Blind spots

[defaux]

Do you ever look back at your own work and notice things that are so obviously, blatantly, just... bad?

I notice things in stories I've written, even quite recently, and wonder how on earth I didn't see the mistakes at the time. Like a flash fiction piece I submitted that opened almost literally with "It was a dark and stormy night..." It's not like I don't edit this stuff before I post.

Exactly how big are your blind spots? And how can you train yourself to see things more clearly, or perhaps objectively is a better term? Or does it just require the distance of time to notice such gaffs?

 

[Naomasa298]

Get the computer, or someone else, to read it aloud. Hearing your story makes a big difference.

 

[DLC]

yeah, like everyday

 

[GlitterRain]

I think spending time away from the piece, in combination with continuing to hone your craft (both by actively seeking out new writing knowledge and passively by reading other books similar to what you want to write), is the most surefire way to be able to spot weak points in your own writing and learn from them so that you don’t do it again.

Continuing to hone your craft is, maybe, more important than the distance of time away. What good is spending time away from the writing if you go back to it in two years and still think it’s perfect? (Assuming the writing is not yet published, and even then, I’m sure published authors probably see things they could’ve done better, years later.)

 

[CatrionaGrace]

Distance diminishes my emotional attachment and obssessive focus on details. That allows room for the objectivity I need to improve the work in question.

Do you ever look back at your own work and notice things that are so obviously, blatantly, just... bad?

Yes, but no one will ever know because I destroy the evidence.

 

[Link the Writer]

Every day. I swear, sometimes I think I grew up in a cave somewhere... Like, what do y'all mean the nobility of the Medieval period did more than just sit around their manor looking fancy, and gazing wistfully out the window?