In the previous post, I wrote about the main cause of my writer’s block, as far as scientific writing was concerned. But that was not the end of it — my parents continued to punish me for writing even as I switched to other topics.
Now, being beaten, locked out of the house, and threatened with disownment would probably have deterred most people from continuing to do the things that provoked those reactions in the first place. But the maltreatment I received at home was more than balanced by the acclaim I received outside. Everyone called me a genius and told me that this or that one of my essays was the most insightful thing they had ever read on whatever subject it was on, that I was the most talented writer they had ever met, that I should be published, and so on. People kept telling me that I should submit my writings to this magazine or that journal, but I couldn’t heed their suggestions. I had conflicting goals: on the one hand, like any author, I wanted to disseminate my writings, but on the other, I had to limit the probability that my parents would chance upon them. And this latter constraint took priority, because being caught would have meant being prevented from writing at all… » [Expand post] [Permalink]