tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post7306071693207256020..comments2024-03-16T22:07:42.383-04:00Comments on North Carolina Writers' Network-West's Mountain Writers & Poets: Can Writing Be Taught?Karen Paul Holmeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03438801590321008266noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-69162217672055050732013-03-22T21:21:34.507-04:002013-03-22T21:21:34.507-04:00Thanks to all of you who have taken part in this c...Thanks to all of you who have taken part in this conversation. This is what we should be doing on this blog -- discussing writing and writers.<br />We are still open to more discussion on this post or any of the posts.<br />Let us hear from you.<br />Glenda Beallhttp://www.glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-2687474945141099132013-03-22T21:19:36.333-04:002013-03-22T21:19:36.333-04:00The question was posed as to the reality of being
...The question was posed as to the reality of being<br />able to teach someone how to write. I believe anyone<br />can be taught the rubrics of writing, just like they<br />can be taught how to read music, the use of color<br />theory in painting or how to sew. Will the student<br />be great after learning the basics? Not necessarily,<br />but they will be correct. They will be able to do<br />something that gives them personal satisfaction, even<br />though they might never excel or be famous. <br />I have learned how to correctly do many things. I<br />have excelled at some due to an innate ability,<br />others, I can just do; all are satisfying because I<br />know the right way to do them. I was taught.<br />So as to the question, can writing be taught? The<br />answer is yes.<br />Mary Mike Keller<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-16125669857131852812013-03-20T00:22:57.609-04:002013-03-20T00:22:57.609-04:00Remember that old joke? "Give a roomful of mo...Remember that old joke? "Give a roomful of monkeys typewriters and they will eventually write Shakespearean prose."–or something like that. <br /><br />Does that mean the monkeys get a tutor and learn English? Put another way: Anybody or anything can be taught to write. But write great stuff? Not likely.<br /> <br /><br />Writing great stuff means the confluence of talent, teaching and discipline in one person. It's like a three-legged stool–subtract one of those three and the other two won't hold up. These three elements don't get together in one person often, but when they do, we, the people, get great additions to our body of works. <br /><br /> JC Walkup<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-90904370412683886012013-03-17T21:18:18.832-04:002013-03-17T21:18:18.832-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Kathryn Stripling Byerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-52392666494126603902013-03-17T21:17:26.179-04:002013-03-17T21:17:26.179-04:00This question has been asked so often over the pas...This question has been asked so often over the past years. The meaning of "taught" is the issue. Can a person be awakened, excited, transformed by words, by memories, by being able to enter another writers' world through stories, poems, drama? Of course. And this is what a good teacher does, opens the window shades, unlocks the doors, says "Here it is. The world, the words, the way out of what had at first seemed a prison but is in reality your life, waiting to be liberated, not from mortality, because that's the link in all our chains, but from its somnolence."Kathryn Stripling Byerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17867152753841610044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-36291779770328672872013-03-13T14:47:21.240-04:002013-03-13T14:47:21.240-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Brenda Kay Ledfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03077314514118637590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-8233593906315656892013-03-13T14:47:12.361-04:002013-03-13T14:47:12.361-04:00Great article on writing, Robert. I enjoyed it ve...Great article on writing, Robert. I enjoyed it very much. Great advice!Brenda Kay Ledfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03077314514118637590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-327770929317819999.post-20884299973552479122013-03-13T01:22:38.042-04:002013-03-13T01:22:38.042-04:00Excellent advice, Robert. I think Curiosity is one...Excellent advice, Robert. I think Curiosity is one of the most important traits a writer must have. Curiosity leads us to read more, to learn more and to write better. Glenda Beallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17953170428175025248noreply@blogger.com