So, we're all writers here who take it seriously. Would you ever teach writing? I mean some levels of teaching require certain qualifications but not all. I mean you could teach a class through continuing ed and places like that probably based on your experience as a writer. Same with something through some libraries, I imagine. And there are online places like Gotham. Gotham instructors are extremely accomplished and skilled, but that's the only online place I'm really familiar with like that. I'm just using that as an example. I'm just saying that some of us could probably teach in some form if we wanted. Would you ever want that? Is it something you could see yourself doing? I've been pressured a little bit to explore teaching options, but I'm not sure I want to do it. If you've thought about it teaching writing, is it something you could see yourself doing? What would make you want to do something like that? Or excited to do something like that? What do you think is the biggest positive there is when it comes to teaching writing?
There's a lot of positives to teaching. There's nothing like the bright-eyed look of someone learning a new concept. I was a high school teacher for many years. But now I am retired, and enjoying the slow pace of life.
Does a critique count as teaching? I guess not really. It's feedback but not in an ascending curriculum. Aside from me not being a good teacher in general, writing is tied so closely to thinking and thought processes that it would be frustrating and possibly futile. If it's too late to impart foundational aspects on the students' minds, then half the class already understands (I'm just there to make them exercise) and the other half never will. There you go: I'm too cynical to be a teacher.
I taught creative writing at the community college from 1997-2002. I also taught creative writing to fifth graders for a year, along with an occasional workshop for random junior/senior high school classes. Teaching other writers is to teach oneself. I got a lot out of teaching writing, professionally and spiritually, and I am glad I did it. That being said, I don't believe I would teach writing in a public insitution now. Okay, I'm about to start a rant, so here's a trigger warning for anyone who wants to cling to warm and fuzzy dreams about imparting knowledge to hardworking students who long for enlightenment: Pull. Out. Now. First of all, there are still students who overcome obstacles with determination and grit instead of heading for the safe room in the face of the mildest criticism. Several have worked for me over the last decade, and all are doing well as adults. They give me hope. Interestingly, all are biological scientists. Science can be unforgiving. One doesn't water the wheatfield, the grain will never head out. Get careless tagging rattlesnakes in the field and end up in the hospital with a $50,000 bill for antivenin. There are consequences for each action one takes in science, starting with the first bunsen burner one lights in the seventh grade. Can it be that lack of consequences is hampering students in other disciplines? A college dean recently explained to me that over the last ten or fifteen years, el-hi students have been cushioned, coddled, and encouraged without also being challenged to meet expectations. She described college-level creative writing students crumpling under critiques that my fifth graders would've taken right in stride. Twenty-year-old men and women need extra time to complete assigments because the topic distresses them or because the timing doesn't fit in with their need to balance school and leisure. Teachers make adjustments for these people because they're afraid if students get frustrated, they'll drop out, and dropouts looks bad on paper. "They're just junior college students" is the plea. Years ago, I sent submission guidelines to college professors, hoping that some of their students would be interested in writing science articles for a professional newsletter. The guidelines clearly state: no fiction, no poetry, no creative nonfiction about personal relationships with nature. Tenured professors sent me everything from "why I love bunnies" to effing haiku. The haiku writer's instructor actually expected me to accept the piece because the haiku was "soooo wonderful" and the boy's feelings would be hurt if I didn't publish it. What is the basic tenet of writing for publication? Follow the damn guidelines. What is so hard about explaining that to students? Is it not a serious disservice to these people to let them believe the world will adjust itself to suit their whims? So. There you are. Teaching is not what it used to be, and it's not just because we have to worry about people walking into buildings with crossbows and high powered rifles. (The crossbow incident happened two doors down from where my daughter was attending class; I get that the threat is real.) Treat students like pieces of glass that will shatter under deadlines and assignments that take up Me Time, and we'll get students who shatter under pressure because it's acceptable, expected, and easier than cowboying the hell up. If you plan to teach writing now, be prepared for students who care enough to work hard and turn critiques to their own advantage- and be prepared for those who end up in a little crystal pile at your feet if you suggest a course in remedial English because they cannot write a simple declarative sentence. Okay. End of rant. It's safe to come out now.
Slightly off-topic, but something I do if I want to learn about a subject I know little about is to pretend to teach it to imaginary others (yes, out loud). Gaps in my knowledge about the subject show up right away. I suppose writing an essay on the topic might do much the same thing.
I think I have too much anxiety to get up in front of a class. If I ever get to do a book tour with public readings and Q&A's, I guess I'll have to get over that shit fast, lol. Either way, I don't think I want to teach. I would, if I ever get to the point where I feel like I'm worth listening to, like to write a manual. I would rather share my insights in book form, you know, after I've penned a dozen best sellers, of course.
About two decades back, being a federal court law clerk, I was working at the local law school as an adjunct, teaching small sections of a legal research and writing class. Like Catriona suggested (can I just call you Cat?) the students were a mixed bag in terms of commitment to the class, although they didn't break under criticism because, as law students, they were regularly exposed to criticism of all degrees. But what struck me most about it was that some students -- college grads who must have ranked high to get in the law school -- had only a rudimentary understanding of the rules of grammar and writing. How, I wondered, did they get this far? I mean I know that some of them would be primarily litigators and have clerks or staff attorneys to write their stuff, but I couldn't believe those students had little interest in how to write coherently.
Absolutely you may. I was a NALA certified legal assistant for 12 years. One of my attorneys could not string two sentences together without making a mistake. Early on he wanted me to proofread a document. I read a few lines and asked if he wanted me to edit it for things like consistent tenses. He had a kitty fit and said NO, it was fine just the way it was. He just wanted to make sure he had all the facts correct. Shrug. No skin off my nose if he wrote like a fifth grader.
I'm not surprised, Cat, but I still wonder how people like him got through law school -- back then we had to hand-write our exam answers, so no way to cheat or get help. Unless yours was a jurisdiction in which people could get admitted to the State Bar by apprenticing with a lawyer, no doubt a family member in most cases. Most lawyers I knew could write coherently, but when I was in private practice -- which I hated BTW -- I became the brief and letter guy, the one who massaged hard writing into something readable.
He went to law school in Colorado. He presented very well at trial, but his heart just wasn't in the day to day practice, and that made him a pain in the neck to work for. The time his legal assistants spent dragging his sorry ass out of cracks... He should've grown up to be a professional fishing guide, but said his mother was determined to raise one doctor and one lawyer. The latter fate fell to him. I am unsympathetic. My mom wanted me to be a medical records librarian (gack!) but I saw no reason to spend my life living someone else's dream. My favorite attorney is also one of my favorite people as well. In a fit of frustration over a plaintiff's attorney's stupid animal tricks, he stated that going to law school wasn't indicative of intelligence, the plaintiff's attorney being a case in point. "Dumb as a box of rocks" were his actual words. I'm glad I did my time as a CLA. It was interesting and fulfilling. I am also glad I'm not doing it any more.
