How long should I wait?

How long is a piece of string? It's up to you. How do you work best?

Congrats on the first draft!

Azura Skye said:

Perhaps I should have asked how long is recommended and not how long *I* should wait. As I've never done this before I can't say how I would do it. It's only been six days and I find myself fighting the urge to dive back into it.

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If you're itching to get back to it, I'd get back to it. There really isn't any universal recommendation. Sometimes you're so sick of the MS by the time you're done with the first draft that you don't want to touch it for weeks, or you're so close to it that you don't have perspective on it for a month. Sometimes you can't wait to get back to it. If you've got momentum right now, I wouldn't waste it.

Hmmm, let's see. Do it now. Then when you're done you'll do it again and again. So far, I have 5 rewrites (or revisions) under my belt on my first novel (15 months).

Go for it. GIT ER DONE!!

Aconite said:

If you're itching to get back to it, I'd get back to it. There really isn't any universal recommendation. Sometimes you're so sick of the MS by the time you're done with the first draft that you don't want to touch it for weeks, or you're so close to it that you don't have perspective on it for a month. Sometimes you can't wait to get back to it. If you've got momentum right now, I wouldn't waste it.

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Actually, I'll go against this... I'd say wait until you're NO LONGER itching. Wait until you're totally detached from it. Wait until the last bit of dust has settled and the ms. is in deep sleep in your drawer.

maestrowork said:

Actually, I'll go against this... I'd say wait until you're NO LONGER itching. Wait until you're totally detached from it. Wait until the last bit of dust has settled and the ms. is in deep sleep in your drawer.

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Maestro, how do you get the energy to revise a cold MS? All the energy I have to use fighting inertia is energy I don't have for revising, and I don't have so much energy in general that I can afford to waste any. If you've got a useful technique for jumpstarting, I'd love to hear about it.

If you're itching to get back to it, I would do it now. You will likely do several revisions anyway and after the first couple or so most writers get sick enough of the work that they don't mind setting it aside for a couple of weeks. And I think setting it aside for a period of time is valuable for editing purposes.

I suppose the time needed to distance oneself from the work varies from writer to writer but for me it takes a couple of weeks.

Good luck and have fun with it.

Beth

Aconite said:

Maestro, how do you get the energy to revise a cold MS? All the energy I have to use fighting inertia is energy I don't have for revising, and I don't have so much energy in general that I can afford to waste any. If you've got a useful technique for jumpstarting, I'd love to hear about it.

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It just works for me. I think Stephen King suggested at least four weeks, too...

The reason I want to wait is that I won't be blinded by that "writer's ego" and I can read it and edit it with fresh eyes. When I'm still hot from my "THE END" I won't be objective enough to revise it. That's just me. I'm still too "in love" that I won't be able to see the flaws. Rewriting has a lot to do with finding flaws and improvements. When I'm still in love, I am blind.

The energy thing is tricky. Just because you wait a few weeks doesn't mean the ms. is dead. And it doesn't mean you're dead. The fact is, I use those few weeks to recharge, and energize myself by thinking about all the good stuff I can do to improve the ms. I think a lot during those few weeks. I don't just crawl into a hole and die for weeks. I keep busy, and I keep my creative juices flowing. I just need to keep a distance from my ms so that I'm not blinded by my love for it.

How to jump start? Easy. After the time period, take it out of your drawer (or hard drive or whatever, or print a fresh copy), and start reading it, loud. If the story is a good one, I guarantee you by the end of reading it, you will find your energy to work on it. I guarantee. If the story is a dud, then you'll know...

Do you have a list of things you know are wrong and need to be fixed?

If so, you probably won't be harmed by jumping back in as soon as you're ready and rested. Keep in mind that revision will take you weeks or months, and if you're anything like me you'll wish you'd extended that vacation a bit before you're through.

Otherwise, set it aside for a month or so. (I hear tell you're supposed to start your next project while you do so. I got a little bit of work done...) Don't reread it until you're ready to start the next round of revisions! That should be enough to give you some perspective.

I revise for months, starting with the day after I type THE END, while the story is still hot on my brain. The first time through usually wipes clear the obvious typos and adverbs, and allows me to pull out the thesaurus rex for boring words and overused words.

The second, third, tenth times through are for getting the not-so-obvious typos (there, their, they're), as well as haggling over paragraphs, re-working them, eliminating a lot of others, and basically moving scenes to better spots. I also continuously look over the first chapter (especially the first ten pages) to make sure it's the best I can make it.

When I finally don't find anymore typos, am satisfied with every paragraph, and am overall just sick of looking at the story, I put it aside for a month. When I get back to it, another two or three passes gets it to where I want it. I use the month off to research agents, work on the query and synopsis, so that after I finally finish the editing process, I'm ready to contact agents.

Time-consuming and anal, but it works for me. So the short answer, sure, dive right into the revising. Just make sure you take a time-out eventually for a final pass. Don't send it out too soon. You'll regret it months later when you re-read your manuscript for the hell of it and see all the mistakes you missed. This ain't a race. It's how you reach the finish line, not when.

Often, by the time I finish the first draft of a story, I've made all kinds of notes on how I want to change the story, and I'm eager to get right to it. I don't tend to tire of a story until I've been revising for a long time. IMO, writers should start on the revision as soon as we feel the drive to do so.