Just curious!
I finished my novel July 24 of this year. Anyway, I am curious to know how long do you personally wait to start edits for your first draft. Does it take you weeks or a few months or a few days?
I need your personal opinion on this one.
What are your thoughts?
Itās variable. Ideally itās once the first taste of the story has faded so that Iām looking at it with eyes not caught up in the original build. Some stories, that can take a good year to do.
For others under a time constraint, itās a matter of forcing myself to look at it in a different way.
For example, the two I did for ONC, they were edited directly after the first draft. So they are both complete, in a basically finalized mode within a monthās time. But itās only now that Iām thinking back that I managed to mentally put aside a lot of the details of both. So, I think a safe āfresh editā is about 2-3 months for meāand I didnāt take that time. The final edit on To Make a Kinder Childrenās Tale was done just behind those two about 2-3 years after writing it.
Now, all of that was done with extremely minimal feedback, which at the best means itās not been edited for an audienceā¦although one did get some feedback of someone who disliked it: which is actually useful, at times.
I usually wait minimum 3 months, but can wait up to a year. The smallest wait time Iāve had is 2 months, and thats only because I wanted to add it onto Radish after approval. It needs another run through but I was happy with the 2nd draft XD
I usually start something new and then anytime I want to work on something else or donāt want to work on the one Iām writing I do the edits.
It depends on where the feedback is sitting. Normally, I want at least 1 serious beta reader to have finished the book completely, 2 or 3 is even better. Plus, when another book(S) are finished or if there is ONC going on.
I usually start editing immediately since Iāve forgotten the beginning by the time I get to the end anyhow. (āÆ^.^į¦)
Depends what type of edit you mean. If thereās a scene or two you neglected to write into the initial manuscript, you can go in and write it/them pretty much asap. Iād even say something similar if you wanna rewrite any scenes.
If youāre talking about nitty-gritty revisions, though, Iād wait six months to a year if itās something youāre serious about. Work on other projects in the meantime and read books to cleanse your palate and remind you what prose and pacing look like in edited pieces.
If itās something youāre just putting out for fun, though, use your own discretion. Itās usually more fun to do your edits while you still have the momentum of finishing a manuscript.
Depends on my mood, really. Sometimes straight away, sometimes a few days/weeks/months later 