Bit of strange post for this week’s Books and Reading Thursday!
I saw a quote on Pinterest the other day which pretty much summed up part of the reason I started writing:
‘If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.’ – Toni Morrison
I write because I have stories that I want to read all bundled up in my brain and I just have to expel them 😀
So, I write these tales that I am so desperate to read and then what happens?
I have to re-write and edit them so much that the thought of reading them again makes me want to start rocking in a corner somewhere mumbling to myself!
But in April, I plan to re-edit and refresh the books I published last year in time for their one year anniversary. I learnt tons last year, not just about writing itself, but about the whole publishing process.
A while back, Sierra from Permashift, updated her book, The Soul (a book I highly recommend checking out), and I realised how much I also wanted to go over my older books and give them an update.
But, at the same time, I am also kind of excited to go back and read them.
I know I will be doing some editing and re-writing, but there won’t be too much (I hope 😀 ), so I’m hoping I will be able to read the books mainly for the stories I was so desperate to write in the first place.
The main books I will be refreshing are Stolen Bloodline, Heart of the Arena, and The Queen’s Jester, my first batch of books I ever published. I will also be going over Prophecy of Stones and The Magic Spark, but probably later in the year.
It’s getting on for a year since I published those first three books, and though some of the writing might make me cringe, I am hoping that the long time away will allow me to once again enjoy these stories and characters that I spent so long creating.
So, April is going to be a busy month getting all the books updated whilst writing a new one, but a fun month nonetheless 🙂
I highly recommend going back and reading the stories you spent so long creating, especially if you haven’t looked at them in a while. It might be difficult to read them without completely turning off the nagging voice inside that tells you bits you could have improved and things, but you worked hard on those characters and stories, why not go back and enjoy them after you’ve had some time apart? 😀
Do you enjoy going back and reading your own books? Do you ever miss the stories you wrote years before?
A Writer's Life For Me. 
Best of luck with your edits 🙂 I think it’s good to revisit old work sometimes, even if just to show yourself how much you’ve grown 🙂
It’ll be interesting to go back and read them 😀 Will also be nice to give them an update with all the knowledge I have now!
I love rereading my old work. Yes, sometimes cringe-worthy, but sometimes I surprise myself. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of sitting back after reading something good and realizing “hey! I wrote that!” A nice boost to the confidence. 🙂
I’m hoping to get some of those moments like that myself whilst reading through 😀 It will also be nice to know I can update those cringe-worthy moments!
I recently went back to the first novella I wrote, because I am planning to finally publish it later this year (Sci Fi for kids in French). And I have my first novel I hope to get translated into English and polished to publish in the years to come. 🙂
It’s nice to go back to old work, isn’t it? We work on so many new projects it’s easy to forget about the stuff we’ve already done! 😀
I love that quotation. Morrison’s books are so unique. I admire the way she had developed her singular voice. You have some good advice: to return to our creative projects we haven’t look at in a while. Thanks!
I sometimes reread my old stories–the ones that never went anywhere that could go somewhere if I gave them attention. I never reread my published books though. I’m too afraid I’ll be appalled!
Sometimes a little time apart is all you need to stop hating a story. ^-^ I threatened to print out one of my recent projects and shove it in a drawer for all eternity, or burn it, after I finally finished it. And that was just the first draft! It’s only been about a month since then, and I am already thinking about maybe reading through it.
Good luck with the edits. I will probably read my own stories in time, but will I edit and re-release them? Probably not. They’re written and published. There’s too many new stories bashing their way into my brain to take time to re-hash stories already published. I love the idea, but it’s just not practical to me – not when I take so long to edit and re-write before I publish them the first time. I am already re-reading Puck’s Choice though and falling in love with it all over again. :3
Thanks for the shoutout. I must say, I’m pretty excited for these re-releases you’re doing. Sometimes, not all the time, but sometimes, it’s just what’s necessary, you know?
Thats the beauty of being an Indie; you can go back in and make changes at any point. If your books are selling well it might be best to leave them alone… they’re already doing what’s required of them. Don’t fix what isn’t broken. On the other hand, if they’re languishing, knock yourself out! My only concern is, where does it stop? When is a story truly good enough? At the point you publish, or never?
My first book was when I was still in Primary school, and I don’t enjoy that much reading it, haha!
It’s really hard to go back and re-read old works, but I’ve found it to be really pleasant when I can divorce myself from our history enough to actually enjoy them. After all, if I’ve written something I can honestly enjoy, that has to count for something.
It is always a bit humorous to go back and look at them with new eyes and try not to cringe. 🙂
That’s a great idea Mishka! I’m actually editing a story I completed in September and I really enjoy reading and reliving the adventure I created! I actually, within these next couple of months, will be reading my first 2 stories for “final” edits and I’m definitely looking forward to it!
I have a bad habit of stopping the stories I’m writing when I’m only half done, so if I want to continue working on one I basically have to read the entire thing in order to remember where I was going with it. (But it can be kind a fun experience revisiting it)
Good idea Mishka. I think in years to come I will re-read my books and see where I could have done better, but part of me would like to leave them as they are, as a kind of story in themselves, showing my progress.