The writing curve

Some scattered insights into the writing life ...
Disclaimer:  Today my take on the writing life will be different from yesterday's and from tomorrow's. Transitioning into being published is a shaky learning curve, I've found. I glean what I can from others' experiences, but it's a curve for the most part we seem to have to figure out for ourselves: up, down, slithering about, occasionally knocked sideways.    
First words: I love to write around a rough idea, and let the idea ha...