Dead ghost of the past

I am getting accustomed to the thought of translating my second novel. The offer to have it published in its translated version in a newspaper is the first step, a test if you will, before creating an original novel in that language. Lots of doubts. Is my knowledge of that language creative enough to meet readers' demands? Time will tell.

Meanwhile I am battling resistance to reading my novel in its original English. Why? I make it a point not not go back to a novel once finished. The moment I decide that, as an author I said all I had to say, the novel dies, it becomes a dead ghost of the past. I do not go back to it, it does not interest me; all I care about is to be rid of it.

What's behind it? I suspect that other authors may agree with me - a novel is never finished. You can write, and re-write, polish and correct for eternity, but if you want to be published, at some point you have to say - enough.

Authors, like most people continuously evolve. There is a serious danger that a novel considered as 'finished', some time later may cause serious creative indigestion. If I were to go back to an already finished novel, after years of creative and personal development, I would likely write it differently, if at all.

What happens if I go back to the novel I finished over a year ago, a novel I consider ready for publication. Will I be tempted to change it? Perhaps it is an opportunity to give the translated version its own life?