Brey Willows

Card 34, Writing Down the Bones: Tell me something you’re good at.

I very nearly put this card back and chose another. Most days I’m convinced I’m not good at anything, that I’m generally just a waste of space and energy. And we’re taught not to boast, aren’t we? We’re not supposed to talk about things we’re good at because that makes us attention seeking truffle pigs.

But an answer shot into my pre-coffee brain right away, so I decided to do it after all.

I’m a good teacher.

When I was working on my PhD, I was sure I was going to become a teacher at some university or another. While I was working on that, I’d also become a development editor under a senior editor’s tutalege, and I slowly began to learn the craft elements I needed to teach to authors who were working through difficult manuscripts. The senior editor spotted my talent and worked hard on getting me ready to do it on my own.

Since then I’ve worked with a big stack of authors, writing pages and pages of notes, having meetings, working through plot things. I’ve taught at writing academies and we run our own writing retreats and workshops via Global Wordsmiths. Just a few weeks ago I taught an advanced course to four writers who are at the stage where they have all the basic craft tools, but now they need to think on a deeper level in order to really grab readers by the throat.

And the truth is, I really, really enjoy teaching writing.

I never became a doctor of anything. I never taught at university. But I have become a teacher, and I’ve done it in ways that make me happy. The feedback I’ve had from authors over the years has told me that it’s true: I’m good at it.

What are you good at?