Three Year Blogoversary // Reacting to My Old Writing

Technically, my blogoversary was last week, but you get this post today because I completely forgot to write this post on time. *throws confetti* Last year, I did a Q&A. The year before that I reacted to your assumptions about me. As you can tell by the title, this year I’ll be reacting to my old writing. Now, normal people would probably pull their favorite, beautiful writing to share on the internet. But, as we’ve well established by now, I’m not normal. So I scoured my devices and found the most cringey writing that I have ever put on paper (or, y’know, my computer).

Please proceed at your own risk because when I say “cringey writing,” I mean Cringey Writing®. These snippets are exactly as they appear in the original documents. I have not edited them, adjusted the dreadful formatting, or touched them in any way. If you are triggered or emotionally damaged as a result of this post, do not blame me. I have given you fair warning.

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My Most Popular Posts:

My Favorite Post from this Year:

To my voyagers, I want to say thank you. Any time I see that one of you liked a post or left a comment, my heart just leaps for joy. You are all so, so special to me, and none of this would have been possible without each and every one of you. I cannot thank you enough for all the support and encouragement that you have shown me over these last three years. ❤

Now, onto the cringey writing reactions!

Little Red Riding Hood Retelling

*laughs* In my defense, I was like thirteen when I wrote this, so I literally had no concept of suspension of disbelief yet. But for real, this is one of my favorite lines that I’ve ever written because I remember thinking it was so clever and fun. I had so much fun writing this short story, and while it’s absolutely the most disastrous thing to lay eyes on as an adult, it has so many fond memories attached to it that I can’t bring myself to truly hate it.

Also, I’m surprised at how well written the dialogue is in this piece.

Christmas Story

Okay, so this piece was fully a passion project and something that I just wanted to write because I was entirely obsessed with We Heard the Bells on Christmas Day by Casting Crowns. But, as you can see, I had absolutely no comprehension of subtlety. I like to think that I’m a little better at incorporating Christian themes now, but it’s honestly still a struggle. I want to have my characters ask those big questions about religion and God, but I don’t want it to come across as preachy and unrealistic.

I also have no clue why I decided to go with the single-quotation marks instead of the double ones. This was clearly a weird writing moment because I hadn’t figured out that I could single-space my sentences yet, so let’s just move on before I get too nitpicky, lol.

Soldier Love Story

I remember writing this piece and then learning that soldiers wouldn’t be forced to go back into the military if they’d become an amputee, so let’s hear it for a lack of research. *dies a little inside*

This entire piece is equally cringey to this snippet, but I remember really loving it and feeling so proud. However, I’m not so attached to those memories that I can’t admit this was mostly a trash piece of writing that needed to happen to make me better. I think that simile is a good indicator of how reliant I was on cliches…like, was that really the best thing I could come up with? If I rewrote this now, I like to think it would have a bit more oomph to it.

First Attempt at a Novel

I literally can’t say anything about this snippet until I acknowledge that I do, indeed, know how to properly format dialogue now. I don’t know why I wrote it like this? I swear, I did read books as a kid. It’s not like I had no exposure to properly formatted dialogue. I probably just forgot, if I’m being honest, because dialogue is one of the worst things to try and format since there’s a million rules about when you use a period vs. a comma. But that does not excuse my cramming three speakers into one paragraph, and I fully admit that this will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Okay, now that I’ve dealt with the formatting issue, I have to say, I don’t actually hate this part. I had so much fun playing with this novel idea, and I still have this draft saved on my computer. It’s incomplete and a hot mess, but I love it because I remember sitting at my computer and just writing. It was the first project I really wrote that felt like it could be something bigger. It was my first story idea that I thought could become a real novel…a real book. And there’s something really special about those stories—the ones that made us think that maybe we could be writers.

As I’ve said before, this story has been through massive plot revisions. I’ve never actually written the revised plot, but I’d like to eventually write both stories: the original and the revised plotline. I’ve never seen an author publish two versions of the same story, and I think that would be really fun for both myself and my readers. They could see where Hope and Alex’s story began back in 2015, and where it ended with the revised, summer romance plot.

Winx Club Fanfiction

This…was not one of my proudest moments. I mean, I was super proud of myself after I wrote this scene because I thought it was the greatest Winx Club moment in the history of anything. But, I can’t say I still feel the same way??? I’ve always been a huge fan of Bloom and Sky, so that part hasn’t changed, but I very much don’t like this snippet anymore…mostly because in the next moment she just kisses his dead body which I used to think was ROMANTIC and CUTE. Now, I just think it’s kinda creepy and unhealthy on an incredible number of levels.

All of that being said, I do really like the first line of this snippet because I think it’s some decent writing. But that’s about it.

How to Train Your Dragon Fanfiction

This was a fun fanfiction to start writing, but again, it doesn’t really have too much sentimental value anymore because I’m in a different season of life now. I still love HTTYD, but I’m not the same teenager who just wanted to marry Hiccup Haddock. I definitely have my moments when I wish I could just hop on a dragon and fly away from my problems, but I’ve grown up, and I think my love for this story has grown up with me.

The only reason I even included this snippet was because I thought it was hilarious that I had Hiccup completely disregard Astrid’s attempt at privacy. I remember that I wrote this after I saw the second HTTYD movie, so this piece focused on Hiccup’s struggle to come to terms with his father’s death and his new role as chief. However, this moment between Astrid and Hiccup is something I just find really cringey and awkward now.

Maze Runner Fanfiction

This is the most recent of all the snippets I’ve shared. It is also the most cringey, in my opinion. The fact that I genuinely thought it was a good idea to write the words “his accent sending shockwaves through my chest” will remain the most Wattpad-fanfiction thing I will ever write in my entire life. It will also be my villain origin story because I don’t know how to recover from this level of cringiness.

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It was weird looking back at these snippets and realizing that some of them still mean the world to me…while others just don’t, at least not anymore. I don’t think writers should feel like they have to look back and love everything that they’ve ever written, but it’s also weird, y’know? I had so much fun doing this, and I hope that you enjoyed it, too.

Let’s Talk!

I don’t show just anyone my cringey writing, so now that we’re besties tell me: Do you have any cringey writing that you still love? Which of these snippets is your favorite? Did you find them as cringey as I did? Let’s talk about all the old, cringey writing in the comments below.