Old Shame

An Old Shame is any work that the creator has
The term was first coined on TV Tropes, which at one point defined it as such:
They say that you have to do bad work before you can do good work. Not just one piece of bad work, but tons of it.
Some really bad stories have been written, and even though you have to do bad work before you can do good work, the bad work still exists and the writer has to deal with it. Sometimes it's published to wither and die on its own; most of the time, it isn't.
But sometimes the work was good, yet the writer would rather keep it to themselves rather than posting it online.
If the writer tries to erase any trace of its existence, shies away from it, moves on to the next question when it's brought up, or otherwise just tells people not to care about it, it's an Old Shame.
One of the leading causes of Dead Fic: authors express intent to finish their old work, read through it as a refresher, and can't get past the first chapter because of how bad they think it is. In fact, the vast majority of fanfiction in general becomes this after the author gains some age and perspective. This is commonplace at the start of someone's fanfic writing career; the author will want to write a really good fight scene or really interesting plot, but their inexperience in writing leads to plot holes and Mary Sues. Then, as the writer gets better and looks back on his old work, they'll cringe as they realize how bad it was; naturally, they may want to erase all memory of it.
This entire wiki that you're reading is an example of an Old Shame by its founders.
==External Links==
*Old Shame on TV Tropes
Category:Terminology