One of the biggest challenges about writing fiction is really seeing your own story, not the way it is in your head, but the way it really is on paper. Two things help with this in my experience:
- Critiques
- Time
Critiques help, obviously, because they give you insight into what someone else is finding in what you wrote. Sometimes, it isn’t what you intended. Sometimes, a critiquer will make that one comment that clarifies everything for you.
Time is the one I struggle with. I have a freakish memory that lets some things slip through like water and holds onto others like a vise. Things I’ve actually written tend to be in the latter category. This means that getting enough distance from my own writing to really see it is a problem.
I try to let things sit for a month between drafts, but that may not be enough. I’m finding that things I come back to after about a year are not as good as I remember them being.
Okay, back from the ER. (Mom has a UTI.) So, to finish my thoughts:
I found that with THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, which is what convinced me that that book (my first) just needs a complete rewrite. And I found something similar with BLOOD WILL TELL. Not, fortunately, that it needs a rewrite, but I did find more things that could just be better than I expected to.
So now the $64,000 question is: how long is long enough. A month might not be. A year seems like too long. This is definitely something I’m going to have to figure out, though.
Meredith Mansfield, Author 
I think the wait time that is necessary varies from writer to writer and even project to project with the same writer. I had to take a year off from my Civil War novel before editing it because I was so connected to the characters. However with my latest novel I don’t even think I waited a week I just dived right in.
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I’m sure it varies from writer to writer. And probably what I do inbetween has an effect, too. Right now I’m doing revisions on BLOOD WILL TELL and a little preliminary research into what might be an alternate history story. That’s not a problem because the next draft is only the second and I know most of what needs to be done, anyway.
It’s entirely possible that it’s not time that’s the determining factor of what is enough time for me, but what I do with that time. That, instead of going straight on from the third draft (following critiques) to preparing to submit, I need to start the next first draft. That might be the only thing that gives me enough distance. That would only add another month or two to my cycle.
Or, I just might need more time away to really see. As with most of writing, trial and error is probably the only way to find out.
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Hi, Meredith – sorry to be off topic, but I don’t know where else to put this. I’m not sure if you were aware that I awarded you the Memetastic Award in my blog post yesterday. Check it out to learn the details. You are very deserving. I love your blog!
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I’ve edited stories that are over a year old, but by the time they are that old, they seem to have lost my own interest (and likely the readers as well).
For a short story, I think a few weeks is good. For a novel (I am merely guessing), maybe a couple months max. I don’t see letting these things linger for long periods of time as being a good thing.
Good thoughts on time — and I do see the benefit on getting a fresh perspective on it. I’m doing a rewrite on my middle grade novel now and I hope it is worth my time (we’ll find out, but at least it’s teaching me about revision.
-Wordcaster
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I would tend to agree that a year is too long. Just an observation that both novels I’ve returned to after a year were not as good as I remembered them. Your comment about losing enthusiasm for the story–since I’ve moved on to other newer, shinier ones–may be right on the money, too.
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