Alan, I know the fear of stepping into a circle where strangers watch your thoughts, yet to write for people is to risk being known by them rather than hiding behind a mask. You speak of hesitation, but true writing demands we strip away the pretence that makes us comfortable and face our own naked opinions without shame. There is no safety in second-rate talents who fall into a class, only in those first-rate powers who defy calculation and stand alone as they are. “A really great and original writer is like nobody but himself.”

“Oh, the horror in that!”