It’s honestly kind of amazing how many edits and renditions you can go through with a story when you get down to editing it
When I first started writing “Guilt” I remember finishing the thing and thinking that all I’d need to do was read it over, edit out typos, make small changes to various paragraphs, and smooth over a handful of plot points
But then I got to the actual editing and suddenly I knew it just needed to be re-written
but then, rewriting wasn’t the only thing that needed to happen. I noticed whole plot points that didn’t work-- or things that could be changed for the better, at the very least
but then one change would often have a butterfly effect, requiring many more changes. Some changes came easy, but there are others that have needed a lot more thought and attention.
Right now I’m working on laying out a new, detailed plot summary that accounts for all of the changes I’ve made. Once I have my ideas in place, I plan to rewrite “Guilt” in full. From there, I’ll retype it again and see how my changes have improved the story-- and see where it takes me from there.