Does anybody else ever think "Maybe I should rewrite my story?"

[Alicia]

I know I started thinking it tonight. An influx of 2 and 3 star reviews makes me wonder if my first story was not as ready as I and my betas thought it was.

It's a tad discouraging seeing 2 star reviews and no comments letting you know what they did or didn't like about it.

Thoughts? Is it a benefit of being self-published that I can go back and fix more than just technical miss steps?

[Riley, Viking Extraordinaire]

It's hard to say, with no input it's almost impossible to know why they didn't like it. I look at it this way, some of my favorite classic books have 2's and 3's.
And yes, I will admit I rushed ro release my trilogy, in hindsight it needed another good round of editing. But the advantage of being indie is being able to fix it.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

It looks like you're getting a mix of everything from one to five stars. I wouldn't worry about it. This could simply mean that some people love your book and some do not. That's to be expected. There's nothing wrong with going over a published story to find typos or other technical errors. Personally, I would refrain from doing more than that. Changing the story seems kind of unfair to those that have already bought and read it. It might be better to take the mistakes you made, if any, learn from them, and use the newfound knowledge in your next book.

[Victoria]

I know how you feel. A 2-star review, after a bunch of 4 and 5 stars, made me want to rewrite the whole thing. I know it's not typos or formatting, the reviewer said it was illogical and he couldn't connect with the characters; but other writers have said the opposite.
As Dwayne said, maybe learn from those reviews and improve the next book. Although you don't know why anyone gave it 2 stars, we can all work on improving our writing.

[Charles]

I have some rewrites for stuff planned in the future. It all depends on whether or not you think the work is justified vs spending it on another project.

[Victoria]

I read the "Look inside the Book" excerpt, and while it's interesting, it could use a good editing. I spotted 2 misspelled words in that excerpt, "material" for maternal and "scattered-brained" for scatter-brained. It also skips around from one POV to another.
It's a learning process. I wish I could rewrite a recent book, but don't think I have the energy after all I've put into it. Time to move on.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Victoria wrote: "It also skips around from one POV to another."

Which is a style choice and not a bad thing. If handled well, it can be very effective.

[S.]

You can't please all the people all the time I guess. But it's worth making the effort to update spelling/ grammar just to make it look more professional (and see if it makes a difference to the reviews). If people are reading your book, isn't that what matters?

[Martin]

I am a big outliner. The time I rewrite the story is during the outlining phase. It is far easier to do it during that time.

Prior to establishing this process I would often get to the middle of a story and get wrapped around the axle.

As far as reviews go, just start another project. Don't let them distract you. Good or bad reviews. Very few will contain constructive feedback. I recommend a team of honest pre-release reviewers/beta readers.

[Anthony Deeney]

Martin wrote: "
Prior to establishing this process I would often get to the middle of a story and get wrapped around the axle."

Love the imagery.

[[deleted user]]

I issued a second edition of my first novel, with some added chapters. I also deleted or shortened quite a few scenes, and deleted the prologue. My only excuse is that I had taken a hiatus from writing of some 20 to 25 years, and was writing in the more patient style of that time. I got pretty good reviews, but some criticism also. I took the criticism to heart, did a light rewrite, and now I'm much happier with it, even though I thought the first edition was good on its own.

[Alicia]

Thank you, everybody. I'll definitely go back and fix the technical spelling and grammar errors. Then have a talk with my betas - one is an English teacher...

It is frustrating because I worked so long on that first story. It's been rewritten and revised multiple times since 2006. It was a favorite for years on fictionpress even after I stopped working on it. I even used the reviews to guide my last revision. (Many people wanted to know more about Grace and Kyle.) So to get unexplained 2-stars and refund requests is disheartening.

[Alicia]

Oddly enough one of my two stars disappeared ...

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

A.J. wrote: "Oddly enough one of my two stars disappeared ..."

Sometimes that happens. And sometimes they come back again.

[Martin]

I also recommend finding a good professional, paid, editor. One that is totally anal about spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage. They are so worth the money!

[Julie]

I agree that fixing the technical and grammatical errors are the extent of the changes to make. The heart and soul we pour into our writing is ours. If you are pleased with your story and have already made revisions based on past reviews, I think you can let go of changes now (other than grammar, etc.) and just trust your readers. As a previous poster said, some will like it and some won't. As long as you like it and know you put your best into it, it's perfect. I'd spend your energy and time now on the next book.

