♦Welcome to another edition of the Open Book Blog Hop!♦
Topic #439
Have you ever regretted ‘hitting publish’ on a work realizing
you could have done more or tweak something to make it an absolute banger?
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Late realization is probably one of the worst feelings you’ll experience as an author. Regardless of your due diligence, something will likely come up to make you think that you could have tweaked your work a bit to include or smooth out something that came to you post publishing. I guess, when you think about that, second editions are the place for these realizations. However, what if it is a major change?
Have you ever come up with an additional idea that would add so much to your work that you regret publishing before that idea came to you? Yes. Absolutely, I have. In fact, I worry that I have not covered all of the things that I could cover to set up for and make room for future stories attached to my series. There are those subtle threads that linger in series, allowing an author to set up for those subsequent ideas. I get so nervous about this that I refuse to look at them again unless absolutely pressed. What if they trigger this late realization? It’s worse than finding a typo. I feel that the miss is glaring. A reader will surely point it out.
In most cases, the idea that the reader will point out your realization to you is just fear talking. They’re not in your head making such deductions. If they are, holy heck did they read the heck out of your book and that is exciting! The better solution, in my honest opinion, is to honor the idea of creativity. If you come up with a banger of an idea, figure out how you can fit it in elsewhere. For instance, if you have a series like I do. there is room for growth and change, so long as it makes sense to the world you built.
The fact that we are creative writers should make this much less stressful than it is. When we ask this question about a late realization, the fear that we failed is at the root. Instead of not looking at your book again, look. Read it through and see if those threads, which could open up a sequel, are there. Somehow, you stumbled upon this idea, and likely your mind was rolling down that path long before it fruited in your mind. If those clues are there, then you are thinking of a new idea, and rolling toward a new work. It’s not a late realization at all!
The primary thing you need to tell yourself is that you don’t need to beat a reader over the head. If the clues reveal themselves, the trajectory is palpable, even if with you unaware, give yourself permission to move onto the next thing. Making these additions to the current work would like only be superfluous. Sometimes, we lose sight of that in our excitement for a new idea. View the realization as a rewrite or summation of what you already did (side note: that’s useful to your blurb or elevator pitch).
Additionally, if the clues and trajectory don’t exist, that late realization likely falls under the category of a new idea outside of the work you published. Perhaps, you found a seed of inspiration in the work you finished. Roll it around for a bit. Regardless, a second edition usually comes out in a few years from the first publication anyway. I did this with my second book. A few scenes came from creating the adaptation, and they really developed an important character better. They weren’t pivotal to the work. However, I really liked the scenes I created and decided to add them in the second edition.
That said, I do not want to do this with Trailokya. I want the trilogy I have written to stand as it is, except for any grammar type edits that I find I may need. If such realization manifests, I can respond to it with the understanding that the characters in the first three books did not consider or think about, or possibly know the connection. Therefore, the realization is irrelevant to the trilogy and not included. How could this realization be relevant? Sounds like a distraction, fear, or something for later to me.
Keep in mind, perspective of your characters will determine what is and isn’t relevant. The plot may never take them places your random realizations goes. While it may be a great idea, it doesn’t fit in the narrative you created (at least not seamlessly) and doesn’t make sense with what they think or do in relation to the plot. If you insert superfluous information because it was cool, that’s gonna stick out in a negative way. Save the idea for later writings. Make a note.
Reader reviews often site superfluous information as a drag to their reading experience. Although we may be over here nerding it up about something we realized, they don’t feel nearly as excited for it. It slows them down, is meaningless, or distracting. So what do you do if it’s more than a cool idea? Like I said above, make a note, fit it elsewhere if you can, or save the idea for something else. In fact, the idea may just be a golden nugget you carry for yourself. We are allowed such things!
If the late realization won’t leave you alone, write it in a separate file and save it with your manuscript. As stated about editions, you may find that if it is a short insertion, you can add it in to satisfy your writer soul. And, by the time you can do this, you’ll know for sure if it is a necessary thing. Once you’ve written it out, you’ll feel better, and it will be ready to go when you are.
Whatever you chose to do, don’t beat yourself up. Know you’re not alone. Sometimes, great ideas are late realizations. You’ll make it work or you won’t, but don’t stress out about it. Be proud you published at all. So many would-be writers never get that far. It is things like this that paralyze them.
Click on the links below to find out what a late realization has done to the other authors on the hop, or if they’ve experienced the same at all. They’ll have some great tips and strategies for dealing with the anxiety and moving forward. Don’t forget: drop your email in the subscription box so the hop arrives in your inbox on Fridays. See you next time!
I’m a great believer in the idea that nothing is ever wasted. I use just about every word I write somewhere. There’s always a place that it’ll fit, if you look hard enough. It might be in a sequel, prequel or spin-off from whence it came. Or it could be the start of a whole new journey.
Many of us beat ourselves up over little things too often. It’s a hard habit to break.
A couple of years after I published ‘Revenge’ I had an idea for a better ending and so changed the manuscript. I still received the same amount of positive and negative reviews. It’s difficult to please all readers, and so I learned not to take negative reviews to heart. I’m happier that way!