Why I didn't edit my short story archive

I've enjoyed going back to the various short stories written over the past decades. In some ways it has shown how I've evolved as a writer, in others how consistent I can sometimes be. Across time my catalogue of interests has swirled around science-fiction, spy thrillers and adventure stories, with the odd bit of melodrama and horror thrown in. There have been wild experiments, linear plots and even the odd bit of fan fiction added for good measure. All shared across more than 400 completed manuscripts and a few hundred fragmentary "abandoned works in progress".

Some of these stories are dire. They're likely written when I had to get a thought down on digital paper or was distracted by "other things". Weeding out the good ideas trapped inside poor text has added greatly to my writing prompts file. Others have potential and are now in a "to edit" folder where they will be given some love over time. More likely is they will be rewritten or appear as scenes inside my longer works.

There are a clutch of short stories and novellas that I think worthy of release. I've already shared a handful of these, and will share more in the coming years. Which is where we arrive at a question of editing.

A story written in 1998 (the earliest I have in my files) is of its time. There are phrases and scenes that may jar a little with a modern audience arriving at my work for the first time. Yet when they were written they captured that particular moment in time and I have little desire to change that.

Which is why, although most are shared for the first time, I've decided not to edit them.

Clearly releasing something with unfinished sentences and poor spelling is a no-no, and I have corrected these obvious mistakes. What I have not done is changed the text beyond this. The text as written is what is published - for better or worse.

This is important to me. There is a pressure on authors, particularly in this social media fuelled era, to only put the best work forwards. Yet I have countless short story collections featuring well known authors whose contributions are ... shall we say less than their best. Whether that's because their writing style changed or the editor's budget didn't stretch to a better work is unknown. Whatever the reason what I have are examples of work that, in our modern age, would not see light of day.

By sharing these works I am simply saying, "This is me. Not an ultra-edited version of me, but the one that writes too long sentences, swaps tense halfway through a story and uses 'passive sentences' too much for some people's liking". You know, just like the greats did from time to time.

And so, dear reader, as you wander through my euphemistic "back catalogue" please remember that what you're reading is what I wrote. Unabridged, unsanitised and sometimes unfiltered.