The edit I thought I made but didn't

[ShelbyDawn57]

I've been thinking about making this thread for a while. I have a story, Ted to Teddy, that has possibly some of the angriest comments I've gotten. All because I didn't save an edit I meant to make before I submitted the story. I've left it as is because of the passion of the people that are complaining. It tells me they connected with the characters in a personal way, and that's validating.

I'm curious if you've run into the same thing, small changes you wished you'd made but for some reason didn't. What was the fallout? Did it work in the end? Did you go back and change it after it was published?

Not looking for suggestions on my story. It's staying as it is. I just thought this could be an interesting discussion on the craft and how we deal with things like this. Perhaps a few humorous anecdotes, too.

---


For context, I've put the edit that didn't happen below. My readers that took issue didn't have a problem with Sarah and Ted double dating and fucking other people. They had issues with Sarah cheating on Ted.



Here's the text as it is now:

...
"How long have you two been seeing each other?"

"Teddy, what? No..."

"Sarah, it's ok. I understand, now more than ever, what you sacrificed to stay with me. I understand what you want, what you need." I turned to look at her. "I need the same things and I don't think we can give that to each other. I will always love you, but you deserve to be truly happy. We both do."

"We dated in college and when I went to finalize the deal on those servers... I'm so sorry Teddy, it just happened. I never wanted to hurt you."

It was so surreal; my wife had been cheating on me for months and I was ok with it.

"He wants me to leave you. Teddy, Rick asked me to marry him, to give him children."
...


This is what it was supposed to be:

...
"How long have you two been seeing each other?"

"Teddy, what? No..."

"Sarah, it's ok. I understand, now more than ever, what you sacrificed to stay with me. I understand what you want, what you need." I turned to look at her. "I need the same things and I don't think we can give that to each other. I will always love you, but you deserve to be truly happy. We both do."

"We dated in college and when I went to finalize the deal on those servers... We just started talking, reminiscing, remembering the old times. He wanted me but I said no. When I told him about what we had been going through and he told me about Steve; that's when we came up with the other night - to see, to maybe let us both have what we needed"

It was so surreal; my wife had been planning what happened for months and, in the moment, I was ok with it. There was more. I could see it in her eyes.

"He wants me to leave you. Teddy, Rick asked me to marry him, to give him children. I never wanted to hurt you." She was cratering.
...

 

[PapaRomantic]

Cheating is a tough subject to many readers in all categories. I can see why the 'softer' edit might not have angered as many as the original did.

Without reading the rest of the story for the full context, I think I liked the grittier original version, which certainly adds more emotion to the passage you quoted, even if it's not good emotion that's been added.

I have wished for changes after a story has been published. But I've never accidentally not saved a planned edit, at least that I can recall.

 

[StillStunned]

I did it with my series "The Rivals". The Shadowguards are strange race from another dimension that for thousands of years have been dedicated to fighting demons. They make an appearance in Chapter 3, and the character Sligh provides some background information. Later, in Chapter 5, a demon appears, and a Shadowguard also appears in a flash of light to kill it.

When I was writing Chapter 3, I had in mind that the Shadowguards see it as their duty to rid the world of demons, and are likely to appear if one shows up. I wrote it in my notes, but I never included that piece of information in the actual story. So when the Shadowguard shows up in Chapter 5, it's a little out of the blue. This was mentioned by a couple of commenters.

Then again, not many people have read Chapter 5, so the world is still turning.

 

[ronde]

I've changed only one story after it was published and that was because it was rejected for underage conduct several years after it was initially published. There was no underage content but it's possible some of the wording might have led a particularly sensitive reader to believe there was and report it. I made a slight change and the story was re-published.

What you wrote, either version, is a simple, frank, and calm discussion between two intelligent adults relative to their future lives. Conversations like this likely happen every day somewhere. I haven't read your story to see the context of this passage, but I doubt you characterized the woman as some unrepentant slut who set out to cheat on her husband. It's just that there are a few readers who would assume a woman who strays outside her marriage is inherently and intentionally evil to the core.

Without emotion, most stories fall flat as far as entertainment. The fact that some people were angry about your story only shows that you did a good job of developing the tension and emotion that makes a story a story instead of just words surrounding some description of sex. Don't change it. It's fine like it is.

 

[TheLobster]

All because I didn't save an edit I meant to make before I submitted the story.

I recently added another step to my submission routine to prevent exactly such mishaps.

Basically, after the final cursory pass on the preview page (mostly intended to check formatting and pretty much nothing else), when I’m ready to click submit, I actually go back to the editor app, Ctrl+A/C, then back to submission form, Ctrl+A/V, and watch whether the word count changes. It must not; otherwise it’s Ctrl+Z and I’m diffing both versions; but if it’s fine, then I click submit without going through another pass.

There is very small chance something slips through, but this prevents the most common mistake of duplicating instead of moving a word.

 

[lovecraft68]

I like the original better. I understand you had second thoughts on a topic people take way too seriously in fictional stories, but if you're going to do it, go big or go home. Your story is more realistic and 'pure' with the original delivery. They can't handle this is in a story then they obviously can't handle much.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

The missed-edit seems Hallmark-ish.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

The missed-edit seems Hallmark-ish.

Yeoh, but I kinda do that. LOL

 

[MillieDynamite]

I've had tons of stuff fall through the cracks (in my mind) and not gotten them into stories. I've gone back and made the corrections sometimes, other times I didn't.