I was trained by great luthiers while building my first electric and first acoustic guitar. This saved lots of stupid mistakes and so forth. The third guitar I built came out close to exactly how I wanted it. I have 6 more in the works(a few are barely started). I've found that making jigs has eliminated hours and hours of hand sanding. I've also learned that making a full size drawing of your instrument helps tons. Everyone finds their groove eventually and I think that after you finish your second you will begin finding it. The idea of building a guitar seems very simple, however, we all know from experience how many little factors pop up when you actually go through the process.