Writing Forum

I don't really think we disagree as much as it may sound like. It's quite obvious that the best way of learning anything is by practicing it, whether it be writing, music, math, or something completely different, and as I said, you can learn any skill all by yourself. My point is simply that this is not the most effective way to learn anything. All research shows, which I guess quite intuitive, that having some form of teacher/tutor/mentor, call it what you want, can improve the rate at which you learn something. I know my writing sucks, and I know it'll do so for a long time, but that's not the point. The point is that any amount of time I can cut off from that period of sucking is time I can use on writing the good stuff, and if I'm lucky/talented/disciplined enough perhaps one day truly great stuff.

Yes, the most important thing is that you actually practice the writing and that you enjoy the time spent practicing, and if you spend an hour a day reading books on writing and ten minutes on actual writing then you're not getting anywhere. However, I'm lucky enough to have a good amount of free time for the next couple of weeks, more time than I can spend on writing and still expect to stay sane, so reading about techniques, grammar, writing exercises, and so on might not be a bad idea.

As for conflicting evidence, well, that's the best part. This forces you think about what you're reading/listening to, so it doesn't just flow in through one ear and out the other. Of course, if you start writing and especially start reading about writing with the mind set that there must be a correct way of doing anything then it'll become a problem, but if you stay open minded and are willing to think about the advice you're given then almost every resource you can find will be useful.

Again, I don't really feel we disagree all that much on the subject, but it seems like missed the points in each other's previous posts.