If I'm revising a novel, chances are that I'm not revising it straight through from beginning to end. I'm jumping around a lot, because changing one factor will have a ripple effect on the book. Sometimes I'm working on a scene in the middle; sometimes I'm struggling to get an ending right; and sometimes I'm going back to some dialogue at the beginning. One thing is true: When it is time to quit for the day, I always put an "xxx" wherever I have stopped. In the morning when I begin work again I search for the "xxx" and start there. Otherwise, the temptation is to keep starting over at the beginning of the story every day, and that can get me into trouble. If I keep perfecting the first chapter of a novel, I'll grow too attached to it and that will make revising so much harder.
It's a funny thing: You really can't be attached to your writing if you want to be a writer.
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