Another One?

Yesterday I read about another writers' conference in this state. This one, at Central Connecticut State College this weekend, is for young writers, as in high school, college, and graduate students.

It's mind boggling the numbers of conferences and programs for writers while the lit world complains about lack of readers. I'm not saying people shouldn't want to write, but, golly, maybe some of these people should think about becoming astronauts or supermodels or something.

Some Support for My Point of View--At Least, I Think So

I've always had a concern about teachers talking about publishing with grade school students. And by talking about publishing I mean encouraging them to write books and to think they can publish. I think kids that age should be learning how to write before they think about publishing.

I've just started reading Writing in General and the Short Story in Particular by Rust Hill. (Interesting name, no?) He says in his introduction "...there's got to be a minimum basic kind of competence before you can even begin to think of writing..." That's exactly what I mean. I think it's wrong to tell young people anything different. And it's wrong not to teach them "a minimym basic kind of competence, too."