Tangentially re: An Epiphany

[deemoyza]

In light of AO3's recent downtime, I've decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to actually get around to archiving my work somewhere else, as well. So I finally started putting effort into building up my deemoyza_archive account; once that's complete, it'll be easy to transfer the html files to my forever-under-construction Neocities site, eventually.

But back to the epiphany. While previewing the pages before posting them, I often get involved in reading the stories, and they really aren't that bad at all, if I may say so myself. Sure, there is an obvious progression from my earlier fics to my more recent ones--a good thing!--but the earlier ones are nowhere near as bad as I feared they were.

One of my favorites among my 2018-19 batch is still "Curious as a Cat," mainly because it represented a few firsts for me: first longfic, first romantic plotline, first opportunity to be a complete capital-N Nerd about FF8 lore and my headcanons. And while it's definitely not perfect, I still find it charming, and exciting, and nostalgic, for lack of a better word.

I'm glad that I can see growth in my writing, technically, thematically, and artistically, but I'm also very glad to discover that I wasn't as horrible at it as I thought. It's a good confidence boost, and seeing these stories, including some WIPs, helps reignite some of the enthusiasm that's been dormant for the past few years. I'm happy I tackled this project. :)

Comments

[rionaleonhart]

Aww, I'm glad you've had a good time with archiving! It can be so interesting to revisit your own earlier work. A lot of my early writing has obvious flaws, and it used to make me cringe, but now I look back on it fondly; I can see the passion and enthusiasm there, and how writing those messy early works was essential to my own development as a writer.