How I Horrified and Encouraged Myself With My Own Writing

So I found my old laptop the other day and decided to see if it still works. Maybe I could put it to use or do something with it. I turned it on and scanned through the documents saved on the hard drive to make sure I had transferred everything I wanted from it to my new computer (let it be known that I got my new laptop December 2012). Because it's been about two years since I last used that computer, the files on it were outdated to say the least. I found the old Microsoft Word file of my manuscript that is now completed and giggled to myself (I have since transferred over to the magnificent Scrivener). I decided to read what little I had back then and see how my editing had improved it.

Let me just say that I was not prepared for what I read.

I actually laughed out loud at parts of it. I cringed at the beginning and how awful it was. I shook my head at some of the stuff I have since cut from the story and don't even get me started on the stuff I changed.

The point here is that in the past two years, I've done a heck of a lot of editing. Sometimes it feels like I haven't accomplished anything in the way of editing. I'm on my fourth draft of editing and I often feel like I should be on like draft ten by now. School is busy, life gets crazy, and I just don't get as much editing done as I'd like (summer, come faster). 

But reading that two year old draft put things in perspective for me. I realize now that I actually have gotten a lot done. Even though I may not be as far in the process as I wish I was, I'm still pretty darn far, and I lost sight of that. Reading that horrifying two year old work-in-progress made me realize how much I really have accomplished in the last two years.

It also showed how much better my writing has gotten. A few parts (a very, very few parts) were basically the same, but the writing itself was just SO much better. My overall writing skill and storytelling is so much better than it was. Of course, I still want to improve it, but it's come a long way. 

So if you ever want a good laugh, read your super old writing. It's horrifying, but in a totally good way.