A few years ago, I concluded that it wasn't my place to judge which of my fics were worth sharing, so I dug up all my old and embarrassing work (well, everything that was finished and at least a thousand words long) and posted it on a backup AO3 account. I suppose, if even one person reads and enjoys them, it's worth a little embarrassment.
Right! I think this is good to remember - and I like having them as a record of my participation in fandom, even if it is early and awkward participation. (My author's notes were particularly weird, often a combination of aggressive and self-deprecating that was probably mimicking the tone of other users whose works I read at the time. That sort of "well it sucks but I published it anyway! here!!!" xD I didn't have to preserve those, but they're part of the whole, and the disclaimers are particularly of their time).
Your unfinished WIP section is reassuring; thank you for linking to it! I was thinking 'would it be silly or pointless to archive these little scraps, many of which are just silly things I wrote as a kid?', but seeing your site helped me realise that, if anyone else did the same thing, I'd just think it was a cool little thing to include.
Well, thank you very much! It's a useful tactic, actually, to think 'If I saw that someone else was doing this, would I judge it as harshly as I am doing for myself?'
I've been part of a lot of fandoms where I only got around to publishing one thing, or didn't finish anything, but I put some time and energy into ideas that didn't make it to a site like Fanfiction.net or AO3. I've often thought I would pick them back up, but most of them are at a point where I don't remember where I was going with them, so, that's when the idea of archiving them occurred to me. It doesn't come with the mental pressure of feeling like I've submitted them for Public Consumption(TM), but at the same time, if someone does want to read them and enjoys what little is there, so much the better! So, in other words, I encourage you to do it if you like the idea :D
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carisma_sensei
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Date: 2024-09-08 02:45 am (UTC)Right! I think this is good to remember - and I like having them as a record of my participation in fandom, even if it is early and awkward participation. (My author's notes were particularly weird, often a combination of aggressive and self-deprecating that was probably mimicking the tone of other users whose works I read at the time. That sort of "well it sucks but I published it anyway! here!!!" xD I didn't have to preserve those, but they're part of the whole, and the disclaimers are particularly of their time).
Well, thank you very much! It's a useful tactic, actually, to think 'If I saw that someone else was doing this, would I judge it as harshly as I am doing for myself?'
I've been part of a lot of fandoms where I only got around to publishing one thing, or didn't finish anything, but I put some time and energy into ideas that didn't make it to a site like Fanfiction.net or AO3. I've often thought I would pick them back up, but most of them are at a point where I don't remember where I was going with them, so, that's when the idea of archiving them occurred to me. It doesn't come with the mental pressure of feeling like I've submitted them for Public Consumption(TM), but at the same time, if someone does want to read them and enjoys what little is there, so much the better! So, in other words, I encourage you to do it if you like the idea :D