this sound?" when writing now.

I always do that. Using sound and rhythm makes prose easier to read, even if it's only inside the reader's mind.

 

[IWroteThis]

Ever look at your list of stories and realize you forgot what the story is about? Or is that just me?

I don't forget the overview, but I do go back and read them occasionally to refresh my memory on the details.

Now, my works in progress is a different story. It's not uncommon to open the wrong one, or have to just go down the list opening them until I find the right one. Granted, I have more stories in the WiP folder than the Published folder…

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I’d be interested in your process to get this done.

I use a variety of processes depending on who is publishing the original work and the target audience(s).

My publisher handles audio creation for any books that they have contracted for. These get a wide distribution through most all the most common audio book channels. (We won't talk about how much this typically costs)

My self-published works on Amazon are part of their beta, "Virtual Voice" program that uses AI voices of my choosing. This is free for any books published as an e-book on their site. These titles are sold through both Amazon and Audible and do quite well.

My non-Amazon stories are converted to AI using Amazon Polly. There is a minimal charge for this and it only converts a few thousand words at a time. The recorded segments then need to be compiled and modified as desired (sound effects, music, etc.) with something like Audacity to create the final product. The distribution of these is limited due both to the content and the limited sites that currently accept AI-generated audio books. They can be posted on YouTube, Audiomack, and other similar sites for free.

 

[norafares]

I don't always remember every last detail, as a close friend likes to say, I have "the memory of a deep-fried goldfish" lol but I never forget what a story is about, who the characters are, what the themes and messages may be. It's impossible to forget when I put so much of myself into my work.

 

[StillStunned]

Now, my works in progress is a different story.

Yes, WIPs can be a huge surprise sometimes. I'll see a file, vaguely recall the working title, and then find that I've written 5k words of something I have no recollection of.

I even started a thread about it a couple of years ago: A pleasant surprise

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I use a variety of processes depending on who is publishing the original work and the target audience(s).

My publisher handles audio creation for any books that they have contracted for. These get a wide distribution through most all the most common audio book channels. (We won't talk about how much this typically costs)

My self-published works on Amazon are part of their beta, "Virtual Voice" program that uses AI voices of my choosing. This is free for any books published as an e-book on their site. These titles are sold through both Amazon and Audible and do quite well.

My non-Amazon stories are converted to AI using Amazon Polly. There is a minimal charge for this and it only converts a few thousand words at a time. The recorded segments then need to be compiled and modified as desired (sound effects, music, etc.) with something like Audacity to create the final product. The distribution of these is limited due both to the content and the limited sites that currently accept AI-generated audio books. They can be posted on YouTube, Audiomack, and other similar sites for free.

Thanks. I'm revisiting some of my stories and editing them for eventual publication on Amazon. I think Audio versions would be a cool add on especially if it comes with publishing on Amazon.

EDIT: Going back to something I wrote six years ago and reading through it to see how I can make it better is a very humbling(and time consuming) task...

 

[Seurat]

Some I remember, some I forget. I don't usually write to get a story down, I write to get it out of my head. Sometimes it leaves a memory, ofttimes it doesn't. Since I'm writing to get rid of things, I don't usually complete them (the process has gotten a lot worse as I've aged) which accounts for the plethora of unfinished works on my computer. I am trying, though, to get some of them completed.

 

[yowser]

Zadie Smith in Changing my Mind

I find it very hard to read my books after they're published. I've never read White Teeth [her first novel]. Five years ago I tried; I got about ten sentences in before I was overwhelmed with nausea....

So that was that, between that book and me there now exists a sort of blank truce, neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't always remember every last detail, as a close friend likes to say, I have "the memory of a deep-fried goldfish" lol but I never forget what a story is about, who the characters are, what the themes and messages may be. It's impossible to forget when I put so much of myself into my work.

This is pretty much me, too. I've got twelve years worth of stories here, and while I might not remember every bit of detail, I know the overall essence of every one, every character nuance. When I read an older story after many years, there's a sense of the familiar that comes rushing back, like an old friend.

What's pleasing with some of them, the ones that really "work", is that they get me off still. That's kinda nice, reading my content as a reader might - or I conditioned myself during the writing phase that I'm like Pavlov's dog and it's guaranteed to work. Never quite sure about that!

 

[liliput1]

I know reading my own old blog posts was a wheel of fortune of, “I have no idea what I was trying to say,” “I forgot I’ve thought about this so long ago” and “this is way smarter and more insightful than I am now.”

Supposedly Benjamin Franklin got better at persuasive writing by locking up his own essays until he forgot about them and then reviewing and critiquing them.

 

[Voboy]

Ever look at your list of stories and realize you forgot what the story is about? Or is that just me?

Quite often.

My first ten stories and my last ten or so are pretty clear in my mind, and so are a bunch more scattered around, but a good third of the time I look at notifications like "PenisFace69 has added your story to favorites" and I think to myself, huh. What the fuck story is that?

 

[anthrodisiac]

In the 25 years of writing I've done, I don't think I've come across anything where I have almost no idea what it was just looking at the title. I will, however, look at it and scream at myself not to open it because of the sheer horror of how bad it was. Or mumble, "What the fuck drugs were you on?"

The answer, of course, being, "Not the fun ones."