
Second thoughts first
The big problem with writing a book is that once it’s there, it’s there for ever. You fail to check one seemingly minor fact or you make one little typo that’s not picked up and it’s still there, reproaching you, ten or twenty years later.
Every time you open your masterpiece, it jumps out and hits you in the eye. Every time your friends wander over to the bookshelf and idly pick up a copy, you know that’s the page they’ll hit upon.