While editing my novel Satya, I took the decision to leave it fairly intact in order to preserve where I was then, in 1997, when I originally penned it. I wanted to stay true to the original, without imposing too much of who I am now on the story. I didn’t have in mind that this was a story I would sell to publishers. It was an attempt to set free a piece of past writing in a form that could be understood by others.
Now that it is free and available to anyone in the wilds, it occurs to me that I could have been much more brutal, to make it publishable material. I could have ripped out over half of the original content. I could have dumped several chapters. If I had pondered delivering Satya for today, I guess I would have removed just about everything before chapter ten, when things start to get exciting. Perhaps I will still do that, one day.
From a business or commercial point of view, releasing Satya in its present form was perhaps a huge mistake. Even from a personal point of view, it was probably not very wise. But by retaining where I was then, it acts as a sign post, a reference point, a reminder of where I have come from and where I am going.
In life we have to stay true to the past, even if where we are now is a world away, because it helps provide balance. We are what life makes us. We are where we are from.
Last modified: 20 September 2024
