Going back to Bennignton after two years was largely painless. Of course, it helped to be there with my more socially adept friends to urge me over to our former teachers and mumble through a few bits of conversation. It was like no time had passed at all and also that a whole world of difference has emerged between then and now. It was good to feel like a writer in the world instead of a student of writing. It felt good to know that Alice Mattison could "build a house out of all the drafts" she has for her new book and that Askold Melnyczuk's wife has read his new book dozens of times. I knew this about writing a novel, but it's still nice to hear from the experts that they struggle with this not just once, but every time.