Are you a “lucky” one?

Ditto mammamaia...it's about personal responsibility.

I flunked "English" or got grades of "D" (barely passing) in three out of four years in high school. Why? Because I had teachers who turned the study of language into tedium. We had to memorize Shakespeare, learn the words to famous plays like My Fair Lady and read horrible drivel like The Scarlet Letter. To graduate from Whitman-Hanson High School, all students were required to write a "Spellman Essay"...named after Boston's Cardinal Spellman. Like many dumb jocks and auto-shop majors, I just paid somebody else to write the damn thing.

Ironically, I got "A's" in French all four years. Algebra, Analytical Geometry, Trig and Calculus were fun. History sucked...especially History of the Commonwealth (State of Massachusetts) but I managed decent grades. The only other subject I failed was Speech. I flat out refused to get up in front of anyone to speak. I was painfully shy.

Back to English...I did not learn in my English classes because I had a bad attitude. I remember telling my teacher, "You're teaching is a waste of my time because I already speak the language sufficiently for my purposes. Who the Hell cares what a gerund is? And, I will never in the rest of my life be asked about my split infinitives! You, and this class, are a complete waste of tax dollars!" She gave me an "F"...well deserved, I might add.

My point is, when I graduated from high school I was woefully unprepared to be a writer. In fact, I shunned writing for many years. Only when I became a professional bass fisherman did I discover that I love writing about the sport. My internet writing about fishing was soon noticed by one of the fishing magazines. The editor called me, and to my great surprise, invited me to write for them. He quickly became my mentor. Writing skills suddenly mattered, so I set out to "learn" the vocabulary and skills necessary for a basic level of competence. That was twenty years ago...Thank you, Bubba (my editor).

Today, I have little or no patience for people who whine about their lack of knowledge. All the tools needed for writing the next great novel are available at no cost on the internet for those who are not lazy. If someone has a problem with creativity, or plot development or inventing a good "hook", I will offer any assistance if I can. But, when someone refuses to take the time to self study, then why should I invest time in that person? So, if you're having trouble with "to, two, too", don't ask...look it up!

.....NaCl

 

<slow, heartfelt applause>

People do make mistakes. I wore out the backspace key on my last laptop. But I keep trying to do better. If someone points out a mistake I've made that is more than a slip of the fingertip, I look it up, and make sure I understand it.

How can someone say, in nearly the same breath, "I want to be a writer," and "My spelling and grammar are atrocious, please ignore the errors." If you want to be a writer, you must -- must -- do your utnost to master the basics.

I don't say this to look down my nose at anyone. But I can only shake my head sadly when I see someone apparently thinking they can put off working on spelling and punctuation and usage.

 

That's why i almost failed math. But i made it out with a B.

 

A good quote to put in here is "I'm a firm believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more of it I have." It's amazing how many more moments of pure luck you get when you are prepared for them.

 

ditto that!!!

brilliant!... that's a slightly paraphrased quote from thos jefferson, isn't it, cd?...

 

It is. I read it recently and couldn't remember where, thanks for helping me figure it out.

 

Another quote which applies (one of my favorites):


Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

- Aristotle

All writing demands your best effort, even posts to an Internet forum.

 

If anyone who has ever posted on this site ever hopes to become something of a published writer, then they certainly will. Either that, or they're going to find out the harsh realities of it REAL quick, because you can be perfect grammatically, and still have a garbage story. Or you can have a great story, but if you don't have your SPAG in order, you're SOL, sorry Charlie.

I mean there are just some things one cannot get around, and as well they shouldn't, I think!