Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always
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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
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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
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, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never
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. When I left a 20-year career in the US Coast Guard to become a freelancewriter(自由撰稿人), I had no
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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
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and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a
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writer. After a year or so, however, I still hadn"t gotten a break and began to
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myself. It was so hard to sell a story that I
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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
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and fear of failure. This is the Shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream learn to live there.
A. barely B. genuine C. rewarded D. doubt
E. lonely F. poverty G. persuade H. prospects
I. uncertainty J. encourage K. wealth L. cold