The dream of becoming a writer is a little like that childhood dream. To achieve your dream you leave your safe place, in which you feel confident and protected, and you fly out into the world and you begin to lose height. If you are unlucky you land, as flightless as a dodo, in a crowd of unsympathetic strangers, and your dream turns out to be a nightmare. But if you’re lucky and determined, the dream recurs, and gradually you discover you don’t need the protection of your bedroom to stay up in the air and you can fly out through the window without feeling endangered. You no longer lose
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