Yes. And no. Yes I have, as have most other writers, written reams of stuff that I absolutely hated when I read it with a clearer head. No, I never throw anything away. In that I agree with dialyn completely. No matter how bad, it's all grist for the mill. I still find kernels of merit in some of my worst blabberings. The stories as written my never see the light of day, but they just might shine a light on an idea worth developing. A painful past may not be pleasant to revisit but one of the fundamentals of a good story is adversity and the resolution of conflict. It's just a matter of finding the right balance so that the story remains vital without becoming maudlin. I can relate to the fir tree story. I used to work for a park department. I was the helper for the most incompetent tree man I ever knew. He nearly killed himself or me on many occasions. One time he dropped a dead elm tree on top of a garage in the backyard of a house next to the park. The owner was not amused. jon

 
~jon
My Blog - Mad Utopia Writing in a new era.