Building a chest of drawers with words

I finished another draft of my novel. The front of the book is much more worn and rewritten than the back end, but that’s expected. The other day I realized during the last two weeks of intense (10 hours a day) rewriting, that this book stuff is like creating furniture.
First you design it, then you get some wood and create the skeleton. Even though you cut all the wood, and you know the pieces fit together, there’s lots of work to be done. Sanding, protecting the wood. If it’s a nice piece perhaps a little added art work enhances the beauty, then maybe a few layers of stain, then varnish. If it’s really nice, inlaid wood takes time.
A book is even more complicated, but has many layers of development like a piece of furniture. Devising a plot, creating characters and picking locations is a start and nowhere near the end of the process. I have added characters, eliminated others. My brilliant Segway race will have to wait for another opportunity. Same with the guy who died with a fish in his nostril.
Repeated words need to be fixed. (I use “probably”, probably more than I should). I’ve even found single examples of my main character’s former name.
This unique project has been rewritten more than a few time. I have been working (writing, planning, going to conferences, attending critique groups, pitching the story, reworking the story and of course reading, rereading and revising, on average three hours a day nearly every day) for over two and a half years. It’s changed incredibly, for the better. (So have I.)
I am still reading and revising, but like a piece of furniture is smooth from hours of sanding, stained and varnished, the flaws are harder to see.
Now, not only do I see the light at the end of the tunnel, I see the entrance and some trees outside.
My chest of drawers is, I think, very attractive and interesting. After working on it so long, I hope many people find it appealing enough to publish and purchase.