Tuesday, June 2, 2015

IWSG: Releasing A Revision

Hi everyone, It’s that time again for the monthly Insecure Writers Support Group, hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The Co-hosts for June are M. Pax, Tracy Jo, Patricia Lynn, Rachna Chhabria, Feather Stone, and Randi Lee.


My Concern This Month is re-editing a thousand pages of text. I’m pretty much taking June off to finish the re-edits for the three books in the Breakthrough series as I prepare to release them as a Box Set. 



Breakthrough was my first book and after re-editing it, in retrospect, it looks like I wrote the original using color crayons. I admit the writing is crude in many places. So I asked my editor to re-edit the first chapter and a few select ones. Due to money constraints, I re-edited the rest. 


Wow! It needed some serious work. And it reads so much better now. But it was my first book, so I’m not going to ding myself for that. 

Example: The books are in the Third Person POV, yet I had so much first person inner dialogue and I used italics for this. Ugh! So I rewrote these parts as speaking dialogue and using humor. 

Before: Staci discerned Bennie’s face and deduced there was dissention in the ranks. Clearly, Tubsy here thinks he should be in charge. 

“That’s great,” he said as he passed in front of Staci and made his way to the coffee pot. “How are we going to do this? Where’s the trade going to take place?” 

Carol snuggled up to Bennie before he could reach the kitchenette. “I’ll make the coffee, you big, loveable, teddy bear.” She squeezed his right buttock. 

Eeewww! Staci wondered what she saw in Bennie. Carol’s beautiful, but Bennie … not so much. He’s not terrible, but she can do so much better. Perhaps she’s not the brightest crayon in the box. Maybe we can exploit her. 

After: Staci discerned Bennie’s face and deduced there was dissention in the ranks. 

“Clearly, Tubsy here thinks he should be in charge.” 

Bennie ignored the comment. “That’s great,” he said as he passed in front of Staci and made his way to the coffee pot. “How are we going to do this? Where’s the trade going to take place?” 

Carol snuggled up to her man before he could reach the kitchenette and squeezed his right buttock. “I’ll make the coffee, you big, loveable, teddy bear.” 

Staci couldn’t resist. “Eeewww! Carol, just what do you see in Bennie. You’re beautiful, but him … not so much. I mean, he’s not terrible. But you can do so much better. Perhaps you’re not the brightest crayon in the box.” 

Carol picked up the gag, wadded it into a ball, and reached for Staci’s mouth. 

“Okay, okay, I’ll shut up. Can’t you take a joke?” 

Before: Staci watched Bennie walk to the front door as if he hadn’t a worry in the world. His duty is to simply oversee a captive tied securely to a solid oak chair and offering no resistance. He thinks I understand my freedom as being dependent upon a clean transfer of captives: Chase first, me second. Simple as that. Yeah, right. We’ll just see about that, chubby chump

After: Staci watched Bennie open the door as if he hadn’t a worry in the world. He picked up a neatly folded USA Today that bordered the threshold. Folding it under his right arm, he walked back toward the bathroom. 

Stop By A to Z Blog. Einstein Commands It
She continued the war of words. “Your duty is to simply oversee a captive tied securely to a solid oak chair and offering no resistance. You think I understand my freedom as being dependent upon a clean transfer of captives: Chase first, me second. Simple as that. Yeah, right. We’ll just see about that, chubby chump.” 

Bennie pointed with the newspaper and said, “You be a good girl. I’ll be out in a minute.” 

“A minute,” Staci laughed out loud, staring at his paunchy stomach. “Sure.” 

Finally: I’m posting my Steve’s Science and Other Fun Stuff at the A to Z Blog, as my custom is every first and third Thursday of the month. Take a moment to stop by and enjoy something fascinating about the universe we live in and call home.

  Question: Have you released a second version of your work, or at least considered it?

40 comments:

  1. Can't release a second version until I get the first version finished and released. But I've been editing a book I wrote a while ago, and I can see the improvement in my writing since then.

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  2. We had just decided to do the same with my years of research.....
    lol... cool coincidence....
    a great evening to you and yours good Sir...

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  3. After four books, I'd like to go back and fix the first one up, as I'm sure there many things that need improvement. First effort though.
    At least you get a chance to do yours over. And in a boxed set! Very cool.

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  4. It's good to be able to go back and improve your old work based on what you learned.

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  5. There are cohosts this month because I'm one of them!

    I had a book I pulled and re-edited and had a new cover made. It was exiciting to re-release it.

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    1. Patricia, I've seen a lot of authors not only release a second version, but new cover art as well. Best wishes to you!

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  6. Must be interesting to go back and re-read what was written a bit ago and "clean" it up a bit. Lots of work too I bet! Good luck with it!

    betty

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  7. Thanks everyone for stopping by. I know I've been out for a few weeks. But being an A to co-host, then helping with IWSG the following month, can take its toll. But I'm back up and running again!

