The Work of the Professional Writer and the Writing Teacher

On the contrast between doing the work and preparing to do it

Those who can, do. Those who can’t…

The professional writer sits at his desk every morning, hammering away at his loud-as-hell mechanical keyboard, while the writing teacher stares at a blank screen on his fancy, distraction-free writing device.¹ The writer files copy and cashes checks. The writing teacher conducts seminars on how to write a book he has n…