In editing draft three, this has become my motto. Writing is a fast and heady business; I can get sucked into a chapter and lose track of time. Not so with editing. Editing is slow and tedious at times, but there is something to be said for seeing your work with fresh eyes and taking the time to polish a scene. I’m coming to realize that this is just the way I work best. I need to take my time to edit. It’s not perfectionism (I won’t quibble over minute details); it’s a sense of comfort and growing familiarity with my characters and their motivations that makes me want to take the time to focus on a scene rather than rush through it just to get it over with. The draft is coming along. It will take time, but I’m enjoying this round more than the last one and think the story will be better for it. The read-through and note-taking certainly helped, and I’ve developed a pattern and a schedule that works well for the moment. I’m looking forward to having something to show to readers and knowing I did my best to make it worth their time.
My method is similar: Write fast, rewrite slower (and repeat as often as necessary), edit very slowly. 🙂
I’m glad I’m not the only one. Sometimes it feels like everyone else is polishing their work so quickly, I have to remind myself that comparing my pace to others just leads to a bad bad place.