On another occasion I tried forty-two versions, but the final effect was too lapidary.
Few writers know exactly how many revisions they do of a, poem, short story, or novel.
But each has a method and a madness, and all agree there is no right or wrong way. Some, in fact, revise one way and teach another. Others go so far as to recommend not doing it their way. Coda would never do that, but following are some poets' and fiction writers' thoughts on revision. I start by writing brief notes by hand, and after four, five, or six drafts on different colored papers, I end up with the manuscript typed on expensive twenty-pound paper.