[April]

A.J. wrote: "I know I started thinking it tonight. An influx of 2 and 3 star reviews makes me wonder if my first story was not as ready as I and my betas thought it was.

It's a tad discouraging seeing 2 star ..."


A.J., to your question, yes. Every day I want to go back and rewrite my first novel. As writers, we grow and improve every day, and we're constantly learning. It's so tempting to want to go back and improve previously released works, but in most cases (unless there are glaring problems with previous works) it's far more important to keep moving forward and write new books. Just because you receive low ratings on a book does not mean the book has problems. It means those particular readers didn't connect with your book. That is going to happen, no matter what. Even the best books in the world have some low ratings. If you have a mix of good and bad ratings, then consider that normal. If you have no good ratings at all, then you might want to revisit a book. I looked at your recent book, and I saw that you had pretty good ratings (mostly 4's). Good job! Just keep moving forward.

[Micah]

I've not been tempted to rewrite an already published work, but I do have a long (for me) manuscript that I've toyed with re-writing for almost 20 years. It was my first completed manuscript. I think the story is really awesome, but boy did I overdo the melodrama. And my writing voice hadn't been solidified at that time; it sounds forced and inauthentic.

And then there's my latest novel, which I've been editing/revising since January 2014...I got really close to just publishing it, but I think it still needs some re-writing.

It's a painful process and can be disheartening. My advice on an already published work would be to limit yourself to correcting technical (grammar, spelling, word use...etc) issues, and focus on your current writing projects.

[Alicia]

Martin wrote: "I also recommend finding a good professional, paid, editor. One that is totally anal about spelling, grammar, punctuation and usage. They are so worth the money!"

I wish I could say that I could afford a paid editor. I did find an awesome, free, well-recommended editing program that finds spelling, grammar, and other technical issues. I wish I had found it in July.

[Alicia]

Julie wrote: "I agree that fixing the technical and grammatical errors are the extent of the changes to make. The heart and soul we pour into our writing is ours. If you are pleased with your story and have alre..."

Sometimes it is really difficult to remember that some people just won't like it. I need to work on my thick skin.

[Rian]

A.J., it is discouraging that there is no constructive feedback accompanying a (rather harsh) star-rating for your work...but, as you know, this is normal. You should take heart from your own sensitivity - which can help you, particularly with all the comments posted in this thread.

I've never thought about rewriting a story, having contemplated it for long - but that may be because I write non-fiction. The most noted rewrite is, perhaps, 'To Kill A Mockingbird,' from its original form, 'Go Set A Watchman,' prompted by judicious editorial intervention.

But in your situation, I'd polish the manuscript as best as can be done, and move on to a new story that bests the existing work...

[Tony]

A.J. wrote: "Thank you, everybody. I'll definitely go back and fix the technical spelling and grammar errors. Then have a talk with my betas - one is an English teacher...

It is frustrating because I worked so..."

Refund requests, I am so sorry you are going through something like this. Do not let it dishearten you. Outside of grammatical and spelling errors, I have found that the aspects of a story one person enjoys will not go over so well with another. This is a universal truth.

Some will read a story with a pre-existing notion of what it should be. If it does not adhere to that expectation, the reader will sometimes be disappointed. Others, on the other hand, they will be pleasantly surprised.

If you are happy with the story, do not change it. You are the writer. Polish up any editorial issues and move on. Do not allow an aspect of your life in which you love to become an arch-nemesis against yourself. In other words, learn what you can, make any improvements, and then brush off the rest. It makes breathing a lot easier.

[Alicia]

Thank you, everybody. I was hating the idea of going in an making changes that were not editorial.

[Bernard]

Some times when one sends in what they believe to be the "FINAL" (big black letters)they have lived with their story for so long that they see the story and not what is actually on the page. I found, as well, that talented friends can be very good readers, but if the story is engrossing, even they can miss the typos and grammar. Take heart and keep on keepin' on.

[J.J.]

Julie wrote: "I agree that fixing the technical and grammatical errors are the extent of the changes to make. The heart and soul we pour into our writing is ours. If you are pleased with your story and have alre..."
Agreed, if all you fix are the technicals, no one will really notice or care; you won't get an angry customer feeling it unfair because you fixed a their/there and they didn't get the update.