Updating your novels

How much do you update your in-progress novels or earlier unpublished novels to correlate with current modern life?

This of course applies only to present-era books that involve mostly urban characters, I think. Myself, being a writer of modern American private detective fiction, would be within this category.

How this came to mind: I was reading an Alex Delaware novel I picked up for casual fun. For those who don't know, "Alex Delaware" is a fictional amateur detective (AD) who's a child psychologist in LA, and gets involved in crimes. The novels are by Jonathan Kellerman, a real-life psychologist. The books are intelligently written and quite entertaining mysteries. A recommended read.

Anyway, Alex is roaming around the LA area, helping a young woman discover her checkered childhood past, and during the mystery, he's always having trouble getting in touch with other people because he has to find a pay phone and so on. This was slightly off-putting, and I took a look at the copyright, found that the book was written nearly 15 years ago.

No cellphones. How things have changed in such a short time.

When I first wrote my fledgling PI novel, cellphones were not ubiquitous, and later, as I began to improve as a writer and therefore needed to rewrite my novel to a higher standard, I found that I had to revise some sections to include cellphones.

This wasn't difficult, but I did find that some of the mystery plot points pivoted on calling someone at a certain time, and so on. So it was necessary to include the pervasive use of cells in my novel.

I'm thinking about two factors that affect our present-day writing. One is technology in general, how cellphones, personal computers, and to a lesser degree, CDs and DVDs, are essential components of modern urban life.

The other is of course September 11, 2001. I can't have my gun-toting PI breeze into City Hall, airports, or other areas any more.

My writing is of course somewhat "special case" since it's fast-paced modern mystery, and therefore it's incumbent that I include current events as background to the stories.

How about you? Have you found it necessary to revise some of your earlier writing as a result of historic changes in society? And are you cognizant of the same as you write new material?

If it's plder, published material, I see no reason to update it. If it hasn't been published, then I do update. If I'm currently writing something, I always keep such things in mind.

If it's unpublished, I try to update it to reflect the correct time period. Obviously, if the book is about 1988, there's no reason to add current stuff such as the Internet or cell phones. But if it's about 2002, then yeah, it'd be good to change thing such as airport security.

It irks me, for example, to see a recent movie set in current time when the characters greet others at airport gates. I think the finale of "Friends" did it right by making Ross buy a ticket before he went through the security to find Rachel... (okay, so these are not literary examples, but you get the drift).

However, I wouldn't worry about minor things such as the current "car buying trend." If the character drives a minivan, for example, I'm not going to update it to have him drive an mini-SUV, for example.

I wouldn't worry about minor things such as the current "car buying trend."

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Absolutely agree. I'm only talking about pertinent things.

If I read a novel set in the U.S. in 1965, I expect that characters under 21 won't vote, most people will drive American-made cars, water in small towns won't be fluoridated, bus stations will have pay toilets, there will be no home pregnancy tests, people will smoke in move theaters, and interracial marriages will be rare. Speaking of rare, hamburger will sometimes be on sale at three pounds for a dollar.

I would think that some science fiction would need to be adjusted as well, especially near-future stories that are partially or wholly set on Earth. Any change like 9/11, or even something as relatively minor as a new Internet trend, can have an effect. When I started my first novel, set 40-odd years in the future, cell phones had not yet begun to converge with PDA's and cameras and the like. I missed the emerging trend at first and once I woke up to it, I had to go back and rewrite scenes to have characters using their phones in a very different way.

Good point CC. I had written a few Sci Fi. And if you let them sit on the shelf too long, technology catches up. Or, someone else thinks of a similar idea.

One of the stories may be worth refreshing, and I began tinkering with it. However, it became a distraction, and I really had to focus on the tasks at hand and put it back on the shelf.

If I read a novel set in the U.S. in 1965... etc

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That of course goes without saying. I was mainly referring to our writing that's meant to be current.

A story is a set in its own time.

A book written in the early nineties -- a book written today, but set in the early nineties -- what's the difference?

We don't expect historical fiction set in the reign of Henry VIII to have cell phones, do we?

I've read some short stories that were written in the 'thirties, that were "updated" so that the characters needed more than a nickle to use a payphone. That didn't help. The entire world-view was pre-WWII -- changing the price of a phone call didn't make them modern.

