Chapter 43. Where fears hide This is your own responsibility.

Here he talks about himself. He fantasized about working with his wife. “Sharing made everything more interesting.” His wife was a writer and editor and he shared everything he wrote with her first. She was a tremendous influence, but he says that she was also a crutch. He left her (for other reasons) and found that he couldn’t write without her help. He recognized his weaknesses and faced them. He wrote his next book by facing those weaknesses and strengthening them. He developed greater strength as a writer. He also says that he became a better listener. And he discovered a strength in himself where he didn’t need the crutch of his spouse’s approval. His writing stands alone. “I’m careful not to let my work be an obsession that gets between us. I know that if writing is my dream, then it’s my responsibility alone. I never again want to use another person that way.”