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Q&A How long should it take to Revise/Edit to get to Good Enough?

Even if you're thinking of this as primarily a learning project, I would advise trying to get it into publishable shape rather than abandoning it and starting a new one. As you said, it's work you...

posted 6y ago by Chris Sunami‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T08:13:48Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/34020
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar Chris Sunami‭ · 2019-12-08T08:13:48Z (over 4 years ago)
Even if you're thinking of this as primarily a learning project, I would advise trying to get it into publishable shape rather than abandoning it and starting a new one. As you said, it's work you'll need to learn to do sooner or later. Given that, however, I'd say you'll want to be a little less rigid and formulaic in your revision expectations. You're starting with plenty of raw material, so I'd recommend "rewriting" by first editing down to a tightly plotted core, and then filling in any remaining gaps. (Note: I found [this revision plan](https://hollylisle.com/one-pass-manuscript-revision-from-first-draft-to-last-in-one-cycle/) by following links from @DPT's answer, but it seems excellent to me.)

As far as when to stop the revisions, my advice is to rewrite until either a) you think the book is publishable or b) your revisions are not making it any better (for instance, if your new rewrites are undoing old ones, or if you've reworked so much, you've lost the original work). If you're not sure, and an arbitrary timeline helps you, go with it. After that, however, try to publish. You won't really know if you're done or not until you see if someone will publish it.

Two years total, one for writing, one for rewriting, sounds completely reasonable to me. Once you know yourself better, your estimates will improve. It's hard to give more exact numbers given that some successful authors (Jack Kerouac) hardly revise at all, while others (Orson Scott Card) continue revising years after publication. I would suggest, however, that you conceptualize "writing" as _including_ the revisions (unless you want to end up with an endless supply of unpublishable first drafts). In addition to the psychological shift, this also encompasses the reality that some people write quick first drafts, and need more revision time, while others write more slowly but revise less.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-03-06T16:08:55Z (about 6 years ago)
Original score: 7