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I only occasionally look in on Cary Tennis's column, so I'm not qualified to judge whether there are too many "advice to writers" columns or not. But the column wasn't about writing itself, it was about responding to good fortune. So many of these letters from self-identified writers are so hostile as to seem pathological. Can you say "over-determined," children?
Years ago (2001) I won a prestigious fellowship. My book is only coming out this fall, and I sweated with the idea that nothing would ever come of the work I did under the auspices of the award. I felt guilty, awful, and apologetic. It ended happily, but I have more than a little empathy for the young writer who is getting started. I'd suggest some of you who taunted her reflect on your nastiness. What does it really say?
