I told myself I wasn't going to do this...

[rj_anderson]

...and at the time I even believed it, but I had not banked on just how anal retentive my Internal Editor can be.

I know that most of the people who would be interested in the Darkness and Light trilogy have already read it, so a few changes here and there aren't likely to bring in new readers. I also know that a lot of HP ficcers are in the same boat as I am, and most of them don't seem to be worrying about it. None of that seems to make any difference to the right head of this particular Runespoor, however, so...

I have decided that for my own peace of mind, and for the sake of having a reasonably stable foundation on which to build future fics (at least until the next HP book comes out), I have got to go back and reedit D&L to bring it into line with new canon. And then I'll replace the existing versions on FF.net, FA, and SQ with the updated ones.

The real problem is, once I start editing I find I want to edit everything, and I don't have time for that... it took me about two hours to edit the first chapter of the first story and I'm still fiddling about with it.

How do I get myself into these things?

Comments

[wahlee-98.livejournal.com]

It's the perfectionist in you. :) I won't say I wouldn't like D&L to be brought into line w/ new canon, but don't kill yourself, dear. The trilogy is wonderful the way it is, and it doesn't need all that work. I promise.

[shellebelle93.livejournal.com]

I agree with her. It's lovely the way it is.

[sannalim.livejournal.com]

And furthermore, how am I supposed to do cover art (assuming I find time to do cover art) for you if you start re-writing it out from under my feet?

Re:

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

Ooooooooooh!

*gets all starry-eyed at the thought of cover art*

Don't worry, I'm not changing anything significant. The biggest change will probably be in the first chapter of IWS, where I have to figure out how to impart all the necessary information about the Exaudio Charm and still have George leave as early as OotP says he does... that will, I suspect, necessitate a couple of those early Maud & George scenes being completely rewritten. Otherwise, though... I just have to expand the scope of the Department of Mysteries, and rearrange the geography of St. Mungo's a bit, and the rest of the story should stay pretty much the same.

Re:

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

You're very sweet. I promise not to knock myself out too much, how's that? :) In any case I suspect time constraints are likely to cool my enthusiasm for this project anyway...

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Heh. This is why I never published my Ph.D. as a book.

Welcome to Natural Born Fiddlers.
(sounds so much nicer than anal retentive, doesn't it? Which is also, in a way, a very destructive value judgement about what you do. So, after me: I don't produce crap, I fiddle with my writings ...)