Caroline Leavitt: "I was so wrong about the stages a writing career followed"
billwolfe.substack.com
I used to believe that there was such a thing as a writer’s trajectory, with definite stages, marks you hit before you could move on. In my twenties, I figured first I would publish short stories, then I would publish a collection of them, and then, and only then would I write and get famous with my novel. I’d be a bright young flame everyone wanted to cozy up to and I’d grow into a blaze. And my next book would be even better. I was sure the film deals would come around next, of course, and the literary party scene wouldn’t be so attractive to me anymore. Then I’d get even older and my fame would calm down, because of course there would be all these young writers nipping at my heels. But that would be fine by me, because by then I would be a revered old writer.
Caroline Leavitt: "I was so wrong about the stages a writing career followed"
Caroline Leavitt: "I was so wrong about the…
Caroline Leavitt: "I was so wrong about the stages a writing career followed"
I used to believe that there was such a thing as a writer’s trajectory, with definite stages, marks you hit before you could move on. In my twenties, I figured first I would publish short stories, then I would publish a collection of them, and then, and only then would I write and get famous with my novel. I’d be a bright young flame everyone wanted to cozy up to and I’d grow into a blaze. And my next book would be even better. I was sure the film deals would come around next, of course, and the literary party scene wouldn’t be so attractive to me anymore. Then I’d get even older and my fame would calm down, because of course there would be all these young writers nipping at my heels. But that would be fine by me, because by then I would be a revered old writer.