Begin at the Beginning

Rewriting the Webfoot Chronicles.

Hm. There's so much I could talk about with this that I don't know where to start.

I guess the first question to answer - not that all that many people are likely asking it, but you know, just *rambling* here - is "Why?" That eternal question, why. Much like "Goobers or Raisinettes?" in which case the answer is OBVIOUSLY Goobers, because Raisinettes = UGH, but who actually eats either of those candies at the movies anyway? Junior Mints is clearly the only option.

Anyway. WHY rewrite the Chronicles? WHY revisit a bunch of stories I wrote in 1994? A bunch of fics that have been online almost as long as the Internet itself has been active? I mean, the question is why bother: everyone who is ever going to has read these fics and it's not as if the fact that they're shoddily written and full of cliches has turned people away from reading the later stories. Well... let me put that another way. It's not as if the fact that they're shoddily written and full of cliches has turned everyone away. ;)

The reason though is because I just... well, I realize that the stories are up in numerous places where I cannot access them and therefore cannot CHANGE them. They're up at the DAFT Archives, for example, and those versions are going to be there potentially forever. And I think in the long run those are going to be the "definitive" versions and I don't think I can change that.

But I, in all honesty, cannot reread those stories. Which is too bad, because sometimes I need to go back for research purposes and sometimes I just plain want to reread my own work because yes, I am something of an egotist, and when I read something I want it to be *good*. And - see previous egotist comment - I know I can write better than that now. I know I can write things that I enjoy rereading, because I've seen it. So it BOTHERS me. If these were fics I was no longer interested in, I could just turn aside and be a little embarrassed, but I'm still atively writing the Webfoot series and it pokes at me that the first few - especially the first three - are so... well, I guess the right word is "immature".

I have the excuse of youth when I wrote those fics. I was only 16 when I wrote the first set, really everything up through the first seven or eight - I was so darned prolific then it's astounding in retrospect but it also shows in the tone of the fics. Because they feel rushed - you know they do. You can tell I wrote them in, like, two weeks each. (Sometimes less.) Anyway, I don't really mean to imply that all sixteen-year-olds are bad writers, because like at any age it varies tremendously, but I am proud enough of myself to say that I have developed extensively as a writer since then. Could I be pro? Good God no, but I think I have learned to better craft a story, slow down, make things mean a little more and that's just a good thing all around. And yes I'm rambly, as I am right now, but usually I write so slowly these days that I can rein myself in. ;)

So: I've gone all around and I have not really actually answered the question. The question is: Why bother to rewrite these, when enough time has passed, enough people are still interested in reading (and are understanding about the reasons why the earlier fics suck)?

Because I can, I guess.

The nice thing about the originals is that each one serves as a highly functional outline for the new version. So far, with the first one, I've been able to keep almost every single plot point from the original and just expand on it, and add a few new scenes. It's a relief to know where I'm going and not have to figure out nearly as much. You know, I started the first scene of the first fic's rewrite back in 2000. It took me SEVEN YEARS to finish it - just that scene. I'm hoping to have the first fic finished by the end of summer (the end of spring would be even nicer) but who knows if I'll ever even start to rewrite the second. Well, as long as my momentum on these fics holds up, I hope I'll continue to both rewrite and just - write new ones.

R.