Where did you learn HOW to write?

Same here.

I grew up around it, too. My dad has taught college freshman/sophomore-level composition and British literature courses for almost two and a half decades, and my mom was a double major of elementary ed and English in college. Everything I ever wrote, starting in kindergarten, was ripped apart before I turned it in, which made me better. Or at least I hope it has.

I thought about majoring in English in college instead of journalism because many English majors I've encountered are better writers than journalism folks.

 

I do believe you're hitting on me, Ms. Nicks.

 

Damn, do i only wish.

 

Basically taught myself, by writing. Apart from the constantly reading thing, which is the most important of all, a few key moments:

-When I was a kid, real young, about ten, myself and another precocious friend, inspired by the satire of MAD magazine, started our own "underground" newspaper about our elementary school class, which had us writing like fiends at a really young age, cracking ourselves up... and really pissing kids off.

-Age 13 or 14, started reading poetry, which blew me away. One writer always leads you to another and I still follow those tracks.

-Joined high school newspaper and took journalism class in tenth grade (first and last such class ever taken), also read "How Old Will You Be in 1984?" an anthology of underground high school newspaper journalism (which obviously dates me) which was inspirational. For the next three years my adviser let me write as much as I wanted.

-First college paper I ever turned in came back with more comments about what I wrote than what I wrote. Taught me a lot. Never got less than an A after that. Never wrote any prose that wasn't an academic paper. Wrote tons of poetry. Learned to listen to words.

-Started freelancing by accident at age 26. Taught myself. Never without an assignment since. When I write I try to anticipate what questions or information the reader will expect and provide it before he or she can even frame the question, and give it a little music, a rhythm the reader can ride on.

 

The transcendant tip here is to read as much as you can . . . read good people.

If you aren't interested in throwing yourself into that task with enthusiasm, you're contemplating the wrong business, in any event.