I have only gotten to Chapter 4 of this book, but love it. Reading the Intro made me think that maybe it is a bad idea to go to Grad School for Creative Writing. It seems that many Writing Professors are accomplished writers, but this doesn’t mean they are good teachers. I might be better off learning myself for a while, and then finding good Couching. I’d likely save money, and stress.

The picture Jerry Cleaver paints of writing classes from his college years, doesn’t seem promising. By chance, after years of work, he came across a good teacher, and this changed everything for him.

The question becomes, has college writing changed since the 70’s? I am thinking that the changes are small, and technology based (talk about Blogging).

Jerry believes that anyone can be a good writer, because good writing is based off our Life Skills. We learn how people are likely to react to situations based on our relationships and own emotions. I am not doing a good job explaining, but the book isn’t expensive (and is at some libraries).

Based on this argument, going out and living life, would make you a better writer. Being in relationships, and talking to friends would teach you more about people. This would enable you to write better Characters, and better portray emotions. If this is true, learning about writing isn’t completely done in front of a computer. It isn’t a solitary task.