Revised Editions?
At my book signing at the sci-fi convention last month, I spread my five novels out on the table before me, along with assorted business cards, book marks, and short descriptions of the stories. I also started to reread my works so that I would remember what I wrote in case someone asked me for specifics. I only got as far as The Fifth Prophet, which was written eight years ago.
The good news is that I have become a better writer over time. The bad news is that I need to do a few more passes through the first manuscript. At first I saw no way to fix the “near future” aspect of that story. That issue is why I set Time Travelers Are Schizophrenic two hundred years into the future; science fiction that is on the verge of reality tends to become real very, very quickly. Thus it loses something in the story. Some of my “prophecies” have come true already, especially the “VCLs” now commonly known as Google Glasses or their competitors. At the time, wearable technology was still a military thing supported by DARPA.
Another literary problem was that my universe evolved as the books were created, so that I needed to be sure that what I hypothesized about the reality of the universe and faster than light space travel was still consistent. Luckily, the “metaverse” solves the problem. My “near future” apocalypse happened in one of the parallel strings of universes within the metaverse; a simple preface to the revised edition, and voila! Consistency. That parallel universe is very, very close to our own, so that maybe much of The Fifth Prophet will still occur to us here. Madame President, aka Hilary Clinton, still has an outside chance of winning. Donald Trump might actually suggest the “annexation of Mexico.” Nuclear war in the Middle East doesn’t need Bin Laden to start it.
So, Perturbations Of The Reality Field is waiting for me to return and complete it, while I revise and resubmit The Fifth Prophet with a new cover that matches the series. I hope you will continue your support and interest in my writing. Now, back to “Phillipsville.”
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Yes, you are absolutely right! But. Cutting something away is really, really hard. Even though I know that, because of the story I tried to tell, there is much repetition. My "Family of Man" has a "prophet" and "12 apprentices", each of whom tells part of the story from their point of view. Yes, I learned my lesson and my second book has two main characters. :-) I feel that the revision is already a major improvement, simply by "tightening the prose." Before I spend the money to republish though, I will take your advise and cut as much repetition as possible. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Yes, the Family of Man is the weak link. Perhaps that one is melted into ether an epilogue of the one before, or a prologue of the one that follows- or a bit of both. None of us can say what book projects may prove worthwhile, but if you have the stomach for revision then 5 into 3 really deserves serious consideration.
Your world building is the best I've ever read- but a lot of the nuts and bolts can be dropped from the dissertation without undermining the patent's application. Scientists often reduce the impact of the novel by over-reporting the outlying detail.
I would revise and simply record the major revision dates in the preface.
We all have only so many hours in the day; but if your wish is to improve what you already have rather than write brand new material, why not try to reduce 5 to 3, while cutting 2/5ths?
That will force you to fully consider repetition and unnecessary diversion in the plot, while also tightening your prose. Use revision as a way of making the brilliant outstanding.
Just a thought.