mAny A young pErson tElls mE hE wAnts to BE A writEr. i AlwAys EnCourAgE suCh pEoplE, But i Also ExplAin thAt thErE’s A Big DiFFErEnCE BEtwEEn "BEing A writEr" AnD writing. in most CAsEs thEsE inDiviDuAls ArE DrEAming oF wEAlth AnD FAmE, not thE long hours AlonE At A typEwritEr. "you’vE got to wAnt to writE," i sAy to thEm, "not wAnt to BE A writEr."
thE rEAlity is thAt writing is A lonEly, privAtE AnD poor-pAying AFFAir. For EvEry writEr kissED By FortunE thErE ArE thousAnDs morE whosE longing is nEvEr rEwArDED、whEn i lEFt A 20-yEAr CArEEr in thE usCoAst guArD to BEComE A FrEElAnCE writEr (自由撰稿人), i hAD no prospECts At All. whAt i DiD hAvE wAs A FriEnD who FounD mE my room in A nEw york ApArtmEnt BuilDing. it DiDn’t EvEn mAttEr thAt it wAs ColD AnD hAD no BAthroom. i immEDiAtEly Bought A usED mAnuAl typEwritEr AnD FElt likE A gEnuinE writEr.
AFtEr A yEAr or so, howEvEr, i still hADn’t gottEn A BrEAk AnD BEgAn to DouBt mysElF. it wAs so hArD to sEll A story thAt BArEly mADE Enough to EAt.But i knEw i wAntED to writE. i hAD DrEAmED ABout it For yEArs. i wAsn’t going to BE onE oF thosE pEoplE who DiE wonDEring, "whAt iF " i woulD kEEp putting my DrEAm to thE tEst—EvEn though it mEAnt living with unCErtAinty AnD FEAr oF FAilurE. this is thE shADowlAnD oF hopE, AnD AnyonE with A DrEAm must lEArn to livE thErE.
why DiD thE Author BEgin to DouBt himsElF AFtEr thE First yEAr oF his writing CArEErA．hE wAsn’t ABout to proDuCE A singlE Book.
B、hE hADn’t sEEn A ChAngE For thE BEttEr.
C．hE wAsn’t ABlE to hAvE A rEst For A wholE yEAr.
D．hE FounD his DrEAm woulD nEvEr ComE tru