I'm glad for my Latin instruction for the structural analysis it taught me; to me it's a bit like playing a musical instrument: you learn how to play and then learn to improvise. Some musicians learn in other ways, I suppose, self-taught or whatever, and possibly writers could learn content before form. I still think most of the best writers and musicians have the craft down before the artistry.

I'm trying to leave myself some wiggle-room here because I'm convinced that having something to say makes good writing, too. I still like capitalization and punctuation and spelling and correct tense and number, though. It depends on the format, too; business letter more formal but a novel just about anything can be done far as I'm concerned.



What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy? -Ursula K. Le Guin, author (1929- )