...paying off your loans as you go is prudent and takes a toll on your bank account which makes you feel financially insecure and imprudent. Like most Americans, I'm happier with a little bit of money and a lot of loans.

I learned that writing is a great way to spend more time at home becoming increasingly obsessed with your dog, a devoted and ever-willing distraction. Thanks to my writing days, Mister President can sit pretty, spin, speak and turn the light on and off.

I learned that there is no mathematical formula for the great short story but that that's not enough to make me stop trying.

I learned that beginnings, middles and endings will always be difficult no matter how long and hard I write.

I forgot what a great distraction blogging can be. (It's writing without writing.)

I learned that a $2 drink in New York is not always worth drinking, but the free fried potatoes sure are tasty.

I learned that as I get older, there will be some people I care a lot about that I may never happen to speak to again.

I learned that I use the word "that" too much.

I'm learning to speak Italian. Un po.

I learned that whenever I sit down to write, I need to eat a bowl of cereal and make sure my eyebrows are tweezed before I can really begin.

I learned that detailed line edits on something that is a "first draft" that is techincally clean is more about the editor than the writing.

I learned that I'm not interested in a story I'm writing unless it's based on someone I know.

And lastly, I learned that the language that drew me to writing is not what will keep me writing or make me a writer. It's all about the story. It really really is. Maybe you'll notice how flat my language is becoming, or maybe you won't beceause you'll be so caught up in the story.