Decades ago, when I was a little girl listening intently in class, my teachers would often exhort us to keep journals, so that we might be able to improve our writing. These journals weren’t really specific; they were diary of sorts that we had to write in everyday. It wasn’t voluntary. We had to submit the journals by the end of the week so that our teachers might grade them.
I was sort of lazy then (as I am now), so I often wrote all my entries Friday …

One of the biggest things that most people ask me to teach them is how to write.
It’s not that I don’t want to teach people; it’s just that there really is no powerful secret method or sure-fire process to improve one’s writing skills. I’ve never really figured out how I learned to write. In fact, I just remember studying grammar in school and somehow getting the hang of things. I didn’t take any special lessons and had no additional courses. There’s no magic bullet.
Which is why …