Well, I don't remember the whole story as it's over a year since I read it, but I do remember that I liked it a lot.

We should never say never, but my advice would be to leave LWR alone. You'll gnaw at your own bones and disable yourself. You'll never be satisfied with it because you're dissatisfied now. Sometimes I think that going back to fix something you're not even certain how it's broken is like wading through quicksand: difficult, exhausting, and ultimately you only get back onto firm ground rather than the cloud you want.

The other thing is the opportunity cost. Fixing it (or not) means you don't give yourself the chance to start on something new, with the experience you have gained to make it better.

You're a good writer. But every good parent comes to realise, in the end, that their babies have to stand ir fall on their own. Far better to let them fail in their own way, than to kill your own babies.

I once attented a writing workshop where the flyer handed out at the begining of each class one took there, had a section on it titled "Don't kill babies" and it was about how looking at a story negitivly could kill the writers passion to finish a story and/or the sense of joy and accomplishment felt in a finished story. I never realized how true that was until i tried to 'salvage' a piece of work that I felt hadn't ended up turning out the way I'd planned. I ended up putting aside a project i had started with a great deal of enthusiasm, on my quest to 'fix' the previous one. in the end, i ended up with a half finished, mangled 'salvage' effort, and an outline, rough draft, and character sketches that were never worked on again. I think you should write from a feeling of motivation and joy to create and just let yourself run with what comes to mind, without worrying about trying to redo past pieces. Just 2 cents from someone who saw the title of the blog and felt inspired to check it out.

You have your strengths my dear.. and maybe it was only you that thought you were trying to emulate others. I thought you distinctly different from both as well. You're a bit poetic and thoughtful. Surreality has more depth than any of my stories... for sure.

Well, while I did enjoy reading D&CW more than I enjoyed reading most other fictions (though it was often too bleak for my taste), I'll offer some constructive criticisms here. I think, while the prose, characterization, psychological depth and everything was top notch in the story, the plotting got a bit ... how do I put it ... convoluted and jumped into all directions, like a soap opera. Still, whatever is left is an excellent piece of work, but I do believe you can make it even better with a more well-constructed plot, which means you might need to start from the beginning.

P.S. Good to see you post something after a very long time.

P. S. S. Please don't ruin Jacob and Matt's (since you brought them) relationship here ... and it might be silly to ask, but GIVE CODY A HAPPY ENDING!!!

edit - As for rewriting stories, once a story is done, I think it's better to keep it that way. Sure, if one wishes to hone their writing talent, it's better to try that out with a new story and a few new people in it, than over-critique their former works. Once someone goes into that kind of territory, it will never cease to stop disturbing them, and they will want to rewrite and edit their works forever, no matter how many times it's been done. Living in Surreality is perfect with all its imperfections (which are bound to be there on an art form).