Revise or Release?
How do you make the call?
I just posted a new story on my Story Hoarder Substack page.
A story I started a couple of hours ago in a write-in. A story that was temporarily “shelved” due #momlife distractions like reclaiming and feeding my child after his school day. A story I only remembered because I walked into my office to shut the lights off for the night. A story nearly in danger of being hoarded, but then I asked myself, “Should I just release it?”
Tonight’s Decision
I’ll be honest, not a lot went into tonight’s decision. The story was written in response to my #fictioninfeb writing challenge where I know a new prompt is coming for me in the morning. Add to that the two Writing Prompt Parties I have scheduled for this week (one with Fictionistas, and one with the Stop Writing Alone community) and I know, this is no week for revision. This story was either going to be released, or hoarded. If you’ve been around me long enough, you will know that is the whole reason I started the Story Hoarder substack page, to stop hoarding stories and just release them into the world.
But I am incredibly flippant with these things. For writers who seek publication in literary journals or representation by agents, this is no matter to be sneezed at. Every piece of writing must be wrestled with, and the decision to revise or release is a big part of the art, work and identity we writers take on.
The Impacts of Tonight’s Decision
Every single time I choose to release a story on my Substack page, I am choosing to close myself, and that story, off from a large number of opportunities. Many publications are simply not interested in writing that has already been published. This is not limited to being published in competing journals, this includes publication online in spaces like Substack or personal websites and blogs. These stories, unless I choose to self publish them in some other way, may never get any further than my limited Substack readership. This is a direct impact on my life as a working writer.
Another impact of the early release of my stories is the effect they may or may not have on my reputation as a writer. Was tonight’s story the best it could be? Well, here is where my identity as a writer enters into the conversation. I know the story I released is the best it can be right now, I also know, given time and revision attention, it can become something even better. Releasing the story in this moment may deliver a message that I am a writer who does not understand the value of revision, a writer who is perhaps careless with her work and not committed to her art. A reputation can grow around these ideas and that can be damaging in the larger world, or even in my own realm of self-worth. For a long time, fear of these assumptions made me a story hoarder.
I know the greatest impact of me releasing stories too soon or in “the wrong” place means I run the risk that I am passing up on the dream of being a best selling author, because, as Mr. Wayne Gretzky said, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” but some time ago I recognized that is not the only net I’m aiming for.
My “Why” Behind Tonight’s Decision
There is a reason why I know that a quick release of a story such as the one I wrote today is exactly the right move for me.
Gasp! Nicole, are you admitting to being a careless and flippant writer?!
Not at all. What I am saying, what I have learned about myself in this writing life journey, is that my identity and art is not tied to publication of story. My identity and my art are tied to something beyond my stories and writing. My identity and art is tied to giving other writers permission. I want writers to be comfortable with the messiness of the creative process, I want them to release the hold perfectionism has over them and their muse, but most of all I want them to make their own stories come to life and stop fearing all of the gate keeping surrounding the art of story. My art is pulling the curtain back and showing you that Oz is just some guy from Kansas with a microphone.
So tonight’s story got released with hardly a second glance beyond typos and clarity (though I wouldn’t be surprised if I got called on either), but I don’t see this as the story’s finish line. There is no reason why I can’t revise it, rewrite it and re-release it later. My story, my rules.
There is one other part of my identity tied up in these decisions that is coming to light for me as I sit and reflect upon this tonight. The first time I ever created and loved a story, it was for an audience of one. It was completely driven by the desire to know, “What comes next?” and the story was transferred in the most classic form of storytelling, orally. I began creating story for my little brother to keep him entertained on long car rides, before bedtime, and during any moments where we might have been bored in our pre digital age childhood. The joy of story came from the sharing of it. There was no extra joy for a polished piece to be presented as part of the act, just simple transference of the wild trip in my imagination to an eager recipient of this mental escape pod. It was fun. And, when I throw my stories out into the world in a way that may be perceived as careless to someone more polished than I, it is still fun.
My art is to share story and to share process.
My identity is that of a creator, a teacher and a coach.
My work is to keep showing up to the page, to my community, and pulling the curtain back.
Knowing these three things help me make a quick decision with each work I create when asking the question, “Revise or Release?” (and I promise, there are some works that get pummeled in revision), how do you make your decision?
Irony of ironies… I think I won’t release this piece of writing until morning. lol.
P.S. — I almost forgot to share tonight’s story with you. It was written for the #febinfiction prompt word of the day: POSTCARD. The story is called Hand Delivered.
I know just the person who will want to read this today.
I think there are times to sit on things, either to make them better in revision, or to save them for other purposes. There are also times when just getting it out there is the most important. And only the writer can make that call. For my fiction, I rarely publish something that is super raw, but I do have some stories that I have published over on Story Cauldron pretty quickly after coming out of a writing prompt party or NYC Midnight contest, with maybe just a little cleanup and proofreading. There are others that don't see the light of day until they are polished up.
With my history, I am usually far more impatient and frequently publish immediately after I write them up (allowing for a scheduled post the next morning). Case in point was the article I wrote on Saturday night about a building that burned down. I knew the research was quick and dirty and the piece might not have been the best I could write, but I wanted the information out there, much as if I was a journalist, even though it wasn't really a news piece. I could have worked on it for a few days, and as it turned out, I will have to revise it with new info. But getting it out there was important to me.
But other writers might have done things differently there. And certainly for fiction there are plenty of people who would never publish a story without some time and several revisions. Then again I knew a woman who was writing a story by the seat of her pants and published a new chunk each day as soon as she wrote it, warts and all, without even knowing where it was going. That to me felt incredibly gutsy and more than I think I could do even now that I am more comfortable sharing stories. To each their own, I suppose!