Celebrity is a necessary component to
having a career as a writer.
Even if you don’t go into it to become
famous, it’s a side-effect you have to master.
Not all writers do. It’s antithetical to what makes us want to be
writers in the first place.
We want to be the fly on the wall. Not the 800 lb gorilla in the room.
To have a career as a writer you must be
in the limelight, you must be good at it, you must crave it, like a junkie
craves his fix.
You must put it first, because that’s how
books are sold, and if your books don’t sell, they don’t get published.
What is an unplublished writer?
A failure.
A joke. A sad case. An object-lesson.
Beware.
This can happen to you.
Success is the carrot. Failure is the stick.
To succeed in any career you have to put
the career first, ahead of family. Your
spouse must be there to support you.
There is one primary wage-earner in the family, and he comes first. The needs of the helpmeet come second.
This is hard on a marriage. It’s hard for both partners. Being a partner is about being an equal,
having a say in what happens to both of you.
In the joint eneterprise.
The two-career family is a contradiction
in terms.
A career interferes with family
peace. It skews things. It’s hard to adapt. I don’t see how people do it. How couples do it.
I tried to do this and I have succeeded so
far. But it’s not over yet.
I don’t know what’s in store.
I don’t want to seem smug. Don’t want to attract attention to
myself. Don’t want to jinx myself.
So far so good.
The last year should be the easiest. But don’t get cocky.
Don’t take anything for granted.