How many times have you read your novel?

A good 3+ times. I get sick of it, but, there are still parts that excite me and that gives me a little jolt to push on through the rest.

take a break between "reads"

I've re-read my manuscript so many times.

My advice = take a break between "reads." Coming back to re-read a manuscript after an extended absence will give you a new set of eyes to consider what you've written.

5 years of writing and editing. At least 50 times from start to finish. I'm serious.

But after learning how to write; improving my writing; developing my voice; and crafting characters and plot, I am already breezing through the 2nd book.

today?

I thought I was the crazy one! My first draft was so long, I wouldn't tell anyone how long. But after I butchered and put it back together, I've redrafted it a couple of times. Seems like everytime I get back to it I have read most, or all, again to get the feeling back.

I read it cover to cover to edit it typically twice per novel. Then I just re-read various sections here and there to edit them several times. Typically the first five chapters and the last two get the most editing. I've never read one of my novels cover to cover after publication though.

Maybe 5 times. I think I am going to go for a sixth after being on the boards for awhile. It may need some more attention.

I often feel lucky that I have mild memory damage, because if I leave a work alone for 30-60 days, when I come back to read it, it's almost like someone else wrote it. And I find it much easier to edit someone else's words than my own literary baby. ;-) (Also I laugh at my own jokes, which is SO LAME but also kind of heartening.)

That said, I've re-read one work so much that I've decided to scrap the editing process and re-write it from scratch. I'll compare copies later, but... it's changed so much that I think this might make me cry less. In the meantime, I'm adding scenes in more of an outline than prose. I already know how it ends (which isn't usual for me). Re-reading it has only pointed out how unsteady my voice is from stopping and starting so many times. :-\

Current project: fourth time, start to finish, and getting very near the end of final tweaks. It feels like I'm crawling through cold mud toward the finish line in one of those combat courses. Now I have to muster a cheery smile and prep a query.

I've probably read my current ms about 15-20 times (maybe? I'm guessing based on how many drafts I have and how many times I think I typically read a draft) from start to finish and some individual scenes infinitely more.

I pretty much hate it at this point. But I'm making fewer and fewer changes with each draft now, so I. Will. Keep. Going. I. Will. Finish!

Then I shall query and hope agents aren't interested, because if they are, I'd have to look at it again for more edits. (I'm kidding, of course, but I shall try to remind myself of this fact while disheartened because the rejections are piling up!)

Romance author Ruthie Knox has this fantastic blog post about how you pretty much hate your manuscript by the time it's finished/about to be published.

It made me feel so much better about my own manuscript-loathing, haha.

Here is her post: The Mid-Revision Slump

Currently on #3. Speaking of which, I should stop distracting myself and get back to reading...

I changed the title after the third time. It didn't help.

19 is the number that came to mind. But seriously, now that I'm thinking about it, probably 19.

Pretty much this:

Kitty27 said:

I have reread to the point I am sick of my own work!

I go over the novels in a very obsessive manner. I've chopped and screwed them to death. I still find something to worry over.

I also like the flow of my words *arrogant face*

I go through the MS one chapter at a time and make notes for each one. Then I look at the notes and try to see if any problems are emerging. Then I make corrections and leave it alone for awhile. I go back with fresh eyes and repeat the process.

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15-20 times for me too over the past year. It's always good to leave gaps too and to get other opinions if possible.

electroweakstar said:

(Also I laugh at my own jokes, which is SO LAME but also kind of heartening.)

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I don't think it's lame at all. If you're not laughing at your own jokes and crying at your own sad bits - even after 15-20 reads - then they're probably not that good. (Alright, if you've just read it a couple of days ago, sometimes the laughter stays inside - but it's still got to be there I think.)

Karl Webster said:

I don't think it's lame at all. If you're not laughing at your own jokes and crying at your own sad bits - even after 15-20 reads - then they're probably not that good. (Alright, if you've just read it a couple of days ago, sometimes the laughter stays inside - but it's still got to be there I think.)

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Good point.

I have one bit that comes out of nowhere and a few readers have gone, where's this from?? why didn't we hear about this sooner?? but when I read it, it makes my hair stand on end every single time, and it still does that almost 20 years after I wrote it. I've done something there and I think any prior information might break it, so I'm leaving it to hit 'em out of the blue... which might be why it has that effect.

I may be a weirdo, but I like reading my own work. I like the stories and I like my writing style, so re-reading isn't a chore and I sometimes go back to stories I wrote years ago and read them for fun. Maybe I'm more than a little weird. If it's been a little while since I've read it, it feels like reading anyone's book, not specifically a book that I wrote. I'm not sure I know how to describe that.
I have probably read Ghost start to finish around five times. I try to keep a fair chunk of time between re-reads so that I don't get sick of it. I haven't read it now for over a month, because I wanted fresh eyes for my next re-read.

A million times may not be enough. Go with your gut, this is one of those subjective things and will vary wildly.

If you're rushing to get to 50 posts, bringing random old threads to life is not the way to do it.

I have to question your posting motives, friend.

shroud said:

A million times may not be enough. Go with your gut, this is one of those subjective things and will vary wildly.

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Bufty said:

If you're rushing to get to 50 posts, bringing random old threads to life is not the way to do it.

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Sure it is. Ta da!

Ooh I've never really thought about that before. Probably three or four times cover to cover for each work.

This is like my seventh time, but really it's for proofreading before sending it off to my contract manager.

Enough times that I'm sick of looking at it and I've only been editing for a month.

JLBrady said:

Cover-to-cover, like reading any other story. Just curious. I'm in the revision phase, so it feels like I've read the thing a million times. Even though it's probably closer to... three.

Or are you a random-attack-editor that goes after disconnected sections of the manuscript?

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I don't have an answer (for my 3 WIPs in particular), but I think it would be interesting to see your own novel in different colors depending on the amount of time you spent reading the different parts. It might be quite informative to know the kinds of things you spent more time perfecting and the sections you wrote easily.

Seeing as how I've written eight drafts of my primary story...Well, let's just say that I could probably recite the thing word-for-word by this point.
(Honestly, though, I have no idea. xD!)