Wastrel > Status Update

So, I was looking at some old computer files of mine and came across two stories that I still think of as 'recent' but actually... really aren't anymore.

I kind of tentatively laid them aside at the time to mature. I tend to develop very negative views of my writing after a certain length of time has elapsed, as my initial enthusiasm for what I wanted to write fades and is replaced by disappointment with what I actually wrote.

In this case, though, many years later - I actually still really like them.

I don't know what to do about that. Should I try to sell them to somebody (they're not very marketable)? Just put them up for free on my blog or something? Or just put them back in the drawer. I don't know. But a first step is maybe seeing if a few more people would be willing to look at them. [they've each been seen by a couple of people, years ago, but I didn't feel that gave me a very well-rounded impression of what the average reader would think].

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I'm certainly not looking for flattery - "this is boring" is a very likely and perfectly acceptable impression. "This prose is so terrible I want to vomit" is, at any rate, useful to know.

What I'm really looking for is some vague answers to a few questions:

- do you like them? (one, or both?)

- do you think anyone else might like them?

- do you actually understand what's going on, plot-wise, in them? [one in particular is a bit non-linear and I had a reader who said they really liked it, but clearly hadn't grasped what was happening when and in what order to who, so I'd like to get a sense of how much of that is my fault]

I suppose "do they remind you of any other writers/subgenres?" would be interesting too, if anyone had any ideas, or just "how would you describe these to someone who hadn't read them?"

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In terms of my own descriptions, so people know what they would be signing up for:

- one story is sort of a high fantasy short story. It's broadly conventional in that it does tell a story that could happen in one chapter of a novel, albeit in an unusual way (cutting between sections with different viewpoints at different times). It's broadly conventional, but has more emphasis than usual on thoughts (rather than objectively-described actions) and some over-written prose.

- the other feels a bit more like a fable, fairy tale or parable, although it isn't really any of those things. But it's less concrete, more blurry, more... philosophical in tone? Certainly more emphasis I suppose on the voice of the narrator (oh look, some overwritten prose!). Conceptually weirder. Although most of the story is still normal people doing normal things for normal reasons, it's not just conceptual waffle.

Hopefully they both read less painfully pretentious than that makes them sound, and I'd be open to any more useful description/classification a reader could come up with...

I’m just a random follower, but I would read/comment.

Thank you! That's exceedingly gracious of you.

I'm currently having some problems with the computer the files are on, so I won't be able to send them over to you (/put them online somewhere) until sometime this weekend, but many thanks for the kind offer and I'll get back to you.

Of course! It’s a fun/useful exercise for me, too, as I enjoy writing myself. I just sent a friend request. Once you resolve the computer issue, feel free to message me and I’ll share my email there.