The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the U.S. Coast Guard to become a freelance(自由栏目)writer, I had no prospects 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 cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.

事实上, 写作是一件寂寞而报酬低廉的私事. 好几千个渴望却永远没有成就的作家中, 只有一个能获得命运的垂青. 当我离开工作了20年的美国海岸警卫队成为一名自由职业作家时, 我的前途完全没有指望. 只有一个朋友为我在一幢纽约的公寓里找了个房间,虽然它又冷又没有卫生间, 但这些都没关系. 我立即买了一台二手的手动打字机,感觉自己真的是个作家了.