It may surprise the non-writers on my flist to know that we writers read our own work. And not always in an editing or proofing or self-critical capacity -- though that certainly has its place and is probably always at the back of our minds somewhere. What I'm referring to is the regular revisiting of stories past, approaching one's own work like any other reader -- seeking entertainment or comfort or new ideas.

The further I get from a piece, the less likely I am to reread it, usually because my writerly style has migrated enough that my old writing self is irritating or simplistic or sentimental when I take the time to reread. I only rarely reread my SV fic, and when I do it's mostly the later work. (True confession: I can't get through even a page of my SV magnum opus Omiai anymore without sighing with frustration and regret. I know. Weird.)

Still, a little distance can be a good thing. I'm scrolling through Wanted today. It's one of my first fics in SGA. I haven't looked at in yonks. And just like rereading the work of any writer I know well, I'm finding little bits I'd forgotten: things that make me smile, and things that make me cringe, and things that I enjoy more in retrospect than I did at the time of writing. I can see, now comfortably ensconced in the SGA fandom, the points of originality I may have inadvertently brought forward, as well as the painful fanon tropes I've thoughtlessly abused.

It probably sounds like vanity, and it *is*, to some degree; after all, I'm approaching my own writing as entertainment, which makes it seem like I'm congratulating myself on a job well done. But really, I think it's more because writers tend to write the things they enjoy reading.

My taste in reading corresponds with what I aspire to as a writer: the mixture of drama and humour is the biggest thing, followed by detailed and truthful characterizations. Something that really comes from being in fandom, as well as the unabashed prompting of my lovely SV flist, is my love of subverted cliches or tropes (fanon or canon, it doesn't matter) -- particularly when the subversion reveals new truths in the characters. I suppose this is best illustrated in my work by Straight as a Circle, but it's a theme that runs through all my writing from Omiai onwards. And it's definitely something I enjoy reading -- there is nothing so refreshing as a writer who takes something like "of course John is a sekrit math genius" and turns it into "John cries with frustration at Sudoku puzzles", and makes it *work*.

This is not to say that I am capable of writing in the style of every writer I admire or enjoy -- far from it! It's only that I think writers tend to write about the stuff that interests and entertains them, and maybe it's not surprising that we sometimes kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labour just like any reader might do.

This was going to be a response to amberlynne's comment but it grew out of control. On the topic of subverting fannish tropes (sort of) and John the non-Sudoku-Master:

As I told eleveninches once, what I really want to write is the one where John isn't just weirdly good at manipulating Ancient technology -- he's actually *trans-specied*. He's an Ancient trapped in a stupid human body! He's tragically genetically queered! He longs for gray jumpsuits and shifty scientific ethics and the chance to play The Sims with whole human civilizations!

Or, hey! What about the one where John SUCKS at activating a particular Ancient artifact? Like, everyone with the ATA gene can do it except him! And it's an Ancient bean grinder or something so it doesn't *matter* but it's making him batshit insane that he CAN'T DO IT. And he carries it around in his pocket and ducks into supply closets and tries with all his ATA might to get it whirring and the device *ignores* him, the blatant hussy of an Ancient thing, and he's all wounded and bewildered and Rodney has to comfort him with sex. And more Ancient toys.

ETA: Or! OR!

The one where John TRAVELS BACK IN TIME to Ancient Atlantis and discovers so many interesting truths, like:

1) The entire expedition has been bunking up in the children's boarding school part of the city, which is why all their beds are 2 inches long.

2) John is actually not that Ancient and they all think he's kind of adorably dumb and ignorant and they treat him like a kid and muss his hair.

3) The puddle jumpers are actually not fighter shuttles. They are, in fact, Ancient yellow school buses. The cool fighter shuttles are over in the east wing where the expedition hasn't looked yet.

Other fun Ancient facts? Come on, it'd be AWESOME.

I say again, oh *flist*.

Oh, oh, flist.

If I end up writing a fic where John survives the jumper crash in Before I Sleep, only to become an Ancient human pet, then to be neutered by a glowy wand and to discover that the expedition's tiny beds actually EXPAND MASSIVELY with the touch of a button and that his ATA gene is the result of some really disturbing semi-bestiality on the part of his Ancient forefathers and that they've been EATING LUNCH in the Ancient Place of Coitus, right off the Rutting Platforms...

I'm just saying, it'd be your own damn fault.