Revising your work can be a tedious or a satisfying process, but it should always be instructive and it should always lead you to a better piece of writing.
It helps to break the task down. First, revise chapter by chapter. Does the action, internal or external move forward from one chapter to the next or are any chapters simply “episodes”, not telling us anything useful and therefore, not necessary? Press delete. And keep it pressed until something is happening.
Next, revise scene by scene. Is there too much exposition within scenes or just enough to fill in the blanks?
Next, look at each paragraph and then each sentence. Have you said the same thing twice but in two different ways?
Finally, and this is where satisfying may turn to tedious, look at each word. Well, almost each word. You are not only looking for typos, but carefully considering if each word is your best choice. I learned the importance of “le mot juste” from working on translations. It is the same lesson put into practice by poets. Every word means something different, often only slightly different, from every other word. And each word matters.
