I no longer recognise the world I created....

[Yog-Sothoth]

I had a look at an old fantasy novel I had written a year back, because I was adviced to take some time off, so I could get a better persepective but I wonder what happened, because I just don't feel it anymore.

Maybe this is simply a case of my mind has grown up a bit after finishing five ASoIF books, and I subconciously want to UP the gore, the politics, the warfare in my story because of GRRM's writing/influence and how well he did those subjects, which I previously stayed clear from.

Has this ever happened to you?

 

[wonkishere]

Yes it has, although it was with things I'd set aside for more than a year. I've found it's actually the same way when I read a book when I read in my twenties, or teens. I see things there I just didn't see the first time I read the book, or I see the same things and perceive it differently.

I imagine it's a little more jarring when you look at what you wrote yourself and want to do different things with it. It's a good thing for the most part, it means you've refined your tastes.

 

[RcGrant]

It hasn't happened to me - my 'world' has been going strong in my head for a decade now. I can see why it would happen, however, especially if you are still establishing your own style, which of course can be influenced by what you are reading (and is why some writers don't read certain authors when they are creating).

I wouldn't sweat it. Write what you love.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

I agree with what you guys said, and to be honest I'm quite happy I had the patience to put the WIP to one side, instead of mass-submission for potential publication, because GRRM's literature really has given me a different persepective on writing full stop.

I believe if my story had been published a year ago, I would feel regret today(not at being published lol, but the outdated material), while the stuff I have written now feels more timeless, a style that most likely will not feel alien to me in six months or a year's time, or beyond.

I've just written a new 900 word prologue, and I'm very statisfied with the new directions and ideas. A full edit and overhaul is in order.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

It happens quite a lot. That is when I get a sneaking suspicion and confidence that it is good. It is like reading a novel someone else wrote and there are things I had forgotten.

 

[Jake Reynolds]

Hey Yog, my world is fifteen years old and still going strong. Cities have moved, empires have blossomed, continents have drifted...but the 'world' is the same. Though place names may change or cities move a week's travel here and there to suit concordant timelines, there's never a world that cannot be salvaged by putting in/changing some details.

 

[Jennifer Cthulus]

I no longer recognise the world I created....

What an amusing lament for an ancient eldritch abomination like Yog-Sothoth to express.

That said, it's just like others in this thread have noted -- worlds change, grow, expand, evolve, and mutate over time as we continue to gestate them (with or without intending to). This shouldn't be a problem in the least, because it's exactly how things happen in our world. Compare Eastern Europe and the Balkans in 1986 to the same region in 1998. I would expect that a static fantasy world that never changes would be less believable than an organic one that develops and changes over time. So I wouldn't think of it as a problem, myself. JMO.

Hail Yog-Sothoth!

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

^Haha, good one. I agree, our world isn't static so why should one that's made up be?

Jake, I think I finally found my voice because I struggled with that in the past, but now I feel really confident.

 

[Cynric]

Till you finish this WIP, grow another year older and wiser, and then come to edit it laden with nostalgia for your hopeless innocence... ;-)

 

[Tecdavid]

Don't feel worried, this happens to many of us, and will likely keep happening for as long as we keep writing, to some degree.
When you dive into someone else's world, told through someone else's style, it does leave a print upon your mind, and can affect how you look upon your own work.
I've always thought that every author has their lessons to teach, so if you think GRRM's work has taught you something about theme, or levels of violence, and you think your tale could benefit from that, then by all means make use of the lesson! (Just as long as your aren't ripping something straight from his stories into your own. )

My experiences with it come from Robert Jordan, George R R Martin, and Terry Pratchet. When I read the Wheel of Time, I felt compelled to paint vast, detailed descriptions of all that went on in my story (which was a bad idea, due to my inexperience). When I read A Song of Ice and Fire, I decided I shouldn't shy away from harsh characters or violence in place I could use them, and when I read Discworld, I felt I wanted to add a bit more humour into the mix.
I'm trying to balance all this, and refine my personal style with it, as we speak.

 

[TheTomG]

"The winking smiley showed up as a line of scrambled code."

