I’m one of those people who LOVES the autumn. Always have. There’s something about the crisp air, changing colors, delicious fall flavors, and the cozy textures of fall clothing that feel like coming home. Fall is usually the time of year when I get nostalgic too. This means that I pull out old books I’ve read a thousand times—and old writing projects that I haven’t thought about in months. Incidentally, this is also the season of seeing with fresh eyes and a fresh outlook.
Autumn Represents New Perspective
Fall is obviously a time of change with all the leaves falling and school starting. But now that I’m an adult who’s no longer in school (THANK GOODNESS) this time of year has become a season of lifting my head up from the grind of day-to-day life to look around. To notice how different the street outside my house looks with vibrant leaves falling and overcast skies. To savor the feeling of cool morning air in my lungs when autumn weather finally hits. Maybe to pull out some favorite recipes, call someone I haven’t reached out to in a while, and air out my favorite sweaters lurking at the back of my wardrobe.
Perhaps this feeling of revisiting the long-forgotten is why autumn is my time to revisit my old books I’ve written. I’ve finished six different books, and frankly nothing brings me more joy than pulling out my old manuscripts and reading some chapters.
Some People Hate Their Old Writing—But Not Me
The writers I know have EXTREMELY diverse opinions of how they feel about their past work. I know some who refuse to look at their old stuff on principle. They want to keep moving forward, so they believe that opening old manuscripts is a patent waste. Other writers get an intense feeling of self-hatred and embarrassment by reading their old work. Why and how did they think that writing this was a good idea?! So they choose to avoid old work to spare themselves all the emotions.
Me? I have what I would describe as a truly romantic relationship with my old books. I adore reading my old stuff, even the cringey stuff I wrote as a teenager if I’m honest. My old writing has a way of transporting me back to where I was when I wrote certain scenes and had certain plot breakthroughs. Even when I remember being intensely unhappy while writing something, there’s a quiet satisfaction in knowing that my past self turned out okay. She made it through, and now I’m here. Although I do come across undeniably bad writing, I’m often delighted by how good some of my old stuff actually is.
Seeing with Fresh Eyes Is Such a Gift as a Writer
Whether they love or hate their old stuff, any writer can benefit greatly from letting their writing rest. Sometimes that rest is a month or two to let the dust settle. Other times that break could be a year or more. However long it takes to forget what you wrote and then reintroduce yourself to your old book. Then when you meet again, you’ll inevitably have a clearer perspective of what you wrote.
This experience of re-meeting your work is unbelievably valuable for two important reasons . . .
Reason #1: It Lets You See the Truth of Your Book’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Truly, there is nothing healthier for your craft than seeing with fresh eyes exactly what’s going on in your writing. Well . . . I concede that reading great books and getting constructive feedback are also high up there. But if we’re talking about you sitting alone at your laptop, taking a look at some writing you haven’t seen in a while can be highly illuminating.
Letting your writing rest automatically gives you some distance from your work. It allows you to become less emotionally attached to your story and get over the “this is just the way it happened” mentality. This empowers you to start thinking about your plot analytically. Do there really need to be this many characters in this story? Ugh, did I just use the word “understandably” AGAIN? You know, that scene where my heroine figured out the big secret felt contrived. And that one character is just annoying. The writing group was totally right.
My point is that letting your writing rest is the key to seeing with fresh eyes how your book turned out. Writers can be incredibly blind to our own stuff. But we can also learn by reviewing our work. Which brings me to another huge reason to return to old writing . . .
Reason #2: Seeing with Fresh Eyes Shows How Much You’ve Grown
I’ve personally read through an old manuscript and recognized that I became a better writer by the final chapter of that book. It’s a little surreal to notice how much wordier your early chapters were. How you were just muddling along and trying your best. Then by the end of that book, things come together. This contrast is particularly noticeable in the first book I ever finished, which was outrageously long and horribly paced. Even that book had so much heart to it. And I frankly still enjoy the love story and the magic system I created for it.
Some people think it’s embarrassing to see how much of an amateur you once were. Me? I find my old style endearing, even if it never would have gotten published. Like ever. I personally can appreciate how much talent my younger self had, even if she made dreadful plotting mistakes and had no idea how to write cliffhangers. She still had an incredible imagination. And I admire her for sticking with writing long enough to turn into the writer I am today. Maybe my future self ten years from now will feel that way about me now. Who knows?
I Had an Experience Recently of Seeing My Work with Fresh Eyes
The other week, I opened my Snow White Writes email to find a message I wasn’t expecting. It was an email from the editor of a website I’ve used for years asking if she could republish an article I wrote three years ago. It was an honor I absolutely was not expecting. That message sent me combing through my archives to find the article in question. And I enjoyed every second of reading it. There’s no question that I’m a better writer and blogger now than I was back then. But the piece was also genuinely interesting and good. And the fact that someone out there found it, read it, and wanted it on their site was pretty awesome.
This experience inspired me to reread the book I’m trying to get published. My journey of finding an agent for my favorite manuscript has been put on hold since having a baby, but I’m feeling the percolating desire to pick that journey back up again. It’s definitely my dream to get published, but I also adore the book I’m trying to sell. Rereading that book breathed new life into me and reminded me of yet another reason I like to revisit my old work . . .
Reason #3: Seeing with Fresh Eyes Lets You Re-experience the Magic
Rereading my old books takes me back to the excitement of writing that specific book. Except now I can enjoy the final product and feel proud of accomplishing something. It’s an incredibly unique experience to enjoy your own book as a reader—even if you always knew the ending. Maybe you’re a writer who has to make a conscience effort to be less hard on yourself. But I highly recommend enjoying your story for what it was meant to be: an escape from everyday life and a celebration of a really cool world or cool characters or a truly mind-bending plot twist that you HAD to write. As writers, we should never sell our creativity short.
