Encouragement From Writing Teachers

Posted by David Duhr in Inspiration      25 comments

Feb
16

Discussion questions: What words of encouragement from your writing teachers have kept you going through hard times? Do you think great writing can be taught? What specific lessons on craft do you remember being taught to you by specific writing teachers, and in what ways have they been helpful? Let me know in the comments below.

Can great writing be taught?

It’s a question many of us have wrestled with, and was also the topic of last week’s episode of Yak Babies, which was one of our best so far, if I may say so (and which you can listen to online here, or find in your favorite podcast app).

As a jumping-off point, we used the following line from Stephen King, in his excellent book On Writing:

“While it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.”

Your turn: Do you agree with this line? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments.

Learning Craft

I don’t entirely agree with King’s words here, and neither did my fellow Yak Babies. Our group stance was summed up well by my pal Aaron, who said, “I want to resist the notion that Faulkner came out of the ground.”

I.e., even Faulkner had to learn the craft.

But during our discussion, I realized something: “I can’t point to a single lesson or specific piece of writing advice that I ever learned from a teacher or professor that I retain,” I said. “I’m sure they’re in there, but I can’t recall them.”

Your turn: What lessons about the craft of writing do you remember learning from specific teachers/professors? Why do you think you retained those lessons?

Learning to Believe in Yourself

Obviously I absorbed plenty of lessons about craft, and I use them anytime I write. But when I think about my writing teachers, it’s not writing tips that come to mind. Here’s what I said on the show:

“But I can remember, and often draw on when I need to, specific moments of encouragement, and I think that is probably as valuable, if not more valuable, than actually teaching craft.”

In eleventh grade, my expository writing teacher, Mrs. Edington, kept me after class one day, gave me a book, and said, “If you want to, you could write like this guy.”

At the time, I was still a full decade away from caring about writing. I never read the book–it was some political satire from P.J. O’Rourke–nor did I return it (sorry, Mrs. E.).

But that moment of encouragement stayed with me, the fact that a teacher would pull me aside and tell me I had a special talent for something.

I took a journalism class my junior year of college in Denver, and again the professor, Ania Savage was her name, kept me after class one day. She said, “Every year I have two or three students who I know will become writers if they want to. You’re one of those students this year.” 

Six years later–I was still an undergrad junior, oops, this time in Milwaukee–a professor named Denny Fischer told me I had just written one of the best Jane Eyre papers he’d ever read. He had been teaching for decades.

He asked me what English Dept. track I was in, and I told him creative writing, which made him scowl. He told me I should consider a focus on literature instead, with the goal of becoming a critic. I said, “I have no interest in that.” Which was true, though ten years later I did become a professional reviewer for a minute.

But he kept tabs on me the rest of my time at that school, and the personal stake he took in my future often gave me a boost when I needed one.

Learning craft is important, no doubt. But having a teacher take a special interest in you, and taking time out of his/her day to give you one-on-one encouragement, can make the difference between a good writer and someone who knows craft but doesn’t use it because he or she has given up on writing.

Your turn: Are there any moments of encouragement from writing teachers that keep you going through hard times? Do you think being offered encouragement can be as important as learning craft? Let me know below.

WriteByNight co-founder David Duhr is fiction editor at the Texas Observer and co-host of the Yak Babies podcast, and has written about books for the Dallas Morning News, Electric Literature, Publishing Perspectives, and others.

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