It was said to me that I should consider publishing my words, so that there might be something left for my decendents… my thoughts and response went like this:

There will be nothing left for my descendants - I intend to destroy all of my writings before I expire. It is enough that I had the enjoyment of writing and reading what I wrote; some I have shared by choice, and now I have earned the dubious honor of having a professional inquire as to my attitudes concerning publishing my words.... I do not wish to do that.

Do you know how many, and what occupations, gain from a book being published? Several. Many. More than a few. Be there enough to make it worthwhile? In numbers (quantity) there is sufficient compensation to achieve a fair balance between the writing and follow-up and the publishing process; the only person who actually benefits from all of that (and there is quite of bit of "all of that") is the reader, and then only if the choice of lifting the cover to scan the pages is of value for the time spent therein.

The writer gets the joy of his or her name on the package, perhaps a bit of honor or of notoriety (fame is such a presumptuous word), and the depression of not being able to duplicate the entire process again, and within a short time (for the emotions fall rather quickly upon a few night's sleep after the bit of fame has dimmed) - well, I would equate it, in a half-assed way, I suppose, to the professional golfer or sports player - they must keep going, keep doing what they did, and they must remain in their particular limelight, else they fail themselves and find no more of the rush they felt the first time through the tunnels.

And God help them if they have developed any sort of a following by their actions, as they would have the responsibility to please the fans, as much as pleasing themselves, which is more pressure than I would wish on anyone. I have never done well under pressure, and when rushed like that, I have only bitter tears that I keep to myself and that is another sort of depression, but one that hits the hardest.