| By adulation I don’t mean feedback. Writers need that. In the days before I had access to an editor and agent, I still needed to hear what people thought about my writing. Taking a class, getting guidance from a teacher, discussing work with a critique group was so important that I can’t overstate it. I don’t believe I would have ever been published if I hadn’t gone through these steps.
And by adulation I don’t mean the normal community of people who know me and offer friendly encouragement. We all need that, too.
I mean the sort of thing that starts to come your way once you’ve put work out there that people really admire, or that makes a difference to them in some way. People want to tell you about that experience, and it feels fabulous to hear it.
But you can’t let it become too important, or you’re sunk as a writer.
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