Would you finish then edit, or backtrack then finish?

[Starbeam]

Ohh...so more like line edits.  Yeah, those tend to get me distracted, too.  Even knowing that they shouldn't be done that soon.

[Breandan]

Kali, I feel your pain

Doesn't help that my writing methodology is unorthodox to begin with, but the ADHD editing makes it so much more difficult

[Kali]

I gotta say, that's one thing that NaNo did for me. No editing while first-drafting.  It was part of the whole experience, and I gave it a try though it was definitely NOT the way I normally write.  Normally, I edit as I go and things take forever while I get just the right phrase, just the right words, just the right 'feel'. 

It was one of the main reasons I donated to NaNo last year.  I couldn't really afford it, but it was a powerful lesson to learn, finding out I could do it.  And now here I am with my first novel-length piece of fiction.  Coincidence maybe, but... Maybe not.

Also, I'll hafta get used to calling it a "line edit".  It's the standard term, the industry one, but I've always called it a "finesse edit".

[meg_evonne]

Unanimity.  I'm flattened by it!

Finish, it is!  Well, I'll write the big scene and then finish, since the big scene would fit in only a little bit back (at the worst possible moment for the main character, naturally), then finish, then do the top-to-bottom edit with an eye toward fitting in the hints and tidbits.

Y'know, I knew that's what I should do.  It's what I would have advised someone else to do.  I'm being distracted by a plot bunny.

Above quote and then your other subsequent quotes.  Have you tried to use the shrunken manuscript concept?  As you add in your new hints/clues/setups etc (and I'm willing to bet you had far more in there unintentionally than you imaged) you can highlight them.  When you get through the manuscript, shrink it to 10 or 20% and look to see how the new hints & old suggestive hints from your first draft stack up:  1. in proportion to the rest of the manuscript and 2.  Have you left too long of gaps between touching on that subplot.

Give it a shot and tell me what you learned from it.  It's also a great concept for looking at white space in your work.

Congrats on getting through the first, and already diving into your next revision!  Keep us posted, okay?