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2000-12-21

Last night I was reading

The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner. I read this passage:

Try to remember that the time before you publish is the only time you will ever work in complete freedom. After you're published you will be forced to contend with the shockingly real voices of critics, agents, editors, and fans. You never get to be a virgin after the first time, and more to the point, you never again have the luxury of writing in total obscurity.

The truth of that hit me as I read it and I thought, This is like the difference between being single and married; I'd better enjoy it while I can! Then I read on:

But like the married person who bemoans the loss of freedom from her single days, the published author who longingly recalls her past obscurity is a little hard to sympathize with. Though you may suffer from loneliness after you're married, it's bad form to complain about it to your single friends.

This book, so far, is quite good.

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