: How does one go *back* to editing an older piece? I have a longer work that took me a lot of effort to get through, and the moment I finished it, my life went crazy. That was about 6

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I agree with the two other answers but I'm also throwing out the idea that you, after re-examining the work carefully, leave it as it is. When I work on something I often leave many half-themes and subtle suggestions about characters open to wide intepretation by deciding to not follow a tangent or a peripheral concept to its end; this often (and usually inadvertently) adds an enigmatic depth and pads out the main ideas I work with. I use non-linear structure models when writing so this may not be workable for your piece but I felt that it would be useful to bear in mind that you have the choice; I always follow my gut when it comes to editing, if it reads well and you have something telling you "it's done" then maybe its fine as it is (but make inaction your last resort, seek critique and a fresh examination of your work)

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Have someone else critique the piece. It doesn't have to be in-depth. It could be a significant other or a critique group. Make it clear you want to know what didn't work for them. (You might have to couch this in terms like "did you get bored or confused anywhere?") Hopefully they'll have a few comments that can give you a few places to focus on.

Another trick that I've found works well is to use the full piece to write an outline. If you already have an outline sitting around, set it aside. Read each chapter or section and then write out a summary. Consolidating the story into its basic elements can help you see what's extraneous and what's missing.

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Hand it off. Find a good editor or beta reader and get someone else's take on it. Reading someone else's comments and suggestions may be enough to unstick your mental block and allow you to see how it could be improved.

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