: Re: Should I practice writing novels before starting the novel I want to write, or plan to do a lot of editting? tldr: Though I've been writing fiction for a long time, I have no real training

@Rivera824

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Write your Hail Mary.
You're assuming that this one idea will be the best idea you'll ever have. This isn't (necessarily) true. Writing is an incredibly creative process. The more you write, the more you'll exercise your creativity, and the more creative you'll become. (Yes, I know that you've already written a lot, but I've found that writing a novel takes my creativity to a whole new level.)
But let's suppose that this really is the only "good idea" you'll ever have. Let's suppose you're JK Rowling and this is your Harry Potter. Still, write it. Why? If you keep saving it until you're "ready," you'll never write it. You're never ready.
I'm currently working my own Hail Mary. I wrote the entire novel, all 100,000 words. And guess what? It was terrible. I was so proud of myself until I put it away and came back three months later. I'm so glad I never showed it to anyone.
So, I wrote it again. I drew inspiration from my original, but threw most of it away. Another 100,000 words later, I put it away and came back to find that I had produced something that was just ok.
So, I wrote it one more time. Every time I rewrite it, my novel gets better.
If you compare my initial draft to my final version (once I finish) you'll see almost no resemblance. The underlying premise, overarching plot, and character names are the same... but character motivations, backstories, and subplots have all gotten richer.
I'm finally at the point where I'm ready to show my work to someone else. And my initial readers are impressed with how much depth is in my novel. While an accomplished writer might be able to add depth in the first draft, my novel's depth came about as a result of my rewriting this entire thing three times.
Write your novel. Re-write it. Write it yet again. Then, start editing. Somewhere along the way, you'll find that this project will take on a life of its own... but you'll never regret starting the process.

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