Do other authors have this issue too? · 7:54pm May 2nd, 2015
Imagine being told a joke, a hilarious one. Obviously, you'll laugh for a bit.
Imagine being told the same joke again shortly afterwards. You might chuckle, but it simply isn't as funny anymore.
Now, imagine hearing the exact same joke again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again......
It'll be groan-inducing. You don't want to hear it anymore. You want to listen to something else. You want a change of pace.
It's what I'm using as an analogy for how I've been feeling about my older chapters.
I've read and re-re-re-read my story multiple times to make sure the new chapter I'd be integrating would flow properly with the last chapter posted (though most of the time I only re-read the chapter that precedes it). I often also re-read the chapter I'm working on whenever I'm stuck, in the hopes that inspiration will strike so that I may finish it.
I unfortunately got "stuck" so much on "The calm after the storm" that when I felt the time to publish the chapter had arrived, I honestly, GENUINELY felt like I was signing away the death of my story.
I've talked a bunch about re-writing my earlier chapters, because the first ones are in a way much more important than the rest. The introduction HAS to be interesting, it HAS to catch the attention of the reader in some way. However, since I've read my own story so much I could practically recite it by heart nowadays, I practically "groan" whenever I read my earlier chapters.
Therein lies the problem.
I can't tell anymore what's good and what isn't. I can't tell what should stay and what should be edited, changed or removed.
Literally.
The only reason I went ahead and actually published "The calm after the storm" was that I reminded myself how much I liked most parts of the chapter WHEN. I. WROTE. THEM. Because by the time I put it up, I was feeling completely unsure about whether it was good or not.
...At least it went fine, people loved it for the most part.
Thus, unless someone else comes along and either comments or PM's me about something that I've done wrong or could be better, I am literally unable to change anything I've already posted because I can't trust myself to know what's good and what isn't.
That is a harsh problem... and why I don't re-read my chapters, only if I have to re-introduce a character I used already earlier.
I can tell you... the only thing I would call 'bad' is actually the only reason I wouldn't stuff Artemis into Ahuizotl-thing's cult just to see how it would work out, and it is an important little detail. It shows much about his cult...
You shouldn't change your introduction. It makes you wonder where the maincharacter is, what happened to her. We then find out what happened, and we already know about the queen's plans. But we (or atleast I) already want to know what happens to Artemis after the plan failed, and then how Cadence will cope with being a mass murderer, if Lara will ever get her own child, if Artemis will be allowed to stay with Lara or if Celestia gives her such a big scare Artemis dies from a heartattack, and stuff like that.
It certainly catched my attention, and was good and easy to read.
What the dude below me said.
That is the problem with comedy. The more you read it, or polish it. The less funny it becomes for the author.
Same here, while I go back and look for errors every now and again, I try not to read it too many times. I also keep a list of oc's and occupations (may add colors, so I don't forget that as well). That way I don't have to backtrack through x amount of chapters to find the one spec of info I lost.
The story is great, you are doing an excellent job.
Don't sweat it, the beginning is one of the better opening chapters I have read.
I'm loving the story so far, just keep going as is. And yes, lots of authors have this problem, myself included. Sometimes I just shake my head at my published chapters.