Diary of a Mad Editor

There’s no such thing as Santa Claus.

There are no magic wands.

Can’t spin straw into gold.

Despite what the spam in my inbox says, there’s no such thing as an acne vitamin.

Likewise, there are no Leprechauns, unicorns or tooth fairies.

And there’s no such thing as a writing guru.

Well . . . there are “writing gurus”   — just that they can’t really help you beginners become better writers. If you’re a writer, it’s a nice little sideline. The self-help racket is a multi-billion dollar industry. And if you’re a writer, there’s lots of money to be made teaching others how to write. The thing is, one can’t really teach another person how to write — they can only teach a another writer what works and does not work for them. One cannot teach the creative process. They can only teach their creative process. So if you are a beginning writer looking for a mentor, run from anyone calling themselves a writing guru, writing guide, or creativity coach, because a good mentor doesn’t provide answers or claim to have answers. A good mentor is someone who plants a firm boot up your ass so you do the work to find your own answers.