Once Upon a Time
If I asked you to name a great writer, who might it be? And if I asked you to name more than one, would all of them, any of them, have gone to a university?
Abraham Lincoln, a self-educated man, wrote the Gettysburg Address.
Ayn Rand left the USSR in 1926 — her formal education was over. She came to the U.S., took odd jobs in Hollywood to support herself. Ayn Rand wrote The Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged.
Truman Capote ended his formal education at age 17. He wrote In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
All of these great writers learned to write by reading.
That’s how writers learned through history. Writers learned to write before there were oficial writing teachers. What did they get?
- They got the music and the structure of the language.
- They got a sense of story.
- They learned to put words together to make meaning.
Oh sure, they got much more. Every word they read taught them something about their writing.
Do you read like a writer? What would a writer of your sort be reading? How might a writer read in a different manner? Is reading blogs enough?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you think Liz can help with a problem you’re having with your writing, check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.