Is It Possible To Outgrow Your Own Book? If Yes, What To Do?
I recently had this conversation with my editor and business partner, Kris Emery, when I told her I was tempted to take my book Soul Superstar - Stories From My Sober Heart down. It was such a good conversation that I’ve been meaning ever since to share it, cos I know I’m not the only one who’s felt that way about their book.
SO…
The answer to the first question is YES.
Not only is it possible, but it will most likely happen.
Writing a book, especially (but not only) non-fiction is a personal growth journey in itself.
You will emerge on the other side different. And with new wind under your sails.
The transformation that takes place when you set out to write AND publish a book 10x your evolution.
Add to that the fact that we are humans and, therefore, constantly evolving, well…
There is a high probability that you will be different from who you were before you started, and from who you were when you published.
NOW WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, AND WHAT DO YOU DO?
Let’s look at a real-life example…
One of my teen diary entry reads: “OMG I was on the bus this morning, X was there standing at the bus stop and our eyes locked for three seconds!!! Yes, three seconds!! I can’t stop thinking about him now! I’m in love!!”
Judging from the number of similar entries, this kind of event felt magical enough to warrant a diary entry.
What do I think about it now? Ugh. My eyes rolled so many times they almost fell inside my skull…
But.. give that to a pre-teen, and they might get goosebumps too at the thought of eyes locking for three seconds…
I know this is an extreme example, with an adult reading what a teenager wrote 25 years earlier…
When it comes to your writing now, as an adult, things are way less dramatic!
But when you write a book, you grow. It’s a fact.
When you finish it, you’re different from who you were when you started it.
When you publish it, you are different from who you were when you hadn’t shown it to anyone.
A few years later, you will probably be different from who you were when you published it.
It’s normal. I’d even go as far as saying it’s to be expected.
But it’s not because YOU outgrew your book that EVERYONE has outgrown it too.
There will always be people “behind” you.
Just like there are people “ahead” of you right now.
Let’s take a look at another concrete example, Liz Gilbert’s book, Eat, Pray, Love. She talks about her post-divorce adventures and her fairy tale-esque meeting with “Felipe”. Well, about ten years later, Liz Gilbert left Felipe to be with her best friend.
Does that mean she should take her book off the market? Does it take away the magic from the reader’s journey as they discover the world (and new love) with her? NO!
In 2017, I read Eat, Pray, Love knowing that her story with Felipe was over, and I still found it absolutely inspiring. The fact that she’d moved on didn’t take away from the Magic of that moment BACK THEN.
SO, WHAT DO YOU DO?
Check your ego.
Your standards have changed - or evolved, as you may want to call it - and it’s disturbing to see “lower-standard” work with your name on it for the world to see. I get it.
But…
ASK YOURSELF:
– Has the WHOLE world’s beliefs and values also evolved and outgrown your book?
– Is your message obsolete?
I’m not talking about stale and over-talked-about: you could always be the person who says things in a way that FINALLY clicks for someone even though they’ve heard it a thousand times before. Is it obsolete in the sense that it is not valid anymore?
As long as the content is not considered offensive or obsolete now, can you make peace with it and let it live its life?
Now, if you really really really want to do something cos this is keeping you awake at night, don’t throw the baby with the bathwater! Here’s what you could do:
# 1. You can write a new preface or intro chapter explaining how you feel about your book right now (as opposed to back then when you wrote it), tell your potential readers what your original purpose or reason why you write your book was, what’s changed now and why you still hope they will get something from it. That’s what Kris suggested I do, and I definitely felt a weight lift off my shoulders!
# 2. If parts of your book are now considered obsolete or offensive — back then you weren’t aware of certain things, but now that you’ve done some work, you feel like an ass reading your chapters — don’t throw away the whole thing. You can take it down and re-purpose some chapters as blog posts. (This is also a good way to test or validate that the content still works now. If it does, then you can take some time and edit the obsolete or offensive parts out.)
The most important thing I want to tell you is this:
The reason why I suggest you make peace with the fact that you’ve evolved and let your book live its life is that if you go back to a book that you wrote when you were someone different, you might feel tempted to rewrite the whole damn thing and this is going to take waaaaay more time than you writing a NEW book with the beliefs, values, hopes and purpose that you want to share TODAY.
So ask yourself, would you rather spend time fixing an old version of your message, or would you rather spend time sharing your beliefs, message and purpose as they are right now?
What do you think?
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Hi, my name is Annick Ina and I’m a Book Doula. If you’re a writer (aspiring or otherwise) and would love to take your message to the next level, write a book, publish a finished draft that’s been sitting in your virtual drawer, launch a new title or increase the sales of an existing one, I can help you do just that! Check out my website or book a call and let’s see if we’re a good fit!