How much of a rewrite is more than an edit?

[Trionyx]

My story Loving Vanessa that has generated a fair number of negative comments, particularly about the ending. https://www.literotica.com/s/loving-vanessa Quite frankly, I can agree with some of them and I've toyed with the idea of rewriting the ending by changing the last three paragraphs and adding perhaps three or four more. Most of the 9,700 word story would remain intact. Would you consider this a simple edit or should I consider pulling the story and resubmitting it as a new one at a later date? BTW, it is one of the When a Man Loves a Woman challenge stories.
Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[SamScribble]

I would say that's 'a tweak'. But it is not likely that too many of the people who commented are going to return to see if you have taken their advice, so just do whatever will make you happy.

 

[RejectReality]

It's a matter of personal preference. Just go with your gut.

One note about pulling it down and resubmitting: Make sure you note it's a new version somewhere in an author's note at the beginning. Reports of plagiarism and comments claiming the same have been known to happen when someone remembers a story, but doesn't remember who wrote it. People will also complain that you're reposting something for various cynical reasons. A completely different ending might alleviate that last one.

I'm guessing this is Loving Wives. Know that changing the ending may do nothing more than switch up the camp that hates the story, and the amount of negative feedback may not decrease whatsoever.

 

[KeithD]

My story Loving Vanessa that has generated a fair number of negative comments, particularly about the ending. https://www.literotica.com/s/loving-vanessa Quite frankly, I can agree with some of them and I've toyed with the idea of rewriting the ending by changing the last three paragraphs and adding perhaps three or four more. Most of the 9,700 word story would remain intact. Would you consider this a simple edit or should I consider pulling the story and resubmitting it as a new one at a later date? BTW, it is one of the When a Man Loves a Woman challenge stories.
Thanks for your suggestions.

If it's going to bug you that readers aren't getting what you now consider a far better story, you probably should pull it and recast it for resubmission. If it just is bugging you and you aren't obsessed about what the majority of your readers will ever know, you could just edit it. Most of the readers who are going to read it have done so and won't be coming back to check/reread it. If you don't find yourself constantly regretting that it hasn't been rewritten, you could "oh, well" and move on to subsequent stories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Would you consider this a simple edit or should I consider pulling the story and resubmitting it as a new one at a later date? BTW, it is one of the When a Man Loves a Woman challenge stories.

I'd call that an edit, but why bother? Whose story was it, yours or a few negative commentators? Move on, write another story.

 

[Paul_Chance]

I've always used the plot change approach.

If it doesn't change the plot, it's an edit.

If it changes the plot, it's a rewrite.

I'd also be reluctant to change a plot significantly based on reader feedback. To me, that then becomes another story - let the original lie and just write a new one.

 

[panaflora]

I read the story a couple of days before seeing this thread. Frankly I found it enjoyable. Sometimes it takes a shock for people to realize what they should have known all along. Mark gave Vanessa that shock. If I would have tweaked anything, I would have made Vanessa feel pretty nervous about seeing Mark when he got home. Now she has even more to lose if he reacts negatively. But that's me, and it's your story. I think it works the way it stands.

 

[lovecraft68]

Although when we look back there are always little things that make us say "I could have..." and that's natural. But I believe that when we write a story what comes out was meant to be, and something as important as how it ends shouldn't be changed because some people didn't like it. Other people did. If you submit a new ending some will like that one...some won't.

I say leave it be.

 

[HordHolm]

Changing your story to please others is a crime against yourself.
You're human it's okay not to be perfect. It's healthy and normal not to have a full house of H's

It is though? Isn't it fair to look at a piece of work and decide one hasn't done oneself justice? And if that train of thought is triggered by a comment from a reader, is that a harm?

It's easy to look at this from the position of believing that the author has written the best piece of work that they are capable of in that context, has made their position on story, character, setting, etc as clear as they wish. But the reality is that it's common to look back and realise that important elements one believed had been made clear were in fact ambiguous, and at that point is it such a crime for an author to rewrite to achieve what makes them happy with the end result?

 

[stickygirl]

I had comments for my Pink Orchid story last year that it ended too suddenly. They were right so I added another sex scene, not gratuitously - it needed it, so I'm happier with it now. I think I resubmitted it as an edit... or maybe I deleted the first one. Whatever!
Was it an edit? Well the two characters still ended up going their separate ways, they just had another morning in bed, lucky things.

 

[HordHolm]

This is his first work that isn't rated H. I'm afraid that's also his main concern...
He had a reason to submit the story as it is. What happens if the edited story doesn't get a 4.5 either, should he just delete it?
If the main reason for writing is just to get a pat on the back, I have no other way to say it, but I feel sorry for you.

Ok, but OTOH the OP also says that s/he agreed with some of the criticism. Now, we could assume that's just b.s. and s/he is merely after the ratings, but we could also give the OP the benefit of the doubt and choose to believe what they state. You might say that's naive, but I choose to take that as the beginning of an interesting general (as opposed to specific to the OP and story) debate.

 

[jehoram]

If you feel that there's a better story than the one you told, I'd pull the story, re-write it, and re-submit it with the prefatory note. But if you're re-writing it just to change the rating, it's probably not worth the trouble, since I believe that the same story re-submitted under the same title will retain the old rating.

I think I'd leave the old story as it is, and re-write and submit it under a new title, again with a note at the front telling people that it's a re-boot, if you will. After reading a lot of porn, I notice that some writers seem to be telling the same story each time, just changing the names and title. So it shouldn't raise an outcry of alarm.

 

[Paul_Chance]

If you feel that there's a better story than the one you told, I'd pull the story, re-write it, and re-submit it with the prefatory note. But if you're re-writing it just to change the rating, it's probably not worth the trouble, since I believe that the same story re-submitted under the same title will retain the old rating.

I think I'd leave the old story as it is, and re-write and submit it under a new title, again with a note at the front telling people that it's a re-boot, if you will. After reading a lot of porn, I notice that some writers seem to be telling the same story each time, just changing the names and title. So it shouldn't raise an outcry of alarm.

I'd agree with that approach. It's a pretty wide world out there - just rewrite the story and submit it with an authors note - maybe even ask your commentors to compare the two stories and see what feedback you get.

 

[Trionyx]

Thanks to all for your suggestions.