You’re going to need to spend a lot of time alone We’ve been trained to turn to our phones to inform our followers of our somewhat witty observations, but instant validation is an enemy to producing the kind of writing that takes years to complete.

You’re going to need to spend a lot of time alone. JAMES YAMASAKI

I recently left a teaching position in a master of fine arts creative-writing program. I had a handful of students whose work changed my life. The vast majority of my students were hardworking, thoughtful people devoted to improving their craft despite having nothing interesting to express and no interesting way to express it. My hope for them was that they would become better readers. And then there were students whose work was so awful that it literally put me to sleep. Here are some things I learned from these experiences.

Writers are born with talent.

Either you have a propensity for creative expression or you don’t…