The Story Behind the Story: A Second Version That Refines a Concept

The Reading History Project: The "Our" in "Our Shared History" was published at Books Are Our Superpower on Monday. This was a combination and revision of two of my Original Content Reading History Project posts--"Thinking About History" by Sarah Maza and What I'll Be Reading in 2026. I wanted this essay to be an introduction to The Reading History Project and to cover Thinking About History, as well as a couple of other books while I was at it.

I did this type of rewrite regularly last year. I started with a blog post about a book I'd read for The Heritage Month Project and then did a second draft to create a newish essay to submit to BAOS. What I found was that the second draft often ended up being at least somewhat different and sometimes having a much different focus.

A Different Focus Tightens Up My Reading Plan for the Year

That was definitely the case with The Reading History Project: The "Our" in "Our Shared History."  While I do raise the question of "who is the "our" in "our shared history" in the blog post, I don't focus on exploring the "our" in "our shared history" with my reading until I get to the revision. That will most definitely change my thinking about what I read this year and how I write about it. 

In the original blog posts, I also write about reading as "activism." But in the revised essay, I write about advocacy, instead. Activism, to me, seems sort of vague. But advocating for the groups I read about is much more specific and will have an impact on my thinking and writing.

So What's Happening Here?

Using the same material or research in different ways is a traditional method of working for writers. You do a fictional treatment, you do an essay, you do an adult book, you do a children's book, all with the same basic idea or research. 

For my material to evolve the way it does between blog and essays means someone can read both versions and come away with something different. I'm good with that.

On the other hand, I feel as if I'm using the blog to publish first drafts. When I first realized this was happening last year, I was somewhat uncomfortable because, as I said, I felt as if I was publishing first drafts. 

However, if you go back to the early days of lit blogging, writers sometimes did use blogs as journals. Even writing journals for experimenting with writing. 

Now I'm wondering if I can do even more of that here. It would provide me with original content for the blog, but also material that could be used elsewhere. It would be a multiplier, one action that meets two goals. 

I will play with that idea.