The first Wednesday of each month is Insecure Writer’s Support Group Day – Started by Alex J. Cavanaugh. It is a time when writers can release their fears into the world and give encouragement to others, allowing us writers the opportunity not to feel alone in our struggles and fears… You can find the link here….
I am editing again… One day I will finish this novel and be satisfied enough to send it off to an agent.
It only took me 4 months to write the first draft of this story, it was a whopping 45K words. But, it was the first novel I had ever finished. It had a beginning, middle, and end, that was definitely something to be proud of. Up until this point, I had had notebooks and computer files full of partial stories.
Only now, I am going on 9 months for editing, granted I took off November for NaNo and December to rest. Nevertheless, the other 7 months have really been going over and over this story. I am up to 67K words now. I am about ¼ of the way through my current pass (5th pass).
My fear is I will never know when to stop…. I don’t want to stop to early, but I don’t want to edit and revise this story for the rest of my life either….
The big question… WHEN TO STOP?
If I figure out the answer, I will let you know. If you KNOW the answer, then by all means, let me know!
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Life Happens 
You have to answer that question for yourself. But you can’t finish either you need to buckle down and try harder or maybe take a break and do something else for a bit.
—Greetings from a February IWSG Cohost
Thanks, I feel like this is going to be the last revision…. I am crossing my fingers I still feel this way when I reach the end!
I’m assuming this is just something you’ve been working on on your own… so my feeling is that, once you’ve finished this ‘pass’, you should hand it over to an external party (friend, partner, writers group…) to give you a feeling of how it reads and hopefully provide the support/constructive feedback you need to actually know what to work on. Best of luck!
Callie, Thanks. I actually am on a site with Beta Readers and it has been very helpful. But the truth is everyone has an opinion. Some things work for some and don’t for others so it is going to be really taking the advice that I believe enhnances and helps the story and tossing the advice that doesn’t…
I am happy to say the Beta readers for the most part really are enjoying it, so that is something, right?
It certainly is! Phase one of world domination plan: successful. XD
🙂
You’ll know when to stop. It’ll happen. The main thing is that you’re being wise with the editing. It’s too easy to become impatient and submit your work too early.
Keep on and all the best.
Thank you!
I’m not sure there is one “right” answer for any of us. You just do the best you can and rely on your beta readers to help you make that decision. Good luck!
Thanks!