Working on Editing My First Book

Stephen King said in his brilliant book On Writing that "To write is human, to edit is divine". I don't remember if that's exactly what the quote was, but my point I'm trying to express here is:

If I am a writer who is editing my own work, and what Stephen King says about editing is true, does that mean I must strive to be a demi-god?

At the moment I'm only working on editing my first chapter. I have been told editing takes a long time, and boy, they aren't kidding. It takes a very long time and a lot of effort to edit one's own work.

On the flipside, I gave myself a chance to develop my book in ways I couldn't have imagined possible when I first wrote it. So far, what was once an incoherent, madcap plot, is now a conceivably readable chapter that is possibly interesting and funny (to me anyway).

I could also fill in the descriptive detail I left out previously. Somewhat bland passages are now populated by lavish descriptions of a University forged in my dreams, the University that never got its funding cut by John Howard or Julie Bishop. In other words, I'm writing a Fantasy book.

Editing your own work is a very rewarding process, and it doesn't have to be a chore if you do it the right way. Since I had plenty of new ideas I forgot to put in the original draft, this is a chance to make a literary mansion out of an undeveloped shack.

I should also, when I have time, work with a professional editor, but with the HSC looming its ever dark shadow over my life, that is not possible at this time.

Sincerely, Jacob Martin, TeenAuthor.