Revising vs. beginning another project

I say if the characters are calling, then go ahead and get started before they decide to shut up. But make sure you're not moving ahead because you don't want to revise your other projects. There's not much sense in having a bunch of novels that are finished but unmarketable, if your goal is to have them published.

Good Luck!

I agree, keep writing! If you don't the muse might shush and leave you stranded. I always get so out of touch with my characters when I try to edit while my work is unfinished. I found it is easier to keep writing! I have been known to have long bouts of writers block!

Be crazy. Do both! Why the heck not.

Don't even think of leaving your characters. Revise twice then set it aside for a week or two.

C.bronco is exactly right. This is not an either/or situation. For most writers, writing is not a linear choochoo train. Many tracks, many trains.

caw.

Unless I've got severe deadline problems, I try to avoid revising while a piece is still fresh in my memory. One of my prime bugaboos is that I run roughshod past a significant point because I know it's there, am very aware it's the Big Kahuna... & neglect to, like, inform the reader.

Generally, I try to stomp a piece out, whether it's a book or a short story, even just the bare bones.

It's true that some fragments will fight for attention, so I'll sit there with a tattered (but complete) chapter, a handful of really interesting snippets that'll probably anchor chapters, a couple of tricky turning points that're already in my head, & a tentative outline. I let it sit for days, then come back to it, wonder what the hell I'd been smoking, & fix it -- but I wouldn't see those imperfections if the text were too fresh.

My advice is to consider your overall publishing plans. If there is no rush with the completed work, go with the energy. However, there is risk here. If you talk to professional writers (those who derive the majority of their income from writing), I think you'll find some of them have a pipeline of projects--some in revision, some in progress, and some in the formative stages. My guess is if these people shoved aside the projects that are nearly ready in favor of the ones in the planning stage, they'd be looking at a potential revenue problem. On a less practical side, the pipeline approach only works if things come out the far side of the pipe. And it's not like a real pipe--you can't get stuff to come out the far side by continually shoving things in the near side.

If you can do both, do so, but don't put aside the project that is near the end point. It might become too easy to do so in the future with other projects whenever new ideas pop into your head. This business is only open to "finishers."

Revising

I think NeuroFizz pretty much nailed it. It's a good thing to have more than one project in the pipeline. I usually have forty-'leven. I have two writing sessions each day, and unless deadline pressure is looming, I work on a different project each session.

The important thing is to not ignore any project. If you want to be published, teh highest priority is writing early and often, but a close second, probably tied for first, is finsihing everything you start. And finishing means taking a project from first word to final, polished draft.

There's no need or reason to not revise and finish one novel on a prompt basis just because there's a second novel you want to be working on.

I think it all comes back to Heinlein's Rules.

HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING


1. You must write. (Goes without saying.)


2. You must finish what you write. (If you don't finish, writing doesn't matter.)


3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order. (Once it is finished, let it go. Do not endlessly tinker.)


4. You must put the work on the market. (How else can you sell it?)


5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold. (Don't give up because of a few rejections, or becaue of a million rejections.)



The Hugo and Nebula award winning SF writer Robert J. Sawyer has a very good essay on these rules. http://www.sfwriter.com/ow05.htm

I'd recommend setting your rough draft aside for a while and working on your other work. In my own case, doing this helps give me a better perspective on works I'm editing than does going directly into the edit.

I know it's hard to do, but in the long run it might help you to tell your story better.


Just my opinion, of course. I hope it helps.