Killer Questions - Regrets in Writing

 

Killer Questions – Regrets in Writing

Writers often have a desire to rewrite passages or pages until the moment of publication. Today, the Writers Who Kill discuss if there is anything they’ve ever put in a book or a short story that they’ve later regretted. 

Connie Berry - I regret that neither I nor any of my editors on A Dream of Death realized that Kate couldn't have used her cell phone to snap photos because she'd already turned it over to the police. How do those things happen???

Grace Topping - After I gave the draft of my first mystery to people to review and provide me feedback, one of them laughed and asked, "Where's the sex?" She regretted that I didn't include any, but I never did. 

Paula G. Benson - I’ve just deleted some dialogue I thought was snappy from a short story. My beta readers said it made the protagonist very unlikeable. The beta readers were right, but I regret losing the repartee.

James M. Jackson - Nope. Not that I couldn't have done many things better, but I'd rather spend time creating a future than regretting a past.

Sarah Burr - There was a time I regretted setting the stage to kill off a character in my Court of Mystery series. It bothered me so much that I had to scramble to find a way for them to survive—which I did! I'm quite proud of the creative problem-solving and mental gymnastics it took to keep them alive.

Annette Dashofy - I can’t pinpoint one thing, but I would love to have a chance to rewrite my earlier books. Somehow, I suspect that’s something a lot of us would like to do.

Kait Carson - Yes, but only in retrospect. I was fortunate to be able to revise the scene when the rights to Death by Sunken Treasure reverted before I re-released it.

Debra H. Goldstein – Of course, but I’m not telling!

Lori Roberts Herbst - Nothing I can think of in terms of content. I’ve had a few mistakes make it into publication, but they’ve all been reparable. The most embarrassing was pointed out to me by a reader in The Netherlands, who noticed that I called a character by the wrong name.

Korina Moss - I don’t think so, but if I went back and read them, I’m sure I’d have changes to make.

Nancy Eady - I wrote a short story once that reflected a little too obviously some struggles I had with a family member.  I never have tried to publish that story or show it to many people because of it. 

Mary Dutta - I’ve had to cut some great lines. I also keep an ex-husband in a drawer who will make it back into a story someday.

Molly MacRae - Not that I can think of. Maybe I have, though, and had such consuming regret that I blanked it from my memory. I wonder what it could have been?

Shari Randall - My editor asked for changes to my first Meri Allen book, The Rocky Road to Ruin, changes to a story line that she felt was too dark for a cozy. I complied, but upon reflection, I wish I'd kept it. The silver lining is that I can use that storyline in another book.

Margaret S. Hamilton - Sexual assault against women. I prefer letting the reader imagine the worst rather than putting every sordid detail on the page. No regrets.

Martha Reed - Yes. I missed including a brilliant story sub-arc in “No Rest for the Wicked,” my third Nantucket Mystery. It occurred to me after publication, dammit. The book is getting five star reviews, so readers don’t seem to notice it’s MIA, but I know the story would be better if I included it. There’s a niggling suggestion in the back of my brain that I should go back and revise it, but I’m always busily engaged in drafting my new next book. I’m not sure if I ever will.

Heather Weidner - None of my female characters and their boyfriends ever married. I guess, it's not to late to have a wedding. 

K.M. Rockwood - Not really. I haven’t mentioned some of my darker stories to sensitive relatives who might be offended.