Alice C. Linsley
I write for a living and I live to write. Now as a retired persons, I have more time to teach students how to write, something I enjoy enormously.
I write for a living and I live to write. Now as a retired persons, I have more time to teach students how to write, something I enjoy enormously.
I teach them what good writing looks like and how it should sound when read aloud.
I teach them about the business of writing and how to craft their work for publication.
I teach them how to write a query letter, how to identify potential publications, how to prioritize submissions, how to slant articles for the target audience, etc.
Writing is a skill matched to desire. The most gifted teacher is limited by the student’s desire and motivation. Every student can learn to write better, but few will learn to write well.
Desire is something over which I have little control. I can show students samples of the world’s best writing and I can teach them how to analyze the characteristics of great literature, but I cannot plant desire and motivation in them. That is self-generated or more accurately, inspired from a Source beyond.
Students who take my classes discover a great deal about themselves. They explore their interests, work through sore spots, encounter new things, and grab hold of fascinations that carry them for years. Writing is exploration. It opens the mind to matters of the heart and creates pen-pecked dreamers.
Most of my students have been published at least once and many have established impressive publication records. A few in the latter group are now writing professionals. They keep in touch with me and often forward their published works for me to read. I find this extremely satisfying.
Writing is a skill matched to desire. The most gifted teacher is limited by the student’s desire and motivation. Every student can learn to write better, but few will learn to write well.
Desire is something over which I have little control. I can show students samples of the world’s best writing and I can teach them how to analyze the characteristics of great literature, but I cannot plant desire and motivation in them. That is self-generated or more accurately, inspired from a Source beyond.
Students who take my classes discover a great deal about themselves. They explore their interests, work through sore spots, encounter new things, and grab hold of fascinations that carry them for years. Writing is exploration. It opens the mind to matters of the heart and creates pen-pecked dreamers.
Most of my students have been published at least once and many have established impressive publication records. A few in the latter group are now writing professionals. They keep in touch with me and often forward their published works for me to read. I find this extremely satisfying.
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