Rewrite- the author’s metaphorical four-letter word. It’s never an easy task to rewrite a work, regardless of who says it needs to be done. It’s a gut-wrenching exercise to revisit your words and decide almost everything needs to change.

My personal journey while writing (and rewriting) The Erden Archives is a meandering one. The serialized, short story version of the Archives is a rewrite. Originally, the story focuses on the journal of a young woman, given to her mother. However, the single perspective is too narrow to tell the story I wish to convey.  

For two months, I rewrote chapters without producing any new work. Not good. My novelization had bogged down to a halt. I changed formats hoping to write, complete, and move on.  

Changing to serialized short stories greatly improved my forward production. To date, I’ve completed five rough draft s...