So, that's my thought on it.

Tell your story the best way you can; if it's an entertaining story it doesn't need cellphones.

I understand what you're saying, Uncle Jim. In the case of works-in-progress, which is what I believe we're concerned with, I do think it would be important to adjust for occurrences like the recent tsunamis or 9/11, if not making the change would cause the reader to see parts of the unaltered story as being wrong.

I can think of an example from the book I'm currently reading, "Fallen Angles". It's set about two decades from now and they keep referring to the Mir space station as if it's still in orbit, which we all know it's not. Of course, the book was published before Mir came down, so I can overlook it, but I still find it a little jarring. Had the book still been in the writing stage when the world became aware that Mir was going to come down, fixing that would have made sense, IMHO.

On the other hand, I get really pissed if an author puts things in "just to be current," especially if it has not much to do with the story. For example, mentioning 9/11 just for the sake of it.

Good point, Maestro. That's just cheap writing. I would only be concerned if something happened during the writing or even early editing stage that invalidated something you'd already written, and leaving it would be problematic.

On the other hand, there's obviously got to be a point of no return where the project is so far along, or the change would be too difficult to make, that you just have to let it stand as it is. If the story is good enough, the readers would probably forgive the discrepancy.

Do you know where I was on the morning of 9/11/01?

I was in New York, discussing my works-in-progress with my agent. These would have been "Douglas Morgan" technothrillers.

The first involved international terrorists blowing up a Liquid Natural Gas tanker in Verrazano Narrows, devastating lower Manhattan. The proposed sequel involved terrorists spreading anthrax in Boston from a crop duster.

We were sitting there, stunned, listening to the news. And we both knew right then that the first book couldn't be sold. A week later it became obvious that the second one shouldn't be written.

So my career continued in other directions. Someday I may return to technothrillers.

Be careful when you're writing books "ripped from tomorrow's headlines." You have to finish them and get them on the racks before tomorrow.

I did that with my soon-to-be-published masterpiece lol )

During my recent trip to Asia, I noticed various changes in the locations, cultures, etc. and I felt that I needed to update my ms. For example, the subway stations have been updated, stations have been added, new buildings have been erected that would have "blocked" the view I described in my book. So instead of saying "seventh floor" I now have to say "twenty-seventh floor" in order for the main character to observe the view. Or the color code of the subway station is no longer orange, but purple. Things like that add to the realism of the book, and if someone happens to have visited the same locations in Asia, they wouldn't say, "Hey, that's just plain wrong."

There are things that are more fluid and I won't bother with them. For example, the fare of a ferry ticket. By the time my book's published, the fare would probably have changed, so there's really no point of making that "current." As long as it's within range ($5 instead of $25)...

Tell your story the best way you can; if it's an entertaining story it doesn't need cellphones.

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Well, if it's modern and current, and it's a big-city mystery, then it does need to be fixed while it's still being revised, because cellphones are a critical factor in people contacting other people these days.

Naturally if it's out the door, that's another matter.

But in my specific case, the absolute ubiquity of cellphones is too pertinent to the story lines -- contacting suspects, talking to witnesses, making emergency calls for help, etc.

So I went back and updated a few places to allow for this. Took me maybe 2 days total, then I sent the book to my agent.

I agree however that in the general sense, updating for modern events may not be necessary.

For example, mentioning 9/11 just for the sake of it.

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Agreed.

I do however mention it in a pertinent passage, where the FBI is less concerned about serial killers these days, more focused on terrorism. So their resources are drawn down in the former situation, and that's appropriate to my crime story.

Or the color code of the subway station is no longer orange, but purple.

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Now that's a detail level that I don't think you need to worry much about, especially since it's in Asia (where you don't say) because few of your readers will be conversant with this in fact.

I wouldn't be too concerned there. And prices? Just don't include the price. I do that all the time, deliberately. Like when my private detective mentions his fees.

"I handed him my fee reference sheet. He nodded and we signed the contract."

Stuff like that.

Now there's a good bit of advice, Katdad. Look for spots that would get noticed if out of whack, and see if there's a way to write it to eliminate the bit that might change over time.

Your example is perfect.

