Revisiting Earlier Works
This past spring, I held an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for travel expenses to a wedding where my son was supposed to serve as the ringbearer. One of the perks was an ebook version of my personal history of the Penn State Monty Python Society, which I'd compiled painstakingly about 10 years ago from sifting through personal papers, journals, and photos. The friend who suggested the project said that, after all, I'd already done all the work.
Well, yes, for the web version. But as I embarked on the conversion process, I found myself unable to resist "improving" upon what I'd already written. In addition to correcting obvious typos, I also standardized spelling and added extra tidbits of information. As promised by the Indiegogo perk, I added an appendix consisting of skits I'd written in my MPS days, including a couple that had never been published anywhere. In addition, I added some relevant post-MPS writings.
Then, with the PDF completed, I happened upon the information that PDFs are less than ideal for notepad computers and smartphones. So I revisited the project again, creating a Kindle version (which essentially meant starting from scratch, since you have to first create an HTML document). Since I had to resize all the pictures anyway, I also used my newfound PhotoShop Elements skills to improve the color balance and reduce the noise. Plus, to make up for the fact that the photos containing text would be too small to read on a typical Kindle reader, I added the text for those graphics into the body of the work.
If I'd been billing someone for my services at my preferred rate of $25/hour, I shudder to think what the bill would have been.
But now, Dedicated Idiocy is finished and available at Amazon.com. For $3.99, the cost of a fancy coffee at certain coffee shops, you can vicariously live through those days of silliness and camaraderie. I promise, if you read it, you will laugh (and sometimes possibly cringe) at this universal story of friendship and spam.
... and now that it's done, I'm already contemplating converting all the VHS videos I did back in my college years (including two full-length documentaries on MPS events) into DVD format.
The more I revisit my old works, the more potential I see to springboard off them to greater things. I think that must be a little bit what Walt Whitman felt, continually updating "Leaves of Grass."
What about you? Are you ever tempted to revise your previous works?
Well, yes, for the web version. But as I embarked on the conversion process, I found myself unable to resist "improving" upon what I'd already written. In addition to correcting obvious typos, I also standardized spelling and added extra tidbits of information. As promised by the Indiegogo perk, I added an appendix consisting of skits I'd written in my MPS days, including a couple that had never been published anywhere. In addition, I added some relevant post-MPS writings.
Then, with the PDF completed, I happened upon the information that PDFs are less than ideal for notepad computers and smartphones. So I revisited the project again, creating a Kindle version (which essentially meant starting from scratch, since you have to first create an HTML document). Since I had to resize all the pictures anyway, I also used my newfound PhotoShop Elements skills to improve the color balance and reduce the noise. Plus, to make up for the fact that the photos containing text would be too small to read on a typical Kindle reader, I added the text for those graphics into the body of the work.
If I'd been billing someone for my services at my preferred rate of $25/hour, I shudder to think what the bill would have been.
But now, Dedicated Idiocy is finished and available at Amazon.com. For $3.99, the cost of a fancy coffee at certain coffee shops, you can vicariously live through those days of silliness and camaraderie. I promise, if you read it, you will laugh (and sometimes possibly cringe) at this universal story of friendship and spam.
... and now that it's done, I'm already contemplating converting all the VHS videos I did back in my college years (including two full-length documentaries on MPS events) into DVD format.
The more I revisit my old works, the more potential I see to springboard off them to greater things. I think that must be a little bit what Walt Whitman felt, continually updating "Leaves of Grass."
What about you? Are you ever tempted to revise your previous works?
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