I dug out and started re-reading one of my stories I was writing a lot of after I had the heat exhaustion a few months ago. It wowed me.

I don't know why I get surprised sometimes to find I've written something good. It had spirit! Guts! I really like what I did with the characters (and I didn't even remember I'd done so well). They were whimsical and well-drawn -- just like I wanted them to be! I can't believe I thought that story was crap.

Anyway. I'm trying to work more on it. I can't believe I wanted to throw away the best character in it (or put him on the back burner) so I could introduce a different character.

Maybe the more characters I introduce the better it will be (or not), but I certainly can't get rid of him. He's practically the star of the story.

It really is hard to judge one's own writing. Especially by memory. One can get discouraged and dissolusioned with a story when you're not sticking with it. You forget. (The same thing kind of happened with my romance story, but I haven't really gotten into it again yet.)

On the other hand, sometimes you can be surprised later by how bad a story you liked is. Usually that takes years though, when you've grown a lot more skilled at writing. I haven't had a story like that for ages, partly because I give myself a little more slack than I used to (I found I had to or it discouraged me from trying), and partly because my writing style isn't changing and improving as rapidly as it did while I was in grade school and highschool.