Jan 19, 2026
Have you ever taken something that you worked on very early in your writing journey and made it into a complete work later? Or do you plan to?
I didn’t come up with this prompt, but I feel as if it was written for me. (Thanks, K. Williams!)
If you follow me, you know The Rimer File, the first book in the Edwards Investigations, is a reworking of a book I wrote over a decade ago. (and never published.) That was back when I was trying to write romances. It was a good story, but not good enough, and I knew it. The language was stiff; the plot needed work, and most of the characters were not well-developed. The time frame was vague and dated without being historical.
I made several stabs at fixing it over the years. After each attempt, I put it aside, not satisfied. Finally, after I finished writing the Harmony Duprie series, I considered tackling it again. But I sat on it, letting it brew in my brain.
Then I realized enough real-time had passed that I could place the story in a semi-historical time frame. Time that I’d actually lived through, giving me inside information. Once that was settled, I knew I couldn’t place the original story in that period.
So now, I consider the original story as inspiration, and the new book is a tribute, not a revision, to that story.
The plot is different, and romance is a secondary part of the story, rather than a primary focus. The book is darker than anything I’ve written, but it’s true to the times.
The names of my two main characters remain the same, and a few other details carried over, but most of the story is new. Instead of being totally from my imagination, I researched to include historical places and events.
The 80s. Pittsburgh, PA. A man’s world. All Annie McGregor wanted was to nail a cheating husband and prove herself worthy of being more than a glorified bookkeeper. What she found when she opened the back door of the bar-of-the-night was so much more than she bargained for. A mutilated body that bore an eerie resemblance to her ex, and a stint in handcuffs.
I have one other story from my learning stage, back before I became published, that I still think about. Yes, it is a romance, so it would be a challenge. but I’m not ready to tackle it because I have other stories I want to finish first.
How about our other authors? Do any of their old works have a future? Find out by checking out their posts with the links below.
And, as always, please stay safe until the next time.
Goal update. I broke 30,000 words and have changed the title again. This one fits and I’m happier with it. (but I’m not sure about the last 500 words. I have to think about it.)
Jan 19, 2026
Have you ever taken something that you worked on very early in your writing journey and made it into a complete work later? Or do you plan to?
I find that if I have writer’s block then I leave a story alone for a long time. Sooner or later I’ll find a way to carry on with it.
But you also have to be willing to see when a story is going nowhere and put it in the archives. Finding the balance between storing it for later and archiving it is a weird balance.
Sometimes, you just have to wait it out until the stories ready to appear. I’m impatient and hate that bit, hence the number of unfinished stories I have lying around, waiting for an ending.
I once rewrote a story 5 times before I realized the plot was so weak that it wasn’t worth pursuing.
That is neat that you find a way to give an WIP new life as another story.
That book I rewrote 5 times? I took characters from it and used them elsewhere.
A complete rwrite, of something written much earlier ? That’s my 2025 story – How Could All This Be True ?
Briefly, 2025 was a tough year. ( Preparation for 2026 ? Hope not.)
Realised, about a third in, say 30,000 words , that writers can do anything, changed the way their stories ends, including an extraordinary but not impossible development.
It can be the story choosing when to be written, because your skill has grown to handle the changes.
You’re welcome! I hope it helps everyone think about those projects gathering dust.