Kelley's Realm of Writing: looking forward

Monday, August 15, 2011

Looking forward, not backward

I have always been one to keep moving forward. If I left a job and had the opportunity to return to that job, I declined and decided on a new opportunity. I applied the same rule to boyfriends. If I broke up with a guy and he asked me to give him another chance, I didn’t. Perhaps I was too harsh, but maybe not. Maybe I was right to move on to a new guy, a new experience. I find myself applying this rule to my writing as well.

Now that I have seven novels finished—six published and one contracted, I have been thinking about the next phase in my writing career. One thing I have pondered is whether I should go back and re-write/re-release my first couple of novels. I keep having this thought that I could make them better since I am a more experienced writer now. But my rule of ‘keep moving forward’ is standing in my way. And maybe I should follow my rule.

If I decided to re-write and re-release some of these earlier novels, then precious time and energy that could be used to start and finish a new series and/or new stories would be wasted. A little voice inside my head is telling me to move forward, to put out new stories. I think I should listen to that voice.