A. barely B. genuine C. rewarded D. doubt E. lonely
F. poverty G. persuade H. prospects I. uncertainty J. impossibly
K. encourage L. awarded M. alone N. wealth O. cold
Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always 1 such people, but I also explain that there"s a big difference between "being a writer" and writing. In most cases, these individuals are dreaming of 2 and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter. "You"ve got to want to write," I say to them, "not want to be a writer."
The reality is that writing is a 3 , private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune, there are thousands more whose longing is never 4 . When I left a 20-year career in the US, Coast Guard to become a free lance writer, I had no 5 at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. It didn"t even matter that it was 6 and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a 7 writer. After a year or so, however, I still hadn"t gotten a break and began to 8 myself. It was so hard to sell a story that 9 made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn"t going to be one of those people who die wondering, what if I would keep putting my dream to the test—even though it meant living with 10 and fear of failure. This is the Shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream learns to live there.