I never really gave it that sort of thought before, but I have recently seen posts by some asking, when is the last time you've read some of your older work? I have to admit that I have not done much of this, instead I tend to look at it as done and gone, with wings and off to far away. But because some other writers have pointed out some good reasons to do this, I think I'll give it a try.
It isn't as though I don't ever do it at all. Many of the articles I have written on Yahoo! and so forth occasionally receive a comment or two, so I'll go back to see what it is they're commenting on. I have seen that I have some articles that have taken off and done quite well in terms of numbers, so I'll look to see if the work was sufficient and done well enough to receive the attention. I have one piece of writing that has done better than anything else I have written, and every time I look at it I feel like I screwed up so bad. My article called, How To Skip the Light Fandango, has enjoyed close to nine thousand visitors as of this writing, but I so wish I had done a better job in its creation. If I had known it would do so well...
But I merely flung it together quickly, thinking it would hardly ever be seen. But this is not the case with my first novel, The Egocentric Predicament. I was as diligent with the creation of that as I have ever been with anything I have done before or since. I poured my heart and soul into it with blood, sweat and tears, hoping and praying it would enjoy some level of success some sunny day.
Okay, that never happened. In fact, none of my novel work has garnered much attention, despite the level of effort put into them. But for now I want to put all that aside and simply reread The Egocentric Predicament again and see what I think about it. It was finished as a novel right around the turn of the year coming into 2008 and then shortly after it was passed on to PublishAmerica for publication. Late in the summer, it was sent to me for approval and I read over it then, allowing what was there to continue. But I have not genuinely read the book since.
So, well over six years have gone by since I've read the book or even had much to do with it beyond pushing and peddling it. Thus, I desire to read it again and decide for myself if it might be worthy anymore and/or to see how I might have improved, or not, over the past few years. At the time of this writing, I am about halfway through the first chapter and I am largely happy with it. I do recall putting so much effort into that first chapter because I wanted it to be the foundation for everything that followed. Yes, I have found a couple minor warts in the editing, as it was edited by me and me alone. But I have to say that I have also found similar warts in work professionally edited, so there.
I have recently finished another novel I wanted to get to for some time, which was Glenn Beck's work, Agenda 21. It was bleak but fairly well done. In that vein, I felt that Absolute Despotism by Holly Brown was better done and reached the intended goal a bit better, but that's just my opinion. Anyhoo, I finished a book and therefore sought another to read. I have recently finished the first three Dexter novels and desire to get to the fourth, but I wanted a break in that action. Further, I desire to someday join planet Earth and read the Harry Potter series. I read the first book years ago but never ventured forward. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it; I merely had so much other stuff in line.
Anyhoo, there are so many novels I desire to read, but I think now is a good time to reread my first book and pass on an honest assessment of what's there.
When this is done, I will pass on my thoughts and opinions.
For the love of God, somebody has to. It isn't as though anyone else is reading it.
