Never satisfied...

Since putting the "final" period on the "final" draft, I have slowly become aware of an acute infection of "nonsatisfieditis". Its symptoms include but are not limited to: reviewing my manuscript repeatedly, finding it replete with 'errors', and constantly referring to it as my "freshman effort". I take this disease as a good sign; those who find no room for improvement usually have improvement renting out entire apartment complexes, waiting for its chance to sneak in.

Times like this remind me of my father's famous quote: "The closer you get to the king, the more warts you'll see." (I realize this isn't directly attributable to him, but since I heard it from dad's mouth first, I take it as gospel)

Now, I'm no king, and neither is my work, yet it is nice to know that the deeper you look, the more errors you are prone to find. I think the real trick is to know when you've dug deep enough to call it an acceptable book. Authors' opinions on this subject vary, but I maintain that you need only dig as deep as readers demand, which, unfortunately, is as deep as you can possibly stand without quitting altogether.