First, re-read them. If it has been years, you might want to refresh yourself about them. Then decide what you want to do with them. Are they stories you could see publishing? Or has your voice and talent level risen since you wrote them? In the former scenario, you're next step is to find an honest and helpful critique partner and then an agent. In the latter, rewrite the story. Change it up, make it even better. Or just set it aside and have the story just for you. There is nothing work with having a story that is "for your eyes only".
Take them out and read them again yourself. If you like them, get another opinion. If necessary, revise them. I wrote the first draft of Dream or Destiny 10 years ago; the manuscript went through numerous revisions over the years with long periods of being hidden away and forgotten. Yet I finally got it published and am so glad I did. You may have the same experience.
If there is anything in life you have a passion to do I say go for it. You only live once and you never know who you might inspire along the way.
Put them all on your computer, if you do not have them in already. Scan them in, type them in, whatever. Put them in your favorite word processor and format them. If they are short stories, I mean. Format them, put them in a good, readable font, put a table of contents, write a title page, put a neat header or photos, if you want, add page numbers and put upload it to LULU or Cafe Press. Those are the two sites that I am pretty sure do not have a set-up fee. Then order a couple of copies and give them away. Or sell them. You never know. Marketing is the difficult part on a budget.
Re-read them. See if there is anything salvageable. The children's chapter book I'm working on right now is a re-write of a short story I wrote when I was 13. The plot was decent, the characters interesting; it just needed expanding, and some of the scenes cut out.
Put it out there. Let people read it. You never know what can happen until you try.
Have a fresh look at them. I believe Margaret Mitchell handed her work to her publisher in an old suitcase, so you never know your luck!
if they are good show them to someone
SAVE them. I ended up losing much of my early work, including three finished novels I wrote while in high school. I mourn those! Not that they'd have ever been publishable, but probably I could have used them in some way, even as inspiration for the adult author. But then, that's me. I do know some people make bonfires, but maybe because I have lost so much, I grieve when I hear that.
I recommend your burn them. They were obviously no good. Move on.
If they are really awful, trash them. If they are good, submit them to magazines to build a resume of publication credits for your writing career.
Don't hide your light under a bushel! You never know what will happen, or as Lemmy from Motorhead says, "Run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it."
If you don't want to share them, don't. Writing is a personal thing to some people. If you are basically a shy, retiring individual, having someone read your work might be too intimidating. Some people have very think skin and can't take criticism. If that's the case, you're going to have a hard time in the publishing field. It is not a gentle profession. Some agents, editors, and reviewers can be brutal. You have to really want...and LOVE...to write in order to put your work out there. If you don't think you can take the heat, stay out of the kitchen.
As for what to do with all those things you've written: treasure them. Take them out, work on them, revise them, make them as good as you can. Buy a program like WhiteSmoke and run it through the editing process to see where all your mistakes are. Hone the story some more until you have as fine a point on it as you can. THEN, if you still want to, NEED to put it out there, then find an impartial reader or two to take a look at it before you sub it to a professional publisher or agent. Where most fledgling writers go wrong is by skipping some of those steps. They are just asking to have the book returned with a 'thanks-but-n-thanks' form letter.
If you are serious about your writing and want to make a career of it, read everything you can in the genre in which you're writing; study grammar manuals; and then get a tape recorder and read the first chapter into the mic. If when you play it back it sounds stilted, it's time for a revision.   | | |
Ponder over them, nurse them, give them new life. They are your puppies and worth playing around with. My first novels were trash! I re-worked them for several years and now finally they are being published. Never give up on your work. You wrote it, now re-write them and show the world what you can do!
Please show them to someone. If that person lets you down, show them to someone else. Give up and you're sure to fail. |
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