Revisiting Old Work

I can only speak for myself, but my advice is that you use the old work as an outline and completely write from scratch.

Last year, I returned to an old project of mine, a 3K word short story that I had written a few years before.

Since then, i'd grown as a writter and gotten a few publications under my belt. So, I figured I could get under the hood of this story, give it a tune-up, a few modifications, and turn it into a publishable story.

Boy was a I wrong.

A wierd sorta deevolution happened. It was as if this old story was some sort of kryptonite rendering my new writing powers inert and I fell write back into my old style of writing. Sure, I tweaked it and made the story 'better' but unfortunately, the story had too many flaws to begin with.

And many of those flaws I was unable to see since I was the original architect.

So my take away is that if I am going to revist my older works, then I am best served by just starting completely from scratch. IMO, that is the best path when there is a significant difference in your current skill level vs your previous skill level.

In summary, I think it depends on where you are on your learning curve. I am still growing as a writer and have much to learn, so there is a significant difference between my skill level now vs a year or two ago. However, hopefully, as my skill level plateaus, then there will be little difference between my skill level at one point in time vs another point in time. So, if that difference is minute, then you can probably edit and revise a piece into publishable form. However, if that difference is significant, then you are probably best served by starting from scratch.

Mel...

If so many aspects of the old work still interest you, can you pinpoint what's bothering you about it and start doing the repairs?

I have yet to successful reinvent anything old. You might have more luck.

While I attended the Las Vegas Writers Conference, I spoke with a publisher. I mentioned that the novel I was pitching was actually the fourth chronologically, in a series with the same detectives as the main characters. I told her that each previous novel reflected my writing skills as I progressed along the learning curve. I didn't think the earlier ones were publishable.

She advised me to go back to novel #1, and using my current skills, rewrite it, then do the same for novels 2 & 3. She believed that, If I found a home for novel #1, the publisher would be more than pleased to know I had three more completed novels in the series.

I've done major revisions on WIPs, but I've never tried to rewrite an old one. Now I see the problems Mel has encountered, and I'm wondering if I can pull it off.

I should note that I've yet to complete a novel (my very first novella, 27K words, will be complete come June ).

It is a helluva lot easier to start from scratch on a 3K story vs a novel

Perhaps someone with that experience can chime in.

In fact, i'll page a few people who should have some experience in this regard, they could probably offer better advice as relates to rewriting a novel

Mel...

I really haven't revisited any old novels, since I don't have any that I have to rework. I do finish them all no mater how badly I fee about them. I have about four 50-page novels that never got off the ground--which means I had no plot for them and started them using a fantanstic idea and nothing more than that.

Tri

i have rewritten a novel albeit one I was revising rather than revisiting. In that case I started working on the old file and at the end of each new chapter deleted all the material I hadn't used of the old one. In almost every case this was 98-100% but it made it feel like I hadn't started again.

Not exactly certain what the problem is.

If you've read through the old novel again and still don't know -or have any feel for - the characters, it doesn't seem to say much for the old characters -eh?

If you really want to keep the plot, there's surely not much left to do other than start again either with fresh or improved characters - no?

If what's missing is enthusiasm, I can't help you there.

When I revisit old novels (or short stories for that matter) I try to do the following.

Read everything I wrote of the previous version, including the outline and character notes (if I had them).

Wait a few days, while thinking about what's already written and consider what I already know I want to change.

Read through the previous version again - just the story this time.

Then, depending on how seriously it needs reworking I either:

Print out and mark up the original with corrections, additions and notes. Then retype the whole thing (even if it's an entire manuscript) incorporating the new material as I go.

OR (if there's not much salvageable from the original)

I start writing from scratch. (This includes writing a new outline if necessary. Which, for me, frequently is when it comes to my early efforts at noveling.)

Getting back into the characters means getting back into their story. And that means writing it. YMMV.

Going back has only worked once for me. There is usually a pretty good reason - most notably, loss of enthusiasm - for why I put it down in the first place. In the case of the one I did go back to, I re-read all of my notes, found something that I had written down but had somehow missed the value of entirely, and tweaked my plot to accomodate it. I guess it was the key, because the completed story is now what I consider to be some of my best work.

I would suggest that you read through your notes again, and try to remember why it was you were so excited about the idea in the first place. If you re-read what you already wrote, I think it's too easy to fall back onto that same path. So look at your notes, and start from scratch.

Just my $.02 of course.

timewaster said:

I have yet to successful reinvent anything old. You might have more luck.

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Other than starting from scratch, I also have this problem. I've come back to old things all cocky, like, "look what I learned," and am sent away each time stumbling dejectedly slumped over, like, "I don't think I've learned a damn thing."

I think there may be a such thing as too much time away, in which case, it's very hard to break through the initial barrier again. I know that's not helpful but I'm sure I'm not the definitive expert--just another lonely perspective...

Good luck, though. I'm sure there are ways.

I had an old work in the drawer and when I decided to finish it, I did a big brainstorm and used the old work and the brainstorm to get enough material to finish and submit it.

Pull it out, read it through from start to finish, make notes if you want. Then you can think about restarting the writing process.

There's nothing wrong with it. You may need to "tweak" it if you need to add some current technology or something. Lots of people are obsessed with quickly written novels, but there are plenty that have been sitting in a box somewhere waiting for the right moment to write.

Lady Ice, if it is a good enough story, its time may come--along with the ideas and motivation to re-craft it. No sense rushing that process. Get to work on your next project and let this one ferment until you have a clear idea on how to bring it back to life. But don't dabble with it at the expense of the current project, until you are ready to make it your current project.