Revisiting old work #IWSG

March IWSG Day Question: Have you ever pulled out a really old story and reworked it? Did it work out?

Yes, and it was torture to some extent. I really liked the concept of the short story and wanted to rewrite it and see if I couldn’t do more with it. Since it’s a side project, I haven’t put too much effort beyond a full rewrite, showing it to a couple of critique groups, and some minor editing after that.

I think eventually it’ll work out. I have another short story that follows these characters that also needs a rewrite along with old notes I found for a third. So it’ll be fun to dabble with in between my major projects.

The hardest part was taking the original from third person present tense to first person past tense. I have a really hard time writing in third person for some reason. Either I want to tell everything or I withhold way more than I would in first person – there’s no in between. Eventually I broke down the original into something of an outline so I could keep the sequence of events roughly the same.

Me and outlines generally don’t play well together either, but for something short I can put up with it.

For now it’s tucked away to be poked and prodded another day. I’m working on the final edits for Shattered Illusions which of course takes priority. My deadlines are looming quickly and I haven’t gotten as much work done with it in the past week or so due to a change in my schedule and trying to catch up and finish my February writing challenge. And being sick. I didn’t know it you could get sick off of too much protein (also didn’t realize it was too much).

See, this is what happens when I try to be healthier about things.

Also getting nervous and excited for my event at Rediscovered Books on Saturday. I’ll be there from 11-1.