Rtfm: Practical Advice for Smart Writers

No one would ever have tagged me as a future writer while I was still in school. I heartily disliked it, about as much as I disliked new math. Curriculum designers seem to be especially good at transforming something that should be fun into a chore. Some writing activities are in fact a chore, like washing dishes. You can’t let stuff pile up in the sink. For the most part, writing is a great creative act. If you come out of school thinking otherwise, it’s not your fault. I gradually came to see the possibilities in writing when I arrived at my senior year in high school. Over the next decade and a half, I had the outstanding good fortune to work with writing teachers who understood the craft, and to know one person in particular who appreciates great writing. The hard work that goes into great writing began to seem less mysterious. I began to see how to build high quality written products, and came to appreciate their intrinsic value.