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  8. It does sound better now. Out of curiosity, is the dialogue in the after sections brand new?

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    1. The dialogue is in both, the BEFORE in italics as inner dialogue and the AFTER is verbal dialogue.

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  9. Hey, Stephen...

    All the best on your editing... Yes, it's amazing how much we see after writing a first works. I am just about ready to jump back into my first novel. Although never published, it will be like starting all over again with a familiar friend... Getting it ready for the SCBWI conference I will be attending in LA this summer. CRAZY....

    It's funny... I had just reread a classic favorite and found so many typos, etc. WITHIN a major publishing house. So don't be too hard on yourself. Typos seem to breed when we are not looking. LOL.

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    1. Michael, good luck with SCBWI. I found a few typos in the Harry Potter series.

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  10. Hi Stephen - well done .. and good for you for re-editing Breakthrough ... I really enjoyed the book - there were some memorable passages - when I hear of snow in Boston .. .it's your words that come to mind and your description!

    Good luck with all the projects .. it's a learning curve as we go isn't it .. cheers Hilary

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  11. Yes I have. It's crushing to go back and see the mistakes, but fortunately sometimes we can fix them.

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  12. That's a lot of edits, but think of the end result. Looking back at our early work does sometimes make us cringe. Seeing the mistakes shows us that we have learned and improved. Best of luck to you.

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    1. Beverly, I did a lot of cringing. But the story is strong and cleaned up nicely.

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  13. I have used italics for first person inner dialogue in the past and now I know to do that less, that most of that can be changed to third person and not even as dialogue. We all learn. :)

    I've never released a second version and since I don't self-publish, I wouldn't be able to.

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  14. It's always good to see how far we've come! I know you'll love the result of all your hard work and editing.

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  15. My publisher made sure I worked with their editor before my debut was released. No going back after it was published! I did see one error on their part and one correction I had pointed out and they didn't change. But what can you do. I'm seeking an agent for my next line of books:) Editing is the best part of the process because you can see the change and how far you've come!

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  16. I like what you've done. I can see how it develops the character more, too. However, that's a lot of work ahead of you -- 1000 pages.

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    1. Southpaw, fortunately, Most of the work is in Breakthrough and that's behind me. The second two books are in much better shape.

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  17. I totally get this, sometimes when I look back at something I wrote a long time ago I cringe. It just goes to show how much you've grown as a writer :)

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  18. I'm feeling you, Stephen. My one book is currently being edited by a THIRD publisher and each one has their own ideas. I'm kind of tired of reading it. Sounds like you have a lot to keep you busy this month. A box set is a good idea.

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  19. Maybe I'm not observant but I thought the books read great. It's cool that they will be available in a complete box set though. It will be interesting to see how this goes for you.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Road trippin' with A to Z
    Tossing It Out

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  20. Its incredibly important to get ones work into the best shape possible before submitting to agents or publishing houses. There are no rewrites so make it your best shot possible otherwise the book just doesn't stand out = failure, LOL.

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  21. I totally get where you're coming from on this - my first novel Champion in the Darkness just had an eagle eye edit from a friend who I recently discovered does that sort of thing . . . he found 200 errors - 200! (Picture me tearing my heart out here.) Thankfully, he only found about forty in the second book - but still. Yikes. It has slowed down my progress on my third book as I'm attempting to make sure that it's copy-edited correctly. In content, I really struggle with description and I think that seriously hurt my first book as well, so I'm tempted to go back and add some material to it and put it out a second time. Maybe, I will. Keep us updated on how it goes with your second edition!

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    1. Oh, and I have gone through and fixed those 200 errors at least . . .

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  22. A thousand pages?! Whoa. Looks like all that editing has been well worth the effort, though!

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  23. That's a lot of editing. I've not considered releasing a second version. Once they are published, I'm done with them. But I'll admit you have a great opportunity for the revisit. It's good you are taking advantage of it.

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  24. Wow you have been busy. It's great that you have the chance to polish everything into shape so you are totally happy with it. Writing is a learning process and hopefully we are improving our skills all the time. Like many, I have read old stories and cringed.

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  25. You're a hard worker. This is the way to success :)

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  26. It's nice that you're able to look back and see areas for improvement, and that you have the opportunity to improve! Best of luck with your month of re-edits. I hope you find great success!

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  27. Hi Stephen, releasing your books in a box set is a super idea. Re-editing will be hard work but well worth the effort. Best of luck with your re-edits.

    Rachna Chhabria
    Co-host IWSG
    Rachna's Scriptorium

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  28. Yeah, I wanted to re-write and release a second version of my book about 12 hours after I released the first version...

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  29. I revised and released my first book 10 years after it was pubbed. It needed some updating, but it was well-edited the 1st time around. My editor really likes 1st person POV for internal thought in italics. It might be preferences.

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