Hey y'all, it's be a while since I've done a Q & A blog post. And by "a while" I mean, like over a year, if not more. It's been so long, in fact, that it was probably done when I was still using WordPress.
The other day an author friend of mine asked me the following question:
Is there any thing you have written where the audience loves it but you’re not too crazy about it? If so, which work is it and why?
I felt the need to answer in blog form because I though that there might be some of you out there that might be interested in knowing that answer as well. So, without further ado ... here we go!
Funny enough, I am that author that doesn't confront this issue too much once my works are completed and published. But—whether applicable or not, I don't know—I have experienced hating a project before its completion. I'll elaborate.
Once upon a time, in the year 2014, I was to be part of the first ever All Authors anthology titled "Concordant Vibrancy: Unity". The theme was about the coming together of persons, places, or things. As I thought about the theme of the collection an idea occurred to me; "What if a fictional creature was a combination or coming together of lots of cool things?" How outstanding would it be if there were a science fiction creation that unified both fantasy and science fiction?
Fast forward lots of talking, planning and writing, in come the creation of "Earth 8-8-2". As luck would have it, "Earth 8-8-2" never made it to "Concordant Vibrancy: Unit" as the story took on a life all its own and was, in the end, too big of a story to confine to a short story collection.
It took me all of a week to complete the first installment of this story. And, while I was fully enamored with the idea of the story prior to completing it, once it was done, I hated it. I really did. I kicked myself for having invested all that time in writing a story that at the end, in my opinion, was shit.
In order to reassure my assessment, I decided to send the story to a couple of author friends of mine so that they could read it and tell me how terrible it was.
To my surprise, they both came to me and said that the story was phenomenal. I was shocked.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I said, unable to believe that they really liked the story.
They assured me that the story was amazing.
Even with that, I still didn't like it. So, I decided to set it aside for a little bit and then come back to it later. Furthermore, I'd already made up my mind that I would read it from a readers perspective, not an author's.
Letting it sit for some time and working on other things, eventually I got back to it.
Put your readers mind on, Y. I told myself. Having mentally prepared myself, I did just that.
Then I started reading.
The other day an author friend of mine asked me the following question:
Is there any thing you have written where the audience loves it but you’re not too crazy about it? If so, which work is it and why?
I felt the need to answer in blog form because I though that there might be some of you out there that might be interested in knowing that answer as well. So, without further ado ... here we go!
Funny enough, I am that author that doesn't confront this issue too much once my works are completed and published. But—whether applicable or not, I don't know—I have experienced hating a project before its completion. I'll elaborate.
Once upon a time, in the year 2014, I was to be part of the first ever All Authors anthology titled "Concordant Vibrancy: Unity". The theme was about the coming together of persons, places, or things. As I thought about the theme of the collection an idea occurred to me; "What if a fictional creature was a combination or coming together of lots of cool things?" How outstanding would it be if there were a science fiction creation that unified both fantasy and science fiction?
Fast forward lots of talking, planning and writing, in come the creation of "Earth 8-8-2". As luck would have it, "Earth 8-8-2" never made it to "Concordant Vibrancy: Unit" as the story took on a life all its own and was, in the end, too big of a story to confine to a short story collection.
It took me all of a week to complete the first installment of this story. And, while I was fully enamored with the idea of the story prior to completing it, once it was done, I hated it. I really did. I kicked myself for having invested all that time in writing a story that at the end, in my opinion, was shit.
In order to reassure my assessment, I decided to send the story to a couple of author friends of mine so that they could read it and tell me how terrible it was.
To my surprise, they both came to me and said that the story was phenomenal. I was shocked.
"Are you kidding me right now?" I said, unable to believe that they really liked the story.
They assured me that the story was amazing.
Even with that, I still didn't like it. So, I decided to set it aside for a little bit and then come back to it later. Furthermore, I'd already made up my mind that I would read it from a readers perspective, not an author's.
Letting it sit for some time and working on other things, eventually I got back to it.
Put your readers mind on, Y. I told myself. Having mentally prepared myself, I did just that.
Then I started reading.
Earth 8-8-2: The Genesis ProjectExcerpt
Beep ... beep ... beep.
Dr. Scott twirled around his laboratory like a ballerina,
having memorized every nook and cranny, every curve and corner. Beaker and dropper
in his hand, expertly dripping a few tears of some mysterious chemical into the
flask.
Mozart’s “Antique Heavy Metal Ballad” blared in the
background, and his goggles suddenly became fogged with the puff of fumes that
abruptly came spewing from the glass container. It caused his already naturally
red skin to momentarily blush into a deep shade of burgundy. His lovely yellow
eyes blinked behind the confinements of the plastic as if instinctively
protecting themselves from the spatter that never came.
Dr. Scott's head pulled back in surprise, attempting to
steer away from any substance that might fly out and splash on his face.
Luckily none did.
Inhaling softly, he blew at the smoke, attempting to clear
the air in front of him.
Thereafter, the authentic reddish hue of his skin paled the
slightest as his stomach twisted into subtle knots. It was a mixture of
excitement and worry.
This has to work!
The mahogany spirals of his shaggy hair were damp with sweat
from a full night of laborious experimentation. Yellow eyes twinkled as he
coaxed the liquefied substance audibly, “Come on baby, do your thing.” The
molten element inside began to bubble and fizz. “Yeah baby,” he nodded
absentmindedly, “You're doing it.”
With an additional single hard burst, a puff of smoke
solidified what was once liquid, turning it into gelatinous matter. “Yes!”
cried Dr. Scott, pleased at his achievement.
It
was going to work. His experiment was finally going to become a reality—and
those who had nay said against his logic would be proven wrong. He was not
inept! He was not crazy, nor was he ridiculous. None of his colleagues had
faith in his research, but now they'd see.
They would see, and they would honor him. More so, when they
saw what his success would do for their world.
Earth 8-8-2 was the 882nd earth discovered by the
scientists that ascertained alternated universes. One thousand had been found
to date.
The Multiverse Theory had been proven and finally accepted
by most earths.
As is typically the case, some earths refused to accept the
findings. Each one had their independent reasons, most of the time that reason
had something to do with religion. Nevertheless, said earths would stamp and
seal their individual fates. Moreover, they would remain banal. Nothing was more
upsetting than those who chose to remain ignorant.
Yet, that was an entirely different matter altogether.
What scientists proved was that the theory which implies our
universe is not alone and that there are many universes existing parallel to
each other, was correct. Each distinct universe within the Multiverse Theory
was called a parallel universe—this thesis was distantly derived from String
Theory and The Theory of Everything, which is the fundamental belief that
implies that all things are connected.
There had been a variety of different
conjectures that lent themselves to a multiverse viewpoint however, one
remained solid; there were more earths, universes and living beings that spread
out to an innumerable amount of macrocosms. More than could be counted.
Wouldn't you know it? By the time I was done reading the story I was absolutely in love with it. I was blown away at how cool this story was. Then I was all like, "Damn Y, you did that!" I had to high-five myself.
At any rate, while I have not (as of yet) been in a situation where I am not a fan of one of my works after published, I have been in that situation beforehand.