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Writing can't be taught.

I think I learned most from editing, both editing myself and having someone else edit me. It's not always easy to have someone criticize your work, your baby. But if you can swallow your ego, you can really learn from the editing.

Writing is like jazz. It can be learned, but it can't be taught.

We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.

Truth is, every writer has to be a good editor, and you have to edit yourself. It's a skill every writer has to acquire.

You can't make someone learn something - you really can't teach someone something - they have to want to learn it. And if they want to learn, they will.

Editing is simply the application of the common sense of any good reader. That's why, to be an editor, you have to be a reader. It's the number one qualification.

People say you can't teach writing, but I think that's nonsense.

I've puzzled over the difficulty that students have with editing, and I think I've identified its source: It's their self-talk. We all talk to ourselves, inside our heads. That's what consciousness is.

Lessons are not given, they are taken.