Discussion Main / OldShame

Per TRS, Old Shame's original definition is being merged with Creator Backlash, and the name Old Shame is being reused for an in-universe trope about characters being ashamed of things from their past (not just works):

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1655162121044984900

Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Misused, started by harryhenry on Mar 28th 2015 at 1:28:10 AM

Is there a trope for when a creator considers something an old shame but upon examination decides it's not always as bad as they remember it and there are bits here and there that they actually still quite like?

In regards to fanfics, anyone who has been writing for a few years usually has at least 1 old shame (usually their first few fics) because a lot of us do start out with Mary-Sue/Self-Insert/dictated by the stations of the Canon/only bares grasp of the series/wish fulfillment fics. If we're lucky we'll get constructive criticism instead of flames.

EX: My first fanfic had 1/2 the first chapter describing how people looked (I was in middle school, they're crazy about detail there and I didn't understand how to conserve it yet), an obvious Mary-Sue, instant-forgiveness, several plot-holes, and really bad grammar. Thankfully the show's forums had a very smart Grammar Nazi and several other good writers to help me out. Now I hate the fic and am working on a "this is X done right" version.

I know another person who's taken a whole year to rewrite a 75k word fanfic and it's unfinished sequel because her writing style had changed so much from when she started and hated how simple some bits of the original were.

It happens to all of us.

Needs a picture of the Star Wars Christmas Special. It's one of the few things Lucas has really felt personally ashamed of.

Is it okay to add the [[Draco Trilogy]]? After all, the author publicly disowned the series after she became a published author.

I chopped a lot of the examples. It's not an Old Shame just because the fans don't like it, or because it didn't sell well, or because it's a completely different style from the one the artist is best known for, or because it's bad.

It's only an Old Shame if the artist is ashamed of it, and has either said so, or acted in a way that makes it clear they'd prefer it be forgotten forever (by destroying copies, buying the rights and/or refusing permission to release or re-release it, refusing to talk about it, saying things to the effect of "I wish I'd never done it", forbidding any mention of it in interviews, or turning funny colors when asked about it."

And there's no point to an "Exceptions" section — especially when it's mostly made up of "This is good, and it was an early work, too."