Lan Samantha Chang on first books

We are taught to believe that the publication of a book is the happy ending to a long journey of working and striving, but according to many new authors with whom I have spoken frequently during this process, publishing is only the beginning of the journey of learning to navigate the world as a public writer, which is the opposite of making art, and it requires learning to protect that inner self from which the art emerged in the first place.

—  Lan Samantha Chang, from “Writers, Protect Your Inner Life.”