On publication.

I'm on the trail of a new writing project and by that I mean that I have to do a whole lot of research. That is a large part of a writer's life and the other large part is simply the work. I have lost all my faith in talent, since that seems to be rather peripheral. I could list a whole lot of talented people who don't research and don't take the time to work hard. So they get nowhere.

I don't necessarily get anywhere either- not yet. But I plan to. I don't care so much anymore about publishing. All that being published means is that someone at a publishing company thought that your work would sell. That's it. I've read books about publishing and that seems to be indicated over and over again. You convince the right person that people will buy your book and you're in. It's not a measure of how good your work is or if the publisher even likes it.

I've come to an understanding with myself that monetary success is not really my goal as a writer anyone. Learning to speak to other people and expressing myself in a way that can reach others is a much better goal. Of course I'm working on a book, but I will not gauge my success on publication. Isn't that missing the point?