Second Edit
I recently finished my second edit on a new book. The second in the Adam Parker comedy-mystery series - Adam Parker and the High School Bully. It took me awhile to get that title. Primarily because the story changed on me while writing and my focus became clearer about what I was writing about. I'm at the place where I'm ready for people to give it a read and tell me how awful or good it is.
The rough draft for anything I write is usually a race to the finish. Like "Just get to the end!" kind of thing. Not that I'm writing however many pages of junk, but not all thread lines in the story are connecting. I might have character arcs that are incomplete. I may have introduced a moment at the end of the story, but never set it up in the beginning. During the initial first draft, the goal is to complete the manuscript. If I went back, while writing, I'd never finish.
The second edit is where I start making all those loose ends make sense. I find the second edit easier since the bones of the story are already in place. Granted, if I come upon a glaring story error that's going to take more than a few sentences to adjust, it can get tough. But if I know my story, I know how to make it work.
The reason I share this is two-fold. To explain my writing process, if there is one. For many other writers, it's probably different. And good. If everyone had the same process, we'd all write the same type of stories and that would be boring.
Second edit done. Feedback cycle to begin. And then the 3rd edit, then 4th, then 5th....it's usually endless.