If I have an Avatar I wanna edit with I rewatch it while thinking up the idea (plot/concept) while trying to catch anything that would lead me to music selection.
If I have a song I wanna edit to and I don't have an Avatar I just listen to it over and over and try to think of an Avatar that would go well with it. If the Avatar Music Video is supposed to be multi sourced and you are trying to focus on lyric sync you can write down the song's lyrics and try to think of scenes that would go well with it. When I was editting my Daybreak Avatar Music Video I had like an .doc file with the songs lyrics and I would try to fill it with ideas. (Like, Wasted gain - angel beats scene where a guy lets go of his paycheck or whatever it was.?? I think it was like his school application ticket

)
Now when I actually have all three things needed (idea, song and an Avatar) I try to set like guidelines on what will happen at what part of the song. I sometimes even edit the end of the song before I edit the start of it.
Well, that's pretty much how I do amvs.
Oh and one more thing. Once you put the project on hold you will mostlikely not comeback to it!

The best thing you can do is to edit for long periods of time instead of like one hour a day. When I edit a project and I only edit one hour a day I usually loose my passion for the project and my idea vision of the idea will get clouded. There's also the possibility you'll find something else you wanna edit if you edit the project for too long it will hinder your overall passion input and the result will not be as good. (I don't mean edit for like 2 days straight I mean when you edit one project 2 months)?
I did a lot of writting saying "you" but this is just how it goes for "me"<3<3
