Is the writing of a play ever really over? Articles - even books - I have no problem. But a play ...

Heartland Plays just published my comedy, "Ben Franklin Ate My Homework," and it was a thoroughly pleasant experience from beginning to end. At least for me. I'm not sure how my constant fiddling with the work that I had declared "done" enough to submit it to a publisher was to my valiant editor.

This is a one hour play for kids that I actually started in 2007, inspired by an article I wrote for Stage Directions on publishers. I hadn't touched it - or honestly looked at it - for over a year when I read those words every writer wants to hear: "I want to publish this."

There were a couple of notes, good notes, from the editor, and we bounced it back and forth twice. But I constantly found my eye straying from the part in question to some other "approved" part. I caught myself changing a word, giving a line to another character and rewriting that, adding in a (potentially gratuitous) stage direction. It's like I was a manic rewriting psychopath unable to stop. Think Jason with a red pen instead of a machete.

And so when Heartland edited it and presented with the final product, all laid out, I was asked to read it for typos and such one final time. I found next to nothing "wrong," but there I was, asking then to switch the word "open" to "unlocked" on a joke line convinced the latter was so so much better. I was forcing myself to resist similar changes, and was only mildly success. To be clear: this was a work already accepted for publishing....

Now that it's out there, I simply have to stop looking at it! I don't think it's done - I think the tweaking and the word switching could go on until the end of time, and probably beyond that.

So ... I'm interested in hearing from other playwrights. Is it ever done? Are you ever 100 percent satisfied or like me, do you just force yourself to put the frickin' red pen down?