Writers often practice their skills when writing their first books. When listening to the "Writing Excuses" podcast, the hosts stated that many writers learn while they are writing, and as a result, may have some earlier materials available online that may not reflect the author's current skills. It makes sense. Some authors write and quickly publish, some keep their books longer, editing and polishing, and some hold on to those manuscripts until completely assured the writing is the best it can be, which can take years. I know I have learned so much working with beta readers and an editor, and if I were to crack open an earlier unpublished manuscript, that I had previously thought was complete, I would be able to make many revisions and improvements. For authors who published and moved on to the next book, learning the craft as they produced, their published books may be examples of that learning in action. In other words, earlier novels will...
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