A Simple Question

Many years ago, in another lifetime, I taught creative writing to gifted teenagers for a couple of summers. In each class there were bright, diligent students who just couldn’t find the right turn of phrase. You could feel the mental flailing-about in every paragraph… they were struggling in vain to get to the point. My technique for attacking the problem was simple: First, I’d listen to the students talk about the parts that were troubling them. Then, once they were in the mode of talking with me, rather than wrestling with the problem, I’d ask what it was they wanted to say. Just offhand, like we were having a normal conversation and I was asking…