"You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious..."

“You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You’ve been backstage. You’ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ­romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.”

- From Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing, via Brainpickings (via bostonpoetryslam)