During the writing, if it’s going well, I feel kind of pleasantly buzzed—anxious about finishing, worried that it’s no good but also, at times, undeservedly optimistic about its quality. After the writing, especially when it’s an early draft, I start wondering what my first readers are going to think. Like most writers, I show early versions of my work to a few people. And although these people almost always make useful, sometimes invaluable suggestions, it can be devastating when they don’t totally love the material right off the bat. I don’t think there’s a writer in the world for whom the
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