Forum: Author Hangout

I'm curious: how many authors go back and read their own stories for fun?

I do. It's an effect of writing for an audience of me—writing the kind of stories I like to read. I rarely reread them right after posting them, because by the time I've made umpteen revision and proofreading passes, it feels like I've been stuck with these characters in an endless party and just want to get away from them all.

The difference from my work-for-hire stuff is striking—with one exception, I can't stand to look at the stuff (and yes, I'm wondering if there's a way to file the serial numbers off that one.)

What about you?

I always read my own stories once I've completed them. It's a very different experience to read the entire thing from start to finish from the experience of writing it.

I tend to read back the day after I finish, to try and catch spelling mistakes and sentences that don't quite make sense. Other than that, it's normally years later before I re-read them.

Which I find a bit dis-concerting. Occasionally I read some of my old stuff and bizarrely, find it better than my new stuff, though on a technical level they tend to be worse, more spelling mistakes, sentence structure lacking, cohesion all over the place, but over-all plot wise, I'm rather impressed that I even managed to write them, and there are a few that I even doubt that I actually wrote-even though, subconsciously, I know I did, (and wonder what the heck was going on in my head at the time).

When I am writing a sequel to a story, I always read the prior parts to refresh my memory. While doing so, I correct any errors I find, so it is not reading for pleasure.

I will sometimes read a prior story, but I usually do so for reasons other than reading pleasure.

Except for Lazlo Zalezac's stories, I rarely reread an author's stories for pleasure.

how many authors go back and read their own stories for fun?

I don't. Once it's done, I've moved on to another.

read their own stories for fun

I mix business with pleasure.

That means I through the works for fun, but I'm also proofreading them while I go. That way I can find errors. Note that I don't do that on here, I do that on my own files that are what was uploaded, so that way I can change things on here.

I started out writing because I couldn't find the stories I really wanted.

That was before I found SOL.

I'm still my favorite author though.

So far, I've never sat down and read my stories end-to-end, but I've read every chapter quite a few times. I try to separate my second-draft and editing passes from my first draft by enough time that I can't really remember writing the piece and have to really look at it. Many little corrections get made there.

While I suspect that I could read the whole thing and enjoy it, I also remember the contours of it pretty well (and have to), which means I'd rather spend my reading time reading something new to me.

I'm curious: how many authors go back and read their own stories for fun?

When you want to relax with a good read, it ensures you have something you know you'll like.

On the flip side, once I've written a story, edited it, and got it ready to publish I've read that work about a hundred times and won't want to go near it for some time to come. But once it's four or five years since I read it, then I usually enjoy reading them for relaxation, then put it away for another four or five years or more in the same way as I do a favorite story.

In between is the reading of a story to be clear on what went on in it before and while I write a follow up story to it.

What is now my story , Many Encounters, was
originally a collection of my sex scenes to turn myself on.
That was not particularly successful.