Breaths Between Drafts

Currently, I'm working on a development project that's moving at breakneck speed. It's a serious learning experience for me. Specifically, working on revisions and taking huge notes with only a day or two max to apply them. My present mindset is that it's going to be a failure, but I think that's a standard writer's response when they're way out of their comfort zone. We can't really know how your work will come across when you've just barely emerged from writing it. The important lesson I've learned is that there is true value to taking long breaths between drafts. One day to absorb the notes, and to forget what you wrote -- let the optic residue of it burn away. Then another day to review the notes from a thousand feet up, rather than think about them practically. Another day still to start mapping out your true blue prints for changes, maybe discuss them. Finally, the time needed to apply them meticulously. When you have a third that time, for me at least, I lose the value of a bird's eye view and end up repeating some of the same mistakes in different ways. But as I said, we'll just have to wait and see what happens with the last draft.