When people email me saying they want to publish their writing but feel insecure about it, this is my first suggestion: invent a character who is not afraid, one who can say all the things you can’t. Play it. See what it’s like. If you make a fool of yourself, you can erase the character and make a new one.

An interesting reply I sometimes get is th... See more

David: It means everything to me. When I’ve gone to other people’s readings and—I’ll go see a poet or I’ll go to a bookstore because a friend’s novel is out. And I hear them get up there and read something serious, and I think, Oh, how can you do that? How do you know people are listening if they’re not laughing? You can feel people drifting away f

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