April 15, 1982 At dinner Ben, Katie and I were talking about life goals and majors. Then, about an hour ago, up in Ben’s room, the idea hit me: What about being a writer? Instant reaction: You could never pull it off. Memory of Dad saying: “Writing’s very useful; it can help you in whatever you do.” The problem: Almost everybody fails. Can I write? Am I any good? Could I succeed? I could always do it on the side, say, while writing computer programs. Jeez, it’d be fun to write a short story. Just to try it. See how it works out.
