Two years ago, I finished writing a manuscript (100,000 words). I have recently had urges to return to it. Is there anything I should know before attempting to tackle this after so long away? Any tips on how to edit something after being gone for so long? Should I re-read the whole thing before even touching it?
If I were in your place, I'd probably skim through it first to see the current state of the manuscript and to get a rough feeling of what kind of shape it's in. Let that digest for a couple days or more, then set a short list of revision goals. Make your first intensive revision pass using your revision goals as a guide. Try to stick to those goals, other than fixing obvious errors like misspellings and punctuation errors. Sticking to a fixed set of goals keeps you focused. If you see other things that need attention, jot down a general goal for the next revision pass.
Well I'll be attempting the same thing in some time so I'm glad you asked this question. As Cogito said, skim through it, let it digest, and set some goals. what is it that made you leave it in the first place? What do you hope to accomplish in revisiting it? I know when I revisit my last project I will have to do a lot of re focusing... the initial story wasn't great but it got deeper as it went and my goal will be to make everything come together, rewriting and taking the best and most useful scenes. Good luck with this
