Gossip is a legitimate career path!

Editorial in NYTimes:

Overachievers don't generally become writers because the skill set is so different. As I tell my writing students, if you want to be a writer work on the finer points of gossip, eavesdropping and voyeurism; basically the pastimes of the underachiever, ways to while away the hours.

Isn't this the plot of Harriet the Spy?

At any rate, I like it.