Revising, Re-plotting and Editing, Oh My!

So I've decided to re-work one of my stories; the one I took with me to my first conference and pitched to an agent and 2 editors. They liked it, it seemed, but in its current state it just not up to snuff. The guy running the conference made some suggestions on how to improve the plot and like the good writer I am, some suggestions were taken seriously, while others were silently scoffed at.

I let my story sit for a bit. I needed time to mull over everything that was said to me. After the mulling I shelved it. Not forever, but I knew it needed more, I just didn't know what 'more' was.

A couple of months went by with nothing new to beef up my story. But one night, as I was ready to go to sleep, of course, a fury of ideas came popping into my head. I had my answer.

Now comes the hard part...revising what I already have. Chucking out what doesn't work and adding things that make me nervous with anticipation. Discarding characters, maybe to appear in another story, and adding new ones that will annoy my protagonist quite nicely.

With all of the new ideas come the reality that I really HATE this process. Yes, HATE is a strong word, but it sums up what I feel perfectly.

Here's why...I put a lot of work into my stories; I loose sleep, bite anyone how dares talk to me whilst I'm writing and have several panic attacks fretting over believable characters, having enough drama and a great opening line. I get so attached to my work that I don't like messing around with it. Now that's not to say I think its perfect; I know it's not, but I feel such a high when I write 'the end',  I just want to breath a sigh of relief and move on to something else.

And if I'm being honest with myself, I truly believe no one is ever going to read my little ditties, so why bother?

Totally lazy, I know, but there you have it.

I love my story. I love it so much I'm willing to put the lazy slacker who sits on my shoulder into a deep drug induced coma till this puppy is done.

Why? Not sure, but I think maybe it is time I get over the dread of this inevitable step and perhaps learn to embrace it.

How do you feel about re-vising, editing, and re-working your story? Do you relish it? Hate it like me? Or maybe you're indifferent, cuz it's just part of the process?