how often (if ever) do you edit to change content of a story?

[jsmiam]

I edited one for a couple typos that I missed, but I haven't changed content.

Do folks ever tweak their stories, or just move on? If yes, how common it's it?

Definitely not thinking of driving the webmasters crazy with multitudes of edits, just one time do-overs.

 

[oggbashan]

I correct typos and errors such as changing the name of characters and removing anachronisms.

I don't change the plotline or make major alterations, even though I should for some of my very old stories.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Most of the time I read six books simultaneously. Today, for example, I'm reading I, THE JURY by Mickey Spillane, NIGHT SQUAD by David Goodis, THE DEEP BLUE GGOD BYE by John D. MacDonald, WITHOUT FAIL by Lee Child, THE BRIDE WORE BLACK by Cornell Woolrich, WITH A MADMAN BEHIND ME by Talmage Powell, and 5 old porn books by Orrie Hitt.

I get ideas from all of them.

And what I discovered is almost all of the pulp masters had formula templates they used. Hitt published 100s of porn books.

I use several alts for my stuff. Every alt tends to specialize. Trailer Trash is one place. Incest is at another. Long, rambling noir is at another. Etc.

And when I edit, some of what I change is the seed for new stories. The same thing happens when I read stories by others. I see better mousetraps.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Actually, never. I edit for typos and such, but plot lines...they are set in stone. Content, I might add some scenes to clarify something, but that's it.

 

[sr71plt]

Once a story is posted here, I don't edit it. It generally doesn't get posted here until after it's been in the marketplace for a good many months and this isn't the New Yorker, so it's time just to move on.

 

[49greg]

I once edited for a name change to bring a story where I typo'd the Title so it didn't show up with the rest of the series.

I've got a couple I want to change the typos in, but never got around to it.

On the other hand I have a story I have seriously been thinking of deleting and doing a complete re-jigging of the story and characters. It's a two chapter story that is unfinished and got very low scores. In retrospect even I don't like the story or where it's going.

But I always find excuses to put it off another day. Been doing that successfully for a long time.

 

[jsmiam]

Thanks all for the input. I probably won't make any changes, other than the errors I find that I missed, but perhaps someday I might. Or more likely, might not. Good to have options!

 

[robertreams]

I am poor at editing small typos and other errors because I cannot go back to a story w/out being struck by the impulse to change plot or story line or character. My mind is always adding, subtracting, erasing, coloring. No harm in any of it except when one cannot say, "enough" and go on.

What works best for me, though, especially at the beginning is to create characters with hearts and minds and souls and set them free to do whatever they will. It makes for a lot more clean-up at the end, but the stories are so much better.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Generally, if I liked it enough to post it, it stays as written.

Two exceptions so far:

I had a story "Rent Comes Due" that was going to be a collaboration, and I posted the first part of it (not even a full Lit page long). The collab fell through and the posting, deservedly, barely ranked above 4, as it was essentially just an intro. Eventually I added a bunch of content, making it several pages and setting an actual story to it. By pulling it from the site and resubmitting it with a slight title change, I got a ratings reset, and now it ranks decently.

I once pulled a story from the site because it set off the Laurel Grey Area detector, and reworking it to make it pass muster just sapped too much of the story's moral punch. It was an April Fool's piece anyway, and nothing I was too attached to.

 

[TxRad]

I keep a file of typos and reader noticed errors. I change the originals to fix these when i have a little time and keep those in a separate file. Other than that I think I have one story that i have edited here and none have been for plot.

 

[49greg]

I keep a file of typos and reader noticed errors. I change the originals to fix these when i have a little time and keep those in a separate file. Other than that I think I have one story that i have edited here and none have been for plot.

I like the idea of keeping a file. Good one that I should do too.

 

[Carnevil9]

Never. It would never occur to me. Once it's out there, it's on its own, warts and all. If I have a better idea, I'll write a new story.

 

[RejectReality]

Once, when I was posting as I wrote things. I went completely off the rails with a character, and almost from the moment it went live on Lit, I knew it was wrong.

It was only a few lines at the end which served as a stinger for the next chapter, but it was a dramatic character shift for Arilee, so I edited it before posting the next chapter.

Nowadays, I don't post anything that isn't already finished, so those sort of things are fixed before they see the light of day.

 

[masterandmargarita]

I submit edits so often I'm sure I am Laurel's most hated author

The only exception is contest entries. No edits for those until the contest is over.

 

[MatthewVett]

I think I've only done it once. I have a bunch of stories I definitely would have written differently now, but I'm not going to drive myself crazy rewriting old stories to suit my current tastes. I just leave them as museum pieces.

 

[Blind_Justice]

Once a story goes live, I only edit formatting and typos if I messed up during the upload.

My stories usually go through several beta reads and I change plot points based on feedback, but that's between editing the draft and the upload.

The only exception is my FAWC 5 entry, "Reunion", which I resubmitted in slightly extended form to expand a character's personality.

 

[SikFuk]

I don't submit a story until I can read through the whole piece without stopping to fix or "improve" something. This process can take a while. If I was going to republish a LIT story somewhere else, I might fix a few things, but I'm not going to bother Laurel with a story that's got a typo.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm not going to bother Laurel with a story that's got a typo.

This is a good point, I think. Each time you submit an edited version it's just like having to clear another new story for Laurel.

 

[49greg]

Once, when I was posting as I wrote things. I went completely off the rails with a character, and almost from the moment it went live on Lit, I knew it was wrong.

.... .

I did that in the midst of a multi chapter story, it was from some dark part of me that I didn't know was there. I still can't understand how I could have posted it, or how it got approved. I covered it up in the next chapter by making it a dream. The tag line under the title for that chapter is something like "The 'Dallas' cop-out, or it was all a dream".

Readership fell off dramatically.

On the bright side, since there were a few people who liked that harsh chapter, I did a spin off of that chapter. Didn't score well but several times a year I get requests to continue it, from the three people who liked it.