“Very few high school writing teachers are writers. Non-writers who teach writing are generally more optimistic (and more vocal) about the prospect of ‘making good writers’ out of high school students, which is why many parents believe their sons and daughters can become better writers while maintaining debilitating screen addictions, writing very little, and almost never reading good books for pleasure. The sort of writing instruction given by non-writers is not necessarily bad, but it is not the same sort of instruction a writer would give, which is far more glum and obtuse.
-from “Reflections on Publishing 500 Articles In This Column,” my latest for CiRCE.
There are still faint glimmers of civilization left in this barbaric slaughterhouse that was once known as humanity. 