Estimate how many revisions a document needs.
The number of revision rounds a document needs is driven mostly by its purpose, since the standard it must meet determines how many passes are justified. Informal writing needs one; assessed coursework around three; a journal submission four or more before it even reaches review. Draft quality shifts this by one round in either direction. Reviewers add rounds too, but sub-linearly — two reviewers can be consolidated in one pass, while six generate conflicting feedback needing an additional reconciliation round. Total time is estimated from words re-read across rounds, with later rounds faster because fewer problems remain.
Rounds expected
Rounds = purpose baseline + draft quality adjustment + reviewer consolidation rounds
Revision time
Hours = total words re-read / 900 per hour, each round 80% of the previous
Because feedback can be consolidated. Two reviewers' comments are usually addressed in a single pass. The cost of more reviewers is real but not linear — beyond about four, contradictory feedback requires a reconciliation pass to decide which comments to act on.
Yes, mainly by planning before drafting. Most revision rounds exist to fix structural problems a proper outline would have prevented. A strong first draft genuinely removes a round, which is why time spent outlining pays back several times over.