Do you re-read your writing for fun?

1. 82

   M. T. Dremerposted 10 years ago

   Do you re-read your writing for fun?
   
   This can apply to any kind of writing, be it a non-fiction hub or a genre fiction novel. But, do you ever find yourself going back and just reading your old stuff? Without, necessarily, an intent to write more or edit it?

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2. 83

   nochanceposted 10 years ago

   All the time. The stuff I wrote in high school was pretty amazing. Some of it is awful and cliched but there are other pieces that are sort of brilliant. It makes me remember why I still write.

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3. 77

   kalinin1158posted 10 years ago

   Great question M.T.! I do a lot of re-reading And it always fascinates me. In a way (almost) everything I write, I write to myself. So it's like my old self speaking to my current self, and as you can imagine, the conversation gets a little schizophrenic at times, but it gives me such a startling insight into who I was, who I am, and who I'm still going to be.

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4. 71

   dashingscorpioposted 10 years ago

   It's kind of strange when you go back to read something you wrote there is sometimes a feeling of being someone else. It almost feels as though there is a "writing voice" in you that is different from your conversational voice.
   Once in a while you're amazed and other times you wish you had said things differently or added another aspect to it. The older the material is the more distant or removed from me it feels.
   On some level you kind of let it go.

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5. 68

   reinhardBeckposted 10 years ago

   Not sure if "fun" is the word I'd use. But I have found that every time I re-read my own word I end up revising it even if I had no intention to.  My book is never finished because I know I'll fiddle with it yet again. The question is knowing when to stop and then have the courage to stop.

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6. 72

   tsmogposted 10 years ago

   At times. I deleted most of my hubs a year or so back. I have been in the cauldron sifting through the dust looking for possibilities. What is interesting is I realized how much was added to the impact of the article with the imagery and other capsules. I kind'a missed them not being there when I reread them.
   
   I have reread papers I wrote for college work too. I get stuck in thought with those as they cause great pondering. Since essay in nature they usually were explanation, expository, and persuasion essays. The pondering is the position I have today contrast / compare that of the time I wrote the paper.
   
   Interestingly some I changed my viewpoint since that writing experience. Some I did not. Some I realized were a great impact on me forming my person as I am today. Then it was like visiting an old and dear friend chatting things over. I liked the new experience through rereading as much if not more than the original researching and writing. I would smile when sitting down later to a glass of ice tea. I felt a sense of peacefulness.

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7. 0

   Stargrrlposted 10 years ago

   I do at times, and then I notice errors and I go back and change it.  I'm my worse critic, but for some reason, I never proofread.

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8. 80

   dohn121posted 10 years ago

   To contrast what nochance wrote, I find more older writing awful.  It shows my apparent inexperience of both prose and poetry, yet it's honest and epitomizes my age at the time.  To see that your past writing is indeed bad, in turn, is a good thing.  It goes to show you just how far you've come and that you are now mature enough to see your faults in your own work and to see it as clearly as an outsider would.  And to do so is a vast improvement in your craft because in doing so, you've become a better, more coherent writer.

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9. 92

   MizBejabbersposted 10 years ago

   I reread but rarely just for fun. Sometimes I reread something because of a comment someone has made. I want to know exactly what I said before I reply. I also find myself rereading for errors in grammar and punctuation because although I proofread over and over again before I publish, I still find them. Just as I find them in hubs written by some of our best writing experts, in my own I find double periods or someplace I should have inserted a comma. I had one reader point out that I used the wrong verb tense, and I quickly corrected that. I am glad to have other writers inform me of my errors -- note I said "errors" because I had one reader who apparently doesn't understand style try to correct me. So yes, I reread my hubs.

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10. 85

    gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

    
    
    Yes, I simply LOVE to re-read my hubs in the third person just for fun.  Yes, I ADMIT IT!

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