“It is my observation as an editor that most beginning authors are attracted to the trade of letters, not because they have anything apposite and exigent to say, but simply because it seems easy.”That is the start of H. L. Mencken’s essay “Authorship as a Trade” (reprinted in Prejudices: Fifth Series). I have been teaching for over a quarter of a century now. What has been the hardest thing to teach students? Not even a contest. I have never figured out how to convince students that writing … [Read more...] about How to Write The Grapes of Wrath
Measuring out my life with coffee spoons ...and books
