Opinion Poll: Re-Editing Previous Works

Jan 22, 2009 12:19

Maybe it's due to the winter doldrums....But I feel like going back to work on the sequel of my epic fic of doom that I haven't touched since last summer ( Read more... )

directions please, rudimentaries

Leave a comment

Comments 12

tinpra January 22 2009, 18:22:30 UTC
I don't know that I've seen folks re-post things to lists and archives, but I have seen authors re-post to their own journals.

But I'm with you about reviewing older stuff (okay, it's not that old) and wanting to re-do and re-post.

Reply


luchia13 January 22 2009, 19:09:55 UTC
What I do is edit the original post. A lot. I don't repost the edited versions, aside to the fic comm I made for myself just to keep from spamming the far less interested members of my flist, and I go back and edit both posts of each fic/chapter whenever I get the time, really.

Making the next ones better is always good too, though.

Reply

penny_hill January 22 2009, 23:01:59 UTC
When you re-post to your own fic commn, do you make any little annoucement, or do you just let it fly by?

I don't have a fic comm though I've been giving that serious consideration too. And to make things even more complicated, I didn't discover LJ until I was something like a 3rd of the way in to the story (of 41 chaps). So my early LJ postings actually refer back to the original chapter on FF.net because I was too lazy to cut and paste the story into the LJ post.

Reply

luchia13 January 23 2009, 00:02:34 UTC
Nope, I just let it fly by. My policy with my fic is kind of like book releases, really. When they go into the second printing of almost any normal book, there's no big announcement. It never even really occurred to me. Maybe if I did some MASSIVE overhaul I'd do it, but not with my constant tiny bits of editing.

I'd say that in your case, it might be a good idea. Either that or repost to your own journal (if not friends-locked) and link to there instead of ff.net in case there's someone like me who can't even LOOK at the site without cringing.

Reply


erinm_4600 January 22 2009, 19:52:06 UTC
I've actually pondered this on multiple occasions...

I fear that editing something already posted changes what was; and begs the question of will someone read it again?

However, going back and adding a comma here and there, that's QUITE ACCEPTABLE.

But, I'm not sure...

I hear you on the year later - The first few chapters of Shimmery, specifically - the timeline is atrotious o.O

Did that help you at all?

Reply

penny_hill January 22 2009, 23:06:54 UTC
Oh yeah, I agree that correcting minor grammar, spelling, etc. is perfectly acceptable. I have done that on the fly already.

Now that I think about it more, it almost sounds like I'm proposing doing something similar to "The Director's Cut" on a DVD. Would it go as far as adding a deleted scene or expanding on one? I don't know if I would want to go that far or not yet.

I guess right now I'm just happy that other writers have had the same questions/thoughts as me.

Reply

erinm_4600 January 23 2009, 00:28:18 UTC
That's why there are currently "More Tales from the Jar o' Matrimony" :D

Reply


n_e_star January 22 2009, 21:29:45 UTC
I've known of authors in several different fandoms who have taken down a story to rework it. This is most commonly a first story and several years - and other works - have passed, but it is done.

It's just for avoiding this that I've put "Tell Me of Your Yesterdays" on hold. If I can work out how the next book ties in with the first now, then I won't have to do the work twice.

Reply

penny_hill January 22 2009, 23:09:28 UTC
*nods*......

Did the authors announce that it was a rewrite? Also, out of curiousity, did you ever go back and re-read a story that was re-written? If you did, did you like it or appreciate it more the second time around?

Reply


amedia January 23 2009, 01:48:37 UTC
Back when stories mostly came out in zines, it wasn't uncommon for, say, an author's work to be collected from several zines a few years later and reprinted in a single volume. (Most zines are anthologies of stories by different authors.) And it was VERY common for her to edit or rewrite or add some extra material for the reprint.

I haven't seen it as much on the 'Net, but it sounds like a good idea to me! I'm not sure I would re-post the whole thing to the various lj comms, but a link to the new version would be cool. Especially if you leave the old one up, so people can compare and say, "ooh, yeah, I see what you did there." ;-)

Reply


Leave a comment

Up