I know many authors fall into this trap, myself included. There’s a lot of pressure to present a manuscript that’s your best polished work so there is merit in going over it until you feel it’s right. What’s not good is rewriting the same scene over a thousand times and never moving from that point.
I have a story or two where I’ve written the opening scene over at least a dozen times and it never feels right. But I know that if i keep that up I’ll never get the story finished.
Write hard and fast is my newly adopted mantra. I know that as long as I’ve got words on the page I can always go back later and do what I want with them. So I get the bare bones of the story down first. On the second read I fix glaring errors and look for plot holes/inconsistencies while making note of where I want to add more detail. On the third read, all the detail goes in. Then I read it all again and probably a few more times after that, tweaking as I go.
And all this happens before it goes to my editor who will point out everything I’ve missed/messed up and more editing and tweaking happens.
So just write your best and get those words down because you can’t edit what’s not there.
Magnificent site. Lots of helpful info here. I am sending it to a few pals ans also sharing in delicious. And of course, thank you for your effort!