Should I publish my ancient dumpsterfire?

Pony_wearing_a_hat 2020-10-19 20:16:32 UTC #1

A few years ago I wrote an entire novel and whilst I was writing it I thought It was gonna be the next War And Peace, but then I finished it, and I read it, and realized it was garbage.

So now I have an entire full length novel lying around on my computer collecting virtual dust. I was thinking of putting it on Tapas just for gits and Shiggles.

It is absolute trash. The plot moves way too fast and I tried to tackle topics I knew nothing about. But it's still kind of fun to look back on because It was the first thing I wrote for real, and it makes me feel better about my current novel that's I'm actually proud of because it isn't as bad as that first tentative step into writing. So, the question is, should this thing ever see the light of day, or should I just let it rot in writing jail?

Dane_Sherbet 2020-10-19 22:21:46 UTC #2

Would anyone want to read it? Would it provide value to someone out there?

Pony_wearing_a_hat 2020-10-19 22:23:20 UTC #3

Does laughing at god awful writing count as value? Cause I'd love to have people tearing it apart alongside me.

Dane_Sherbet 2020-10-19 22:25:18 UTC #4

Sounds like you'd want to invite that kind of commentary in the novel description.

domisotto 2020-10-19 22:29:19 UTC #5

If it has a good core, rewrite it. If not, I wouldn’t post it just because you have it if you know that the quality is not great. If you are trying to do market research and see if your younger self connects with the younger readers, that could be neat.

cherrystark 2020-10-19 22:31:13 UTC #6

Part of me says yes for my love of riffing but also if the idea is solid, I'd love to help improve it.

Seaby 2020-10-19 23:08:37 UTC #7

If you're not afraid of others reading your bad writing, go ahead and post it. There's no level of quality that a work has to reach before it can be published, neither do you need to think others might like it. There was a reason you thought it was great while you wrote it, so someone else who is currently in the head space you used to be might appreciate it more. And if no one likes it at all, it's not like that would be disheartening since you don't like it either.

ninjashira 2020-10-19 23:37:16 UTC #8

I personally suggest not posting anything you aren't proud of. I feel like you want to display your best work, not your worst. It might even discourage people from reading your future work if your worst novel is their first or only impression of your writing abilities.

Pony_wearing_a_hat 2020-10-20 00:01:15 UTC #9

I'm considering making a separate account for it, and openly inviting riffing on the bad writing in the description. That way it won't be associated with the work that I am proud of. I don't have any shame attached to it, I think it's funny and would I really don't care if people read it or not. I also don't care if people like it or not. I'd just rather not do nothing with it.

DiegoPalacios 2020-10-20 02:02:53 UTC #10

If you really wanna embrace the comedic ironic enjoyment, rewrite it so it is in a deliberately bad but readable english grammar

Pony_wearing_a_hat 2020-10-20 02:22:54 UTC #11

cherrystark 2020-10-20 02:26:50 UTC #12

I love Grunkle Stan!

jjfresh 2020-10-20 02:32:54 UTC #13

Sometimes it's nice to look at your old stuff just for laughs, or to see how far you've come. But is there a need to publish that? To have shame yourself and have others laugh with you? I don't know if there's value in sharing it except showing readers how much you've grown.

I'll embarrass myself for an example:

(bruh okay, I gave you one of the least awful pages because I couldn't bring myself to do it)

From that to this:

From this:

To something like this:

Now I think that's a more constructive way of showing the old awful stuff.

BTW, here's a more up to date version of those other characters:

chaoticenergy 2020-10-20 03:07:10 UTC #14

yesss! do it! everyone wants to read it my guy!

Pony_wearing_a_hat 2020-10-20 03:08:20 UTC #16

Dang, that is some sweet improvement.

jjfresh 2020-10-20 03:17:19 UTC #17

Really though, go for it if you're up to it. Not for self humiliation or something but so you can really see how you've improved.

Those pages are from my manga here

And I archived the old pages I redrew of it here

- dont actually though, it's so bad lul

Just so I nor anyone else will forget how bad it was :3

WoollyPAR 2020-10-20 05:46:00 UTC #18

I say go ahead. People love bad writing, even unironically sometimes. It's funny and provides good examples of what to avoid. Another positive is you'll always have something to point at to show your progress.

So yeah, go for it. I don't see a reason not to

gempompadour 2020-10-20 06:08:26 UTC #19

If you really want to then just do it! Say it's an older work that's bit of a hot mess, but it's your first real work ever and finishing it made you feel happy and proud. Your subs and new readers will then choose whether or not to dip their toes in your dumpsterfire of a story, and who knows, maybe some funny memes could come out of it

Besides, authors and artists are usually their own harshest and worst critics. Your story might not be as bad as you make it out to be, and a lot of folks might really enjoy reading it.

ble 2020-10-22 02:41:06 UTC #20

I understand that feeling, When i made my first comic, i thought "well this is gonna be my magnum opus, it's gonna be popular like X or Y big webcomics". The end result was a extreme trash no one cared with zero subs, comments or likes, i didn't think that was posible on webtoons, but yeah it happened.

So i deleted mine from the internet LOL, but if you don't mind that, put it online.