Look for spots that would get noticed if out of whack, and see if there's a way to write it to eliminate the bit that might change over time.


Early in science fiction, when space travelers needed to make calculations, they'd whip out their slide rules. Can't you see the writers yelling, from their cemetery plots, "That's not fair! We couldn't possibly have known"?

The book I'm writing is set in the early 90's. Most of the actioin takes place in 1994. I have a lot of fun with subtly pointing out the way things were. Few people have cell phones, and those who do have big clunky things that barely fit in a pocket.

Other people have car phones (remember those?)

talking computers were a semi-fad that has all but been forgotten. Many cars spoke with annoying synthetic voices to remind you about your doors, lights, etc. Some major supermarket cash registers also talked, as well as gas pumps.

I'm glad I set my story in this era, because it's a known quantity to me. 1994 can never change again, but I know it like the back of my hand. I guess in 2014 I'll write about 2004.

I also like to allude to the future in subtle ways. I have a certain scene taking place on September 11th 1993. It's a typical day of course. I also have a cashier ring up the price of somethign and say, "Nine eleven!" Again, it's just a meaningless number in this era.

My novel happens in modern time. None of the characters use cell phones... none of my readers/reviewers/editors even noticed or complained. :lol

(oops, maybe they will now.)

I think it probably depends on the novel itself. mr mistook's strategy seems quite good. Specifically set it prior to the present day (even if it's only a few years), then you don't have to worry about what happens in the intervening time between writing it and it being published.

1984 is still a very good book, despite the fact that we have all lived through that particular year (actually, there are probably some people here who weren't even born then) and know that it wasn't like that.

But if your book is supposed to be set in 'present day' and you started writing it 10 years ago, you either need to update it, or make it clear, somehow that it's set 10 years ago. It works fine for books that were published 10 years ago, because we expect them to not really have cell phones, etc. etc. But if it's a brand new book coming out today, I think some readers might be a bit fazed by it clearly being out of date.

That said, would you really want to try to publish a book you wrote ten years ago? I was reading one of my unfinished works from eleven years ago, recently, and it did cross my mind that it was outdated in some ways - specifically the cell phone issue, actually. There's a scene where a mother is getting frantic about her teenage daughter being late back from school and, these days, she would almost certainly have been able to call her cellphone and say 'where are you?'. Or her daughter would probably have been more inclined to call her mum and say 'I'm at X's house. I'll be a bit late. Don't worry.' rather than forgetting to call, because she was having too much fun with her friends. Having your own phone, rather than having to ask your friend's parents, makes it easier and more automatic to make that call.

However, most of my thoughts on reading the 10 chapters that I had written, and the outline for the rest of the book, were 'Oh my g_d, this is awful! How incredibly dull. Why would anyone want to read this?' and other similar thoughts. My personal reading habits have changed so much in the intervening ten years that, even if I had a complete first draft to play with, it would stay hidden away forever, because I don't identify enough with it to make any useful efforts on improving it.

For world events like 9/11 and the tsunami, I wouldn't mention them for the sake of mentioning them, but only if they are relevant to your characters or to what your characters do. For example, if your novel is set in Madrid, your characters might have fears about travelling on the trains; in America (and elsewhere) the security in airports would be more stringent than before 9/11, but you don't necessarily need to mention why (everyone would know, really, wouldn't they?). But if one of your characters was a fireman or police officer in New York, it would probably be something that s/he would talk about a lot, still. The point is not to drop it in for the sake of it, which can come across quite obviously as your having done exactly that. (Most of the more recent US-set books I've read mention 9/11. Some of them do it so randomly that it bugged me and I felt they were just doing it because they felt they had to. Others don't even mention it, but clearly refer to it - e.g. 'Do you feel OK to fly, yet?'. And others make a lot of reference to it, but make it feel right for the book and the characters to do so.)

None of the characters use cell phones

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Understand, this may be okay in your book. If so, go for it.

However, in mine, the progress of the private detective's investigation, and his roaming thru the city and all, cellphones are incumbent with this modern-day situation. Some of the plot threads actually hinge on contacting (or not contacting) someone at a critical moment.

Okay, that's spooky, Uncle Jim.

I'd agree on the notion of the story having its own sense of place and time. It takes place where it takes place and when. That should be all that one needs to know.