Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always K)encourage such people, but I also explain that there’s a big difference between "being a writer" and writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming of N)wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter.(these individuals指代的是Many a young people。) "You’ve got to want to write,"I say to them, "not want to be a writer."The reality is that writing is a E)lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never C)rewarded.(kissed by fortune意为“受到命运之神的亲睐”,由此可推出第4题应填的词。)
When I left a 20-year career in the US. Coast Guard to become a freelance writer(自由撰稿人), I had no H)prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New York apartment building. (What I did... my room in...。这是一个复合句,What引导的是主语从句,who引导的定语从句修饰a friend,由此可看出,作者刚开始从事写作时的艰难。)
It didn’t even matter that it was O)cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a B)genuine writer.After a year or so, however, I still hadn’t gotten a break and began to D)doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that A)barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn’t going to be one of those people who die wondering, what if? I would keePputting my dream to the test----even though it meant living with I)uncertainty and fear of failture.(put... to the test意为“使.....经受考验”,此处表明了作者态度,即要成为作家必须忍受很多困难。)This is the Shadow land of hope, and anyone with a dream learn to live there.