Oh woe is me- old story trauma!

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Kitahoshi

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I need a bit of advice on something. I wrote a fanfiction called Gundam Wing: Next Generation about four years ago and looking at it now makes my eyes burn. I really hate the way it was written so I always think about fixing it but then I just don't know where to start! In order to make it so I'm happy with it I'd have to rewtrite the whole thing and then I'd lose what it is about it that I still like. It wouldn't be the same anymore. I've been thinking about it for a year now and I'm thinking about just scrapping the whole thing since it was written just for fun. But I had plans for a sequel and if I don't write the sequel it will drive me up the wall because the story will end on an odd note.

GAH! I'm so undecided about the whole thing. Should I just write the sequel with my newer writing techniques to make me feel better or is there some alternative?

~Kitahoshi, the confused~
 

MacAllister

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Kit--if you're writing it for fun, then do what's fun for you! If it were me, I'd probably just go forward, using what I've learned. :)

Then you can look back at the first piece and smile, when you see how far you've come.
 

maestrowork

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I agree with Mac. Sometimes it's just not productive to go back to something we wrote years ago and try to rework it. Treat it as a learning experience, or something you did for fun.

But, if you still like the idea and think it has great potential, take the idea and write another story with it, using your skills and what you know now. I bet you will find more enjoyment that way.
 

Kitahoshi

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Thanks for all your help!

Thanks for all your help! When I get to it (on my "to finish" list) I'm going to write the sequel. In fact, this will work very nicely. *grins evilly* After all I can just push the sequel forward a few years from where the first stops and explain it along the way. The main character is supposed to age a few years into adulthood from adolescence so I think I could get away with it.

And now I'm looking forward to writing it! ^_^ Just one more thing to keep me from being tasered in the future... o.o
 

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Much good luck with your writing, Kit. And you can smile knowing how far you've improved with your writing.:) Mac and Ray are right on!

Susie
 

sunandshadow

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Well, being the analytical type that I am I would make a list of what you like in the old version, so you can be sure you preserve it, and make a plan for how you want to change it, and just make sure the plan doesn't stomp on any of the things you want to keep. Then, and this is just me, instead of editing the original fanfic I'd recast it with original characters and use your original and sequel ideas to make an original novel.

I'm not saying this because I have any prejudice against fanfic - I wrote a Fushigi Yuugi fanfic and a Lord of the Rings fanfic myself. I'm saying this because it quickly gets frustrating to be writing something you know you can never publish, and taking a fanfiction you have already worked out the plot of and using that plot to build and original novel is probably the easiest way to transition from fanfic to original stuff. Might as well really rework it since you're already motivated to rework it, right?
 

J. Y. Moore

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What would I do? Let's see? Write the sequel.

Any sequel should be a stand-alone anyway so you can incorporate those warm fuzzies from the first effort in it. This may make the sequel as much fun as the first was and re-fire your interest in the original. You may find you can then do the re-write of that old original with some enthusiasm. As long as you haven't made a direct reference to the first ms in your "sequel", the re-write can just be a prequel "written" (as opposed to "re-written") by the new you.

Good luck.

J. Y. (Jean) Moore
 

Kitahoshi

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J. Y. Moore said:
What would I do? Let's see? Write the sequel.

Any sequel should be a stand-alone anyway so you can incorporate those warm fuzzies from the first effort in it. This may make the sequel as much fun as the first was and re-fire your interest in the original. You may find you can then do the re-write of that old original with some enthusiasm. As long as you haven't made a direct reference to the first ms in your "sequel", the re-write can just be a prequel "written" (as opposed to "re-written") by the new you.

Good luck.

J. Y. (Jean) Moore

I could do that. o_O Minus one part involving a necklace but I can twist that since the main character has lost her memory. Mah, I wonder if I should start writing it... Or at least maybe a first chapter/prologue...

sunandshadow:
I could do that except that the fanfic is on something far away from ordinary. There are so many things I'd have to explain. Like space colonies, a country that doesn't actually exist and royal history on the family. Yeah, it might work but I have the problem of explaining a "gundam" without stealing from Bandai. ^^() All the same I might go back and rewrite it if I really feel I need to.
 
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