Inside Baseball - Part 1

Inside Baseball: For those not familiar with the term Inside Baseball, it translates to a look behind the curtain, as it were. I always thought that was fun - getting to hear things directly from the author of a book. Their thought process or what inspired them or whatever. It was like some secret knowledge that, let's face it, really wasn't all that secret - nor did it usually reveal anything Earth shattering. But...fun, nonetheless.
With that in mind, away we go.
Some years ago I had the privilege or beta reading the second book in a series for another author. The first book was decent enough. It established, at the very least, some memorable characters and a good base to build on.
However, upon reading the second book, I, as the reader (I am not speaking for anyone else nor insinuating my word is final), thought it went off in a failing direction. My final response to the author was that I felt he should go back and rewrite the story more inline with where the first seemed to be headed. Again, just my perspective.
As I have mentioned in these posts, I, myself, recently completed a Beta read phase and have been going through revisions.
For beta read and the constructive criticisms they offer, I look for patterns in the responses. ie - if 19 people said they loved a character and 1 person said they hated it, maybe it's just that person.
I am not saying their opinion does not matter. It does. And, perhaps, their opinion still holds some morsel of insight. So, it is always worth while to take it into consideration. Right? Okay.
But, by and far, I find myself looking for patterns in the feedback - things that get mentioned by numerous readers.
After reading all of the feedback, I decided to revise Space Cowboy first. Why? The implications. While the feedback may seem innocuous on the surface, the ripples of these 'small' changes were far reaching.
The feedback I'm referring to centered around the theme of the novel, Matriarch, and one of the characters within.
The character in question did not appear until the second part of the three; however, she was heavily intwined in the Matriarch theme. I felt I had conveyed that fairly well.
Let's say the readers didn't.
Thus, she needed to be flushed out more in order for the theme of the entirety of the book to hit home more. Where did that lead me? Well, to moving her to the first part of the three and integrating her more into the story as a whole. This move established her earlier. It lengthened her arc. It changed the dynamic of who she was and why she was doing what she was doing.
It also meant - you guessed it - rewriting the book.
Okay, so maybe not word for word rewriting. And, certainly not the entire book. But, it did mean making significant changes to all 3 parts of Space cowboy.
By moving her, situations had to change, interactions with other characters had to change, the timing on certain events had to change, etc etc etc.
What I thought would be a few nights here and there has taken almost two months.
Do I think the story, and, therefor, the book, is better for it. Absolutely. The beta readers hit the nail on the head by calling that out.
The pacing is better. The characters are richer. The theme is more prominent.
My timeline is also longer - haha. But, that's how it goes, right.
I believe this is what would be called a taste of one's own medicine.
More Inside Baseball to come.