THE WRITER’S FIRST FANTASY

Choosing the right designer for the appropriate attire to accept your Nobel Prize for Literature was a bit of a hassle. And the flight to Stockholm seemed never-ending, even in first class. And let’s not even get into your acceptance speech. After Faulkner, Morrison and Steinbeck, the literary world believed it had all been said and you blew them away!


But placing the gold medallion on your mantelpiece threw off the color of your living room and you’ll have to get a new carpet and curtains. Good thing the prize came with $1,000,000.


Now where to put the framed Pulitzer Prize and your National Book Award? The cover of TIME magazine and the New York Times Book Review already clutter your studio wall. Time to upsize?


Oprah was wonderful. Leno and Letterman were funny and it was such a thrill to dump Imus’ invitation.


Hollywood went into a frenzy bidding for the movie rights and it was so nice that Steven Spielberg dropped in make his own personal pitch. But when Martin Scorsese knocked on your door in the middle of it!


Happy enough now?


Problem is you never will be until you dream that first dream—the 'Golden Fleece' of the writer's quest: being read.


Instead of fantasizing about yourself, the writer, imagine being the reader. Getting published, first and foremost is not about 'good writing', but good reading.


Dream all you want, but a writer who is not a reader will never be either.