The Grand Tradition

If you've never read WH Auden's views on the aspiring writer, reprinted recently in the London Times, that probably explains why you still think you are one. The photo alone should cure you of thoughts of a life spent writing.

A few choice quotes:

What is surprising is that such a high percentage of those without a marked talent for any particular profession should think of writing as the solution.

The ideal audience the poet imagines consists of the beautiful who go to bed with him, the powerful who invite him to dinner and tell him secrets of state, and his fellow-poets. The actual audience he gets consists of myopic schoolteachers, pimply young men who eat in cafeterias, and his fellow-poets. This means that, in fact, he writes for his fellow-poets.

If you still want to write, then I've got some work to do.