Instant gratification gremlin

Recently I got the urge to pick up and try to finish two old fanfic stories I enjoyed working on. However, I hadn’t touched either of these stories in about a decade so needless to say, the writing made me cringe. Not to say ‘omg I’m so much better now!’ but it is different than how I write now. So I’ve decided to re-write the previously posted chapters to a) improve them and b) make the writing a little more cohesive. Now I’m left wondering if I should simply post the edited chapters into the original stories on ff.net or if I should post a new story entirely and simply link back to my older versions.

Originally I was just going to post the edited chapters in the old story but I can already see a few plot points changing as I edit. Probably wouldn’t make sense to do that, especially given the reviews on the old version. So I’m thinking of starting a new story post completely and linking the old one in the author’s notes.

I think my biggest dilemma right now is trying to resist the urge to post what I’ve already rewritten. I would like to wait till I get all the chapters fixed and at least one new chapter finished for each story. Yet I have 13 chapters left to rewrite for one story and 6 chapters in another so that’s going to take a while. The instant gratification gremlin in me wants to post it sooner, especially one story as I know a friend really liked it so I’d love to let them know I’m continuing it.

But....they'd probably be happier with a completed story.