I often wish my first manuscript hadn't been something I cared about, so I could just toss it aside and move on. But I'm actually attached to the story, so now I'm going through a slugfest of revisions. Sometimes I think I'll just start over and rewrite the durn thing from from scratch, starting on page one.
Well, that's kind of the tricksey tightrope that we writers have to walk, isn't it? On one the hand, of COURSE we have to care about the story we're telling, otherwise why tell it? On the other hand, I've met some people who've been working on the same book several years, and still can't let it go. At some point, if the book you're writing is the only book you'll be writing for the rest of your life, maybe it's time to think about being a different kind of writer. Especially if you can't bear to stop working on it ever.
Not saying that's where you're at of course, but it can be hard sometimes to know when to keep polishing a book and know when it put down and move onto something else. And sometimes, you NEED to put a book down, and walk away from it for a few years, THEN come back to it as a writer with more experience and skill, and finally tell the story the way it was meant. That can be particularly true if you deeply feel that story is The One, and you want to give it the best possible chance at publication, but aren't sure you're ready to do it justice yet. Everyone's got to feel it out for themselves since every book has different needs, depending on where you are in your writing journey.