We should have a writing contest starting with that as a seed

 

[Mouse]

When I first joined this site I was writing a story with lots of parallel universes - I wrote lots of notes for what was in each universe and everything. Then I put it aside to finish off my YA trilogy, but when I finished that a little while ago and picked up this old WiP, I just couldn't get back into it again. So I started something new.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

You know, this happens sometimes. In my case, it was a world that started with a small spark over a decade ago and had a nice, light, fantasy air to it, almost an innocence.


Over eleven years pass and a few months ago I had made the decision to abandon the world completely in favor of a new one. And to make the abandonment permanent and complete, I wrote off the old world in the form of an interplanetary collision. And the reason was kind of the same as yours, in that I no longer recognized nor even liked it, or the direction it was going in. It went from a simple world of fantastical creatures and gods to a cesspool of crime, sex, and petty jealousies that had absolutely no bearing on any kind of plot between characters that had more than lost their charm for me. Original character for the most part dead and gone, combined with new characters that were about as believable as a talking turkey, and the radical change of original characters to reflect the same poor quality, I just threw my hands in the air and said **** it, and let a convenient loss of control for a trade route wormhole deal with the problem.

 

[Mouse]

It's like we outgrow our work. ^ I looked at mine and thought it looked like a child had made it up.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Would that I could claim that was the case with me, Mouse. My problem seems to have been the opposite of yours. Mine lacks the very childish innocence and lightness that I would have preferred. These days, no matter how I try, I can't seem to go back to the days of Tooninoot or even attempt a rewrite of The Pete Files, which is what I truly want to do more than anything.

Now it seems I'm not able to produce anything of quality if it isn't restricted to the requirements of the challenges we have here.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

Very interesting replies guys, glad to know I'm not the only one.

I've always thought that every author has their lessons to teach, so if you think GRRM's work has taught you something about theme, or levels of violence, and you think your tale could benefit from that, then by all means make use of the lesson! (Just as long as your aren't ripping something straight from his stories into your own. )

True, the influence of GRRM can be seen in the fact that all of my characters now are 'powerless' where before my young mind had given them limitless power, they could juggle entire cities and mountains if they felt like it. That's how powerful they were, and this, when stripped down, really affected character development because there was little to no challenges for them to face other than the evil characters more powerful than them. I grew up with DBZ, and Harry Potter so my view of fantasy was all centered around power and magic, and giving your characters as much of it as possible.

Now that they're powerless, they have to rely on their wits, their allies, their natural strength. They have to engage in real-politicks, establish more ties, they have to count their coins, soldiers, weapons and food-supplies or they'll face starvation and certain defeat. Where before my characters engaged in bubble-gum crushes/flings with one another, I have upgraded it to more mature relationships.

The main characters now also suffer loss, be it a loved one or a friend, where before the war was like an adventure, rather than an unfortunate situation forced upon them. It's more realistic now, though there is a clear underlying feeling of fantasy. Where before I made up all kinds of weird creatures that could rival Pokemon, now a bunny is a bunny and a horse is a horse. Only the real big creatures that feature prominently in the story have been given fantastical status.

I'm liking the characters and the story itself much better now.

 

[TheTomG]

As an interesting opposite, I have often returned to old works and find I love them all the more. I have songs that are 20 years old, and I'm finally recording them a bit better than ever thanks to technology (no longer stuck with an eight track reel to reel) and I find that I can still recall them after all that time (I have no recordings of most of them) and some parts I recreate note for note the same as they were and still think they are good.

Now, maybe I'm just mistaken that they are any good of course But I found myself surprised to be able to reconstruct them so similarly after such a long long time away from them.

I've had similar experiences with writing - I may polish a little here and there, but I find I still really enjoy the world, people and story. Of course there are also those stories (usually less developed) that I just go "What rubbish" and throw out heh

 

[Tecdavid]

I'm pleased to hear that, Yog. Sounds like you've really been making some improvements.
I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Yog-Sothoth]

TomG, each person is different, I guess you just got it right the first time, while others need to return after a while to get a different persepective and improve upon that.

Tecdavid, Thanks mate, buying the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series was probably the best investment I have made as an aspiring writer. I have learned alot.