April 22, 2023

Something I thought about:

• Recently I read a short post that cited a former professor. I hadn’t liked the course I’d taken with her (she was fine – this simply was not a great fit), but the citation made me think of her differently, and I realized that I would probably really like her scholarship and might have loved an advanced seminar with her – she was brilliant at analysis but not great at breaking down the process for a beginner. It made me think of other "mismatches," like a teacher who had been beloved by high school students but was "too weird" for middle schoolers. What is the relationship between necessity and fit in an educational context?

Something I did:

• Had a conference proposal accepted
• Wrote
• Taught
• More logistics

Something I read:

• More George Saunders writing advice. Frank Bidart focused on this, as well – trying to capture something true while cutting everything pat or overly easy from drafts.

We often talk here about a story as a form of communication.  As with real communication, one thing that will mess it up is dishonesty.  Or, to say it the other way: good, responsive storytelling depends on honesty.