I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the
　　job that I did was dull.
　　虽然我是英语文学专业毕业,但是我没有底要做什么工作.毕业后的六年时间里,我行尸走肉地工作挣钱.我尝试过作记者,但是我觉得不好,然后改行作金融,后来也不欢而散.最后我在一家著名的出版公司担任法律顾问.尽管工作比较枯燥,但是我喜欢和图书打交道.
　　I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
　　当我有足够的积蓄可以休假一年,我决定实现我内心深处的愿望完成一部小说.参加MA小说创作课程让我明确了写作框架,我完成了55000个字.
　　It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a navel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
　　开始创造确实需要信心——在你犹豫不决的时候,生活是一片黑暗.当你出去吃饭,别人问你在忙什么,你会不好意思说,我最近在写小说,但是我不确定我可以完成.想到我的小说没法出版,我的信心越来越弱了,我便把写书这事抛在九霄云外了. Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel
　　随后我遇见了一个代理商,他告诉我应当把书寄给他们机构.我如实做了.让我感到惊讶的是,我得到了一些很好的反馈.我突然觉得有希望,有一天我成为了一名作家.签约后,我完成了后半本的写作.
　　The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
　　然后的问题是找到一个出版商.在过去的两年半没有收入的漫长等待和思考中,一个
　　出版商结束了我的困境,后来成为了我效力的出版商.
　　It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding（有回报的）.
　　这像是命运中难以想象的运气.当你决定要做一件不同寻常的事时,也许你看不到希望,但是找到自己准确的位置,比如成为一名签约作家,你会发现这些漫长的等待是有回报的 　　I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I was treading water, just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the
　　job that I did was dull.
　　虽然我是英语文学专业毕业,但是我没有底要做什么工作.毕业后的六年时间里,我行尸走肉地工作挣钱.我尝试过作记者,但是我觉得不好,然后改行作金融,后来也不欢而散.最后我在一家著名的出版公司担任法律顾问.尽管工作比较枯燥,但是我喜欢和图书打交道.
　　I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deep-down wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.
　　当我有足够的积蓄可以休假一年,我决定实现我内心深处的愿望完成一部小说.参加MA小说创作课程让我明确了写作框架,我完成了55000个字.
　　It takes confidence to make a new start — there’s a dark period in-between where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a navel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.” My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.
　　开始创造确实需要信心——在你犹豫不决的时候,生活是一片黑暗.当你出去吃饭,别人问你在忙什么,你会不好意思说,我最近在写小说,但是我不确定我可以完成.想到我的小说没法出版,我的信心越来越弱了,我便把写书这事抛在九霄云外了. Then I met an agent（代理商）who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel
　　随后我遇见了一个代理商,他告诉我应当把书寄给他们机构.我如实做了.让我感到惊讶的是,我得到了一些很好的反馈.我突然觉得有希望,有一天我成为了一名作家.签约后,我完成了后半本的写作.
　　The next problem was finding a publisher. After two-and-a-half years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal — that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.
　　然后的问题是找到一个出版商.在过去的两年半没有收入的漫长等待和思考中,一个
　　出版商结束了我的困境,后来成为了我效力的出版商.
　　It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck — of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there’s no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract（合同）of the publisher — to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding（有回报的）.
　　这像是命运中难以想象的运气.当你决定要做一件不同寻常的事时,也许你看不到希望,但是找到自己准确的位置,比如成为一名签约作家,你会发现这些漫长的等待是有回报的