Reboot within a series: any viable way?

[punkarsenic]

Every so often, I get the insatiable urge to reboot There was a War. I started it when I was 16, and the more I learn about writing the more I hate the groundwork the series is built on. But I won't hard reboot it. It's two years of hard work and I'm determined to finish it, even if that means continually dragging my past self up to standard.

The problem is, I really don't like the first three chapters - they're uneventful, with bad dialogue. They're incomprehensible at times. Reading through them, I find bits of lore or sentiment that aren't canon anymore in my head, and I don't want to work with this older characterisation. I always feel like if I could give people a way to skip them, I would do better on the uptake.

is this possible? or a good idea? I'm not sure how I'd do it - I could insert a short rewritten beginning, summarising three chapters into one, and later repeat any missing & necessary information? Or I could decide the first three chapters aren't canon, and re-lay any exposition and character groundwork in further chapters so the first three chapters become a skippable prologue.

i know lots of people are working on series they started years earlier - how do you deal with dissatisfaction with older parts of your story? What ways have you found to get around an embarrassing beginning or do a 'soft' reboot?

Is it even worth doing anything about the beginning of my comic, or am I being overly critical?

[mariusthered]

i will tell you rehashing pages was one reason i lost interest in one of my former comics. yes it can have it upside but reworking stuff you have done before can also be a endless task that sucks the soul right out of the project.

[punkarsenic]

thats not what i actually want to do though

what i want to do is find a way to bypass the first three chapters out of being canonical, so people can more or less start on chapter four, because i dont like the first three chapters

[keii4ii]

If you can figure out a new intro for the rest of the existing story, I don't see why not. I've replaced chunks of my own first chapter later, and it's so much better now. I still kept posting new stuff even as I worked to replace those chunks, though, so that's something. See if you can do that? Keep updating while you rework?

[punkarsenic]

Keep updating while you rework?

id definitely do that. id need to put that on hold until id rebuilt my buffer (i decimated it for finals) but ive already planned to do a new prologue so... can always be part of that

im kinda worried abt it being a slippery slope to total reboot though. the more i think about my series, the more things i see that i would do so differently now, and its rly frustrating

[amortelito]

Maybe you can take the 3 chapters out of the comic and make a summary prologue. Just with the necessary information. Then upload the 3 chapters in a separate comic with an explanation you just said, you are unsatisfied with the pages but they are there if people want to read them because the took you years and hard work.
If there are still some things you don't like about past chapters you can update some specific pages. But overall you will have to let them be... as frustrating as it can be to notice past "mistakes" they are part of your growth, also I think readers appreciate that evolution thought the pages.

[ramiek]

It's most common in tv shows, that it takes a few episodes for the series to find it's footing
but the fact it was slow and uneven in the beginning say nothing of where it going.
I think it's a nice reminder to see where you started and where you are now.
The main goal of doing comics (or any art for that matter) is to become better and better. if you can do it, maybe it doesn't matter what was before, because in a way, the making of the bad
was a way to bring forth the good. is that make any sense?

As everyone said, if you really unhappy with the 3 first chapter and can "quarantine" them,
than it's a good solution. just remember that it's logical that it would keep on happening.
old stuff usually seem less attractive to us.

[punkarsenic]

@amortelito this is a good idea - ive been mulling over something similar.

@ramiek you have a good point. the problem i have is that the groundwork of the writing is in a premise i no longer want to explore - the idea for my comic has evolved so much in my head that the first few chapters are a totally different story to the one i want to tell. this isnt a massive holdup, but there are just certain things abt characterisation that really bother me now. if it was just dodgy dialogue or anatomy i wouldnt mind, but where its things that are ooc in my current perception of the characters, it just really bothers me. but then, thatd keep happening, youre right.

[ramiek]

can you incorporate the changes you want to make as part of the plot?
you need to be careful with that, but if done right it can be so cool. it even add a new
layer to the story. but it's not so easy...

[indigodrawing]

I suppose you could do a "partial reboot"?

If it's the first three chapters that really bother you, then re-write them, but have them conclude with the characters and events where they need to be for the start of chapter 4 as it exists now, and leave everything else unchanged (or at least substantially unchanged).

A full reboot would mean redoing EVERYTHING you've done up to now. I don't know how much work that actually is but if there are at least 3 chapters then I'm guessing it's a lot. Retreading that much old ground might get boring quickly and it could lead to your readers becoming frustrated, unless you're talking about a total reboot where only a few elements from the original idea survive and everything else is up for grabs.

Of course the problem with the above approach is you risk a case of George Lucas Syndrome, things you might hate about your work might be things the fans hold dear, and changing it now might really piss some of them off.

[DiegoPalacios]

This link has a definition, examples and tips about retroactive continuity (changing stuff from events/characters of your story). As many tropes, it can be done for the best or be a confusing mess, so is better to learn about it before doing the changes you consider neccesary.

Retcon - TV Tropes

Hope this helps!

[punkarsenic]

@ramiek i coooouuuuuld and its what ive been working on doing, but stuff thats abt characterisation is far harder to retcon

@indigodrawing its tempting. its so tempting. but i worry that id fall down a reboot sinkhole, and its a lot of work. if i was to do that, id rather go for a full reboot (i have an idea for a different version of the same story that is Very different, but more in like with my current writing interests)

@DiegoPalacios thanks! ill check it out