Writing a Novel

I once read a quote by L. Ron Hubbard that went something like, "The first time you get married, you know nothing about marriage, and the second time you know even less." (It was something along those lines.)
That's how I feel about writing this novel. I've written one before, and I ended up hating it. I wrote one before that and I hated it, too. I am writing one now, and I love the story, but still feel I have learned very little from my past experiences.
I read Stephen King's "On Writing" and I think that's helping me a lot. But that's just it, it's all stuff I think. It's stuff only I've seen. Am I right in what I think about what I see? I have no idea. I guess if I get published as much as Stephen King, I'll know as much as him about writing.