Link Click and Revision
I always feel a little weird during this time of year, this strange liminal space and time between Christmas and the new year.
Link Click: Bridon Arc episode 1 was released two days ago. The first episode is over an hour long, and it really scratches the itch. Link Click is all about time travel, so it's hard to say where this particular arc falls within the grand scheme of things. A prequel? A sequel disguised as a prequel? A spin-off? In any case, I do appreicate that this arc will focus more on the main characters, how they met in the first place and their personal background (particularly Cheng Xiaoshi's missing parents) rather than the people they are trying to help. I'm waiting to get the full story of how and why the boys went off to the U.K. during the summer holiday, which was mentioned back in season 1.
On a completely unrelated note, a revised version of Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official's Blessing) was released by the author quite some time ago. In her author's note, she mentioned that she wasn't satisfied with the old, serialised version, hence a revised version. The donghua, manhua and the English translation were all based on the old version. It got me thinking about the idea of revising published novels.
From a writer's perspective, I can understand why a writer wants to revise their stories after the fact. I've done that with some of my older published fics, mainly to fix grammar mistakes and typos while trying to maintain the structure of the story, the plot and the characterisation as much as possible. There were times when it was more or less a rewrite from beginning to end, though the plot and the characterisation stayed more or less the same, albeit with some additional lines and new scenes to flesh out the characters more or to make the story easier to follow.
There were cases where established authors revised their published novels years down the line with some changes made to the plot and the characterisation. Some fans were not happy about it to say the least.
My fics don't have many readers to begin with, and most of the readers probably read the fic once and never return to it again. So I doubt I'll get flak for revising my published fics. Still, I couldn't help but imagine the possibility of there being one reader who really likes a fic the way it is and has reread it multiple times, only to discover one day that the fic has been revised and it's no longer the way they remember it. From a reader's perspective, I can empathise with that, particularly when there were major changes made to the plot and the characterisation.
There's a fic I posted over 2 years ago that I had been meaning to revise. It was written under a tight deadline, and I was sick while I was working on it. I wasn't satisfied with it. Right now I'm struggling a bit with how much I should fix and how much I should add. The pacing of the original was brisk and the story was to the point. The revised version will probably be longer with additional scenes, but I feel like it would hurt the pacing, and the story would drag on for a little too long. I'll let it simmer for a little longer, I suppose. My future self will figure something out eventually.
Link Click: Bridon Arc episode 1 was released two days ago. The first episode is over an hour long, and it really scratches the itch. Link Click is all about time travel, so it's hard to say where this particular arc falls within the grand scheme of things. A prequel? A sequel disguised as a prequel? A spin-off? In any case, I do appreicate that this arc will focus more on the main characters, how they met in the first place and their personal background (particularly Cheng Xiaoshi's missing parents) rather than the people they are trying to help. I'm waiting to get the full story of how and why the boys went off to the U.K. during the summer holiday, which was mentioned back in season 1.
On a completely unrelated note, a revised version of Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official's Blessing) was released by the author quite some time ago. In her author's note, she mentioned that she wasn't satisfied with the old, serialised version, hence a revised version. The donghua, manhua and the English translation were all based on the old version. It got me thinking about the idea of revising published novels.
From a writer's perspective, I can understand why a writer wants to revise their stories after the fact. I've done that with some of my older published fics, mainly to fix grammar mistakes and typos while trying to maintain the structure of the story, the plot and the characterisation as much as possible. There were times when it was more or less a rewrite from beginning to end, though the plot and the characterisation stayed more or less the same, albeit with some additional lines and new scenes to flesh out the characters more or to make the story easier to follow.
There were cases where established authors revised their published novels years down the line with some changes made to the plot and the characterisation. Some fans were not happy about it to say the least.
My fics don't have many readers to begin with, and most of the readers probably read the fic once and never return to it again. So I doubt I'll get flak for revising my published fics. Still, I couldn't help but imagine the possibility of there being one reader who really likes a fic the way it is and has reread it multiple times, only to discover one day that the fic has been revised and it's no longer the way they remember it. From a reader's perspective, I can empathise with that, particularly when there were major changes made to the plot and the characterisation.
There's a fic I posted over 2 years ago that I had been meaning to revise. It was written under a tight deadline, and I was sick while I was working on it. I wasn't satisfied with it. Right now I'm struggling a bit with how much I should fix and how much I should add. The pacing of the original was brisk and the story was to the point. The revised version will probably be longer with additional scenes, but I feel like it would hurt the pacing, and the story would drag on for a little too long. I'll let it simmer for a little longer, I suppose. My future self will figure something out eventually.