Revision, length
Katdad,
I think it's important to know how long the novels are these folks are talking about. Sheer physics enters the question.
The novel I'm working for publication is 120k. I spent several months revising it, but that included time out to bury a relative, and to let it perk a bit. I also played around with style, taking several passes that way. By passes I mean I tweaked the doc on computer; I didn't print, redline, revise, edit. I don't write every novel this way, but in this case it was the way to go due to changes in my life and goals.
It needs another revise as of late, so I'm letting it sit a week or two. (This makes me mad, but there's nothing for it. I can't force the thing.) This revise is full redline, blue line, outline, whatever.
I expect this revision, which includes plot changes, to take one to two months. I'm hoping one month of 50-hour weeks, but there's no rushing genius, is there? I plan to work Christmas.
Also, re plot change: one of the chars I killed off in draft was a brother. A month later, my real brother died. I plan to change that story line, for reasons I'll spare you. In all I'm thrilled to have kept working my book. Some advised me to let it alone and grieve but work has saved me, and the book is richer for it.
Anyway, I am nothing if not a scheduler and planner. I set milestones, goals, and meet them. This ability has served me as a novelist, with the caveat I've found I cannot write a 350-page novel and polish it strictly within the time frames I set. Still, the guides are invaluable in keeping me aware of tangible results, and understanding how long it takes me to write and polish a 350-page novel. Currently that's about 18 months, but in each of those cases there was a family tragedy that slowed the work...my goal is to finish one novel door-to-door per year, in addition to shorter fiction and non-fiction writing.
I wrote a 50k word novel in 20 days in November, for National Novel Writing Month. I like this one, and I think I could whip it into something publishable in a month. I can't explain it, but I don't have the same emotional investment in that novel, and that makes it easier to revise. Whereas the long one I've been working over a year is more arduous to get to the quality I know it must be.
Thanks for an interesting question.