Join me for tea.

The topic of past or present tense relative to writing and reading preferences prompted me to dig around through some old, old drafts. Original fiction I've been chipping away at since graduating college, vague outlines of fandom-related ideas I've long since forgotten the thought processes behind... I only started posting fanfiction around September last year, so anything published aligns with what I had considered, prior to the topic being brought up, my "current" subconscious preference... But when I dusted off a laptop from my junior high school years, I found that even my original fiction from back then was also written in present tense. I realized I don't really know how I developed such a habit. I cannot think of the last thing I read that wasn't in past tense, but somehow everything has followed this pattern since I was twelve years old. Fascinating and bizarre. Maybe I'll try changing the tune for fun sometime soon.
Honestly, I was also expecting to cringe a little at what I found, but it actually wasn't so bad. My tastes and outlooks have naturally changed in quite a few ways, but overall I remain rather consistent in the themes I like to explore, the character types I prefer to write about, the dynamics that appeal to me. Not to say that I've been inflexible over the years, just when compared side-by-side, it really is no surprise that I grew into the type of writer that I am now. I am equally amused and impressed.
Even so, those are files that will remain buried in the file cabinet, never to see the light of day. It is interesting to revisit the past, but a seventh-grader is still a seventh-grader, hahaha.