Revisiting (rewriting) old stories -- yea or nay?

[caleb35]

I have an old story that, while I think is okay, I also think I could've done a better job on and I know I could write it better today. Question is, should I? I've kinda always felt that when your stories are done, they're done, and you move forward with your writing on new projects. On the other hand, I'm also wondering if I'm just being silly with that stance. So, yeah, I'm curious what opinions folks have on this. Thanks.

 

[TheLobster]

Unless you think the very existence of the original story is a net negative for your image as an author, I wouldn't bother. (And if it is, I'd just pull it down).

New stuff all the way.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I’ve gone back and rewritten old stories that I cared enough about. I’ve not changed the plot or characters, and I’ve kept my initial - somewhat naive - style. I’ve mostly focused on sorting out dialog, which I used to be awful at.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I don't think there is any particular harm in it. When I first started out, I promised myself that I wouldn't get caught up writing and rewriting my first story, but that if I got to 10 stories, I'd allow myself to revise whichever two stories I felt were most in need of it. To this point, I've gotten to 70+ stories but only ever rewritten one of them. If your story wasn't a masterpiece to begin with and comments and scores are telling you that, there's no harm in trying to make it better.

 

[NotWise]

Do it for yourself if you want to. I've done it recently, and it wouldn't be possible to justify the effort based on readers' appreciation.

The flaws you see may not be noticeable to your readers, and your effort may do nothing to improve their enjoyment. It could even backfire. We often don't know what the readers enjoy or object to in a story, and when you make your changes you can "improve" something they don't care about at the cost of something they get off on.

 

[lovecraft68]

There's some that I would like to. But time is limited and when it comes to writing I've adopted an always forward never backward mentality.

 

[UnexpectedLuggage]

I'd rather leave them up, flaws and all. Can help show growth, let me see how far I've come as a writer.

Of course, that only applies to stuff I post here. My "professional" work I have taken down and re-edited and changed before.

 

[AG31]

I love to revisit old stories every year or two and fine tune them, just the language, not the plot.

 

[OddLove]

It can be fun going back with 20/20 hindsight vision and polishing up a story.

For me, the key is doing what gets your creative juices flowing.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Other than fixing a particularly egregious error (mixing up one of the main characters names with a name in another story), which seemed imperative, I've only done it once.

When I was new and very much learning, I wrote a one off for a challenge, One Night in Detroit (the challenge was that all events had to take place in one night in one city.) After finishing it, I had the notion to do more stories in the same milieu, with an overlapping cast of characters.

It did middling well, but got some tough criticism on the Forums, some of it justified, some not so much. I was in the middle of another long project, so, having gotten a mediocre reception, I shelved the idea of a series.

A few years later, I thought about it again, and wrote a Valentine's Day story using a couple of characters from the first story. That story, The Broke Stem Rose, did extremely well. I decided that I would on occasion, write more related stories and assemble them into a series.

The thing was, when I looked at One Night again, it hardly seemed like my writing, I had evolved so much. If I put it in any grouping with more recent work, it would stand out like a sore thumb.

So I did a thorough edit on it, switching passive to active voice, breaking up blocky paragraphs, etc. Now it reads like it belongs with my later stories.

I don't think I'd go back and re-do anything else now, but if we ever do get the ability to self edit without resubmission, I will definitely go on an extended typo safari.

 

[Statius]

Just did an edit on 3 parts of a series where I am writing the finale. Still waiting on edit for 3, but worth it.

 

[Voboy]

I strongly believe that once a story is published, it is public: meaning, it is set in stone for others to read, compare, comment on, and judge. Any changes after that will change the way "the public" can react to a story that there would now be two versions of.

I HATED it when George Lucas did that, so I'm not about to do it myself. There has to be a point at which your story is "done." To me, that point is when you publish it. The time you do that is your call, so you shouldn't make that call until you're satisfied with the story.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There can be several benefits to rewriting an existing story, not the least of which is exposing it to all the new things that you have learned and developed as an author since it was originally written.

There may also be the opportunity to provide greater synergy or compatibility with something that you wrote later. Introduce a minor character that becomes a major character in another story. This can make readers feel more connected with more of your works.

 

[Writer61]

Have not done so yet, and I doubt that I will until all the plot bunnies have been slain.

 

[Djmac1031]

I've had a major case of writers block. Actually not even sure i can call it that anymore. But anyway...

with nothing better to do, I have gone back and started editing older stories. Just cleaning up little things that have annoyed me, removing over used words, fixing clunky dialog or sentences etc. No major plot changes or anything.

Im hoping it maybe resparks some interest in actually writing something new.

 

[Gamblnluck]

I have an old story that, while I think is okay, I also think I could've done a better job on and I know I could write it better today. Question is, should I? I've kinda always felt that when your stories are done, they're done, and you move forward with your writing on new projects. On the other hand, I'm also wondering if I'm just being silly with that stance. So, yeah, I'm curious what opinions folks have on this. Thanks.

I've thought of doing that a few times. But then you'll lose your comments. I have several stories that some time after publication, I went back and re-read. In several cases, I saw many places that needed to be re-written, not to mention edited. But I will let them stand.

 

[caleb35]

Thanks all for the input and there's a lot of good comments. I concur with those who state that revisiting or rewriting an older story isn't a big deal and I should do so if I want to (under the banner of I'm not harming anyone or anything by doing so). With that said, I do find myself leaning towards the opinions of TheLobster, lovecraft68, and Writer61, namely, always keep moving forward. There may be a middle ground as well, where I write a story similar to an old story but that is clearly more developed and differentiated, and not a simple re-write of an old story.

 

[Statius]

Lit will not allow an edit that changes the story drastically. And if edited you will not lose your ratings or comments. If you try to change your story thru the edit function here they will tell you you write a new story. The purpose is to clean up an old story. Grammer, plot holes, etc, not to change the story in a significant way.

 

[caleb35]

Lit will not allow an edit that changes the story drastically. And if edited you will not lose your ratings or comments. If you try to change your story thru the edit function here they will tell you you write a new story. The purpose is to clean up an old story. Grammer, plot holes, etc, not to change the story in a significant way.

I wasn't thinking of editing an old story per se, but rather rewriting an old story (either a little or a lot) and reposting it as v2, or redux, or something. But as I said I doubt that I will, just thinking out loud on the topic.