The amateur writer was asked to write a short story for the local newspaper.
He was excited about the prospect of being published, even if it was only something for his community paper. He came up with the idea of the adventures of a cat burglar who stole from houses by climbing up the sides of buildings and entering through upper windows. He submitted it to the editor. Unhappily, it was rejected because it was rather dull and the main character was not realistic. Naturally, he was disappointed and thought the criticism was harsh. After all, how could he possibly be expected to know what it was really like to be a cat burglar, he could only write about what he knew. It was then that the idea came to him.
Several months later he took a newly written story to the editor for possible publication. After reading it the newspaper man said it was a terrific story and it would definitely go in the next edition. He said that he should write further stories on the theme for the paper and he would publish all of them. He urged the writer to keep it up.
The writer said that wouldn’t be a problem now that he’d got the hang of it!