Anything You Can Write...

If you don't think writing is a sport, you've never sat through the agony of an adult education creative writing course.

Disguised as a nurturing learning environment, the adult ed creative writing class is really a den of would-be word Olympians poised to strike down the competition on their way to publishing glory.

They are all experts. They all know more than you know. Anything you can write, they can write better. Yet, ironically, you won't find very many bestselling authors in this dugout. In fact, you won't find any. But that never stopped anyone from offering advice on how to "make it." It is not lost on you that even your teacher has not made it. He's teaching an adult ed creative writing class on Tuesday nights at a community college, for crying out loud!

The "sharing" portion of the class is just that, but not in the way you'd expect. You stretch your writing muscles, you flex your pen and then you share your work. While you're cooling down and replenishing your fluids, your fellow classmates emerge from their corners to share their "opinions" of what you've written. And you know what is said about opinions.

No, there is no home stretch. There is no victory lap. There is only endless training, some sparring and a few bruises.

You will not have truly made it until you never step foot in that arena again.