Changing past entries

[Nari - The Novel World]

Apologies if a post on this topic already exists, I wasn't able to find it via the search box.

 

My question is about the ethics and basic rule of thumb about changing past entries. I've been working on the Bloggiesta this weekend, updating tags and categories for nearly all of my posts since day 1. Reading through my blog, I've come across a number of entries that I want to competely rewrite. Most are of book reviews.

 

What I wrote about the books reflected my emotions about the book/movie, etc at the time. But I have since grown, and changed my mind on a few titles. Is it OK to go back and change previous posts, or should I just leave them as is?

 

Thanks for you advice!

[Britt C.]

Personally, I'd leave it, but write a new post reflecting your growth. Call it "Title" Revisited or something. And then you can link the previous review and see how you grow as a reader.

[Emily Ludlow]

I like Britt's advice. I frequently (almost always) revisit my posts after posting to change a word or two here or there or add a point I may have forgotten, but as for completely re-writing, I think it would be better to do a new post - better for your traffic too. Re-writing an old post, it probably wouldn't be seen/read by very many people at this point.

[Gnoe from Graasland]

I agree with Britt & Emily. You could emphasize the difference in your viewpoints and link to the old review, which would be an interesting angle.

But if you've got your mind set on rewriting... you could also add your new views to the old post with an 'Update' header and the date.

I think you should be really careful with rewriting elements that people actually commented on. I wouldn't change those!