A Quirk

Neverlands and Otherwheres

After I’ve published a piece, I can’t read it again.  I’m not sure why that is.  I’ll say, “Oh, hey, my story is in Such and Such,” and I’ll be all excited and link people to it or carry the book around for a bit.  And that’s the end of it.

Perhaps I’m afraid that I’ll find something wrong that cries out for me to fix it.  Or perhaps the magic is gone now that it’s been placed. I can read it in Word, but never in its published format.  It’s a strange quirk, but I’m quite certain that I’m not the only one who feels this way.  How about the rest of you?  Once your piece finds a home, how do you feel?

0 Comments on “A Quirk”

  1. Having never published, I don’t know… I think I’ve got just a big enough ego that I’d be reading it again and again. That’s my imperfect side talking, of course. When the perfectionist in me sees it and reads it, who knows what will happen!

  2. Once I place it – stick a fork in it, it’s done!

    I haven’t even considered checking past pieces to see if I can sell them as reprints.

    I’m getting scared at how much in common I have with you and other writers. People will start calling me a writer if I keep this up ;c)

  3. I really dislike reading things I’ve published. Every time I’ve done it I’ve either been incredibly bored, or incredibly embarrassed. I’ll stay away from it in the future!

  4. Submitted a short fairy tale retold to an online mag–your inspiration to get going and submitt did it to me. Thanks.Just submitting it makes me not want to read it again…all those “what ifs” when you look again and again, and it’s late…it’s already out of your hands…sheesh.

    NaNo update: can’t wait!!!! Was considering doing a short story collection, did i mentions this?(found a bunch doing this too at NaNo rebels) but fear of losing the spirit of “novel” haunts me…Any thoughts??
    Thanks, Jenn

  5. Isn’t that strange? I always thought that once I published something, I’d be reading that sucker every five minutes. Using a megaphone. At subway stations and in crowded restaurants.

  6. I read it once to make sure there are no horrible errors, but after that, I typically never look at it again unless I’m trying to place it somewhere that takes reprints.

  7. Separated at birth my dear! I’m exactly the same way. Partly out of fear I’ll find a mistake or something I could’ve done differently. I recently got a copy of an anthology I’m in and I haven’t looked at my story yet to see if they even spelled my name right!

    Maybe we should form a support group?

  8. I have (often two or more) copies of everything I’m published in, and I’m perfectly happy to reread if the mood takes me.

    Of course, I tend to know the endings 🙂

    7

  9. I do reread, but I don’t like it.

    When I read a piece of mine on a printed page (or even on a website), it doesn’t seem like something I wrote. I read it with a vague interest, sometimes thinking “oh, I like that sentence” or “yes, good visual”, the way I’d read a students’ story for class.

    I’ve tried to get excited about seeing my name in print, but it just leaves me cold. The thing that is exciting is when someone mentions that they’ve read a story I wrote – for some reason that’s the only thing that brings home that it’s REALLY published, REALLY out there for strangers to read. Otherwise I just think – yeah, OK, that’s my name; I’ve seen it a thousand times.

  10. I don’t know about written works but once I do a cover of a song, I can hardly ever just listen and enjoy the original like I used to.

    I’ve had to tear it to pieces to get it right, put it back together and play it over and over again and I think some of the magic gets steamed out of it in the process.

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