...I guess I'm all for writers knowing not only >what they want to say, but understanding the medium they are expressing >themselves in...I think you are supporting a myth which may be a muse for >some very talented and rare writers, but for most, I think seeking >knowledge works better. will I'm agreeing with Will here, and expanding: That a would-be writer learns the tenets and nuances of his craft does not make him a Good Writer...it does not even teach him how to Write. A person can study music theory all his life and still never write a simple piano melody with any skill. Certainly the composer can only profit from a knowledge of theory--the same, I believe, is true for the writer. Are you a fan of Bach, Scottie? He was a brilliant composer who made beautiful music--he and Mozart, and both of them relied entirely upon theory. Debussy relied upon theory in a completely different way; he liked the use the chord inversions that were specifically not allowed in his texts--but he would not have known those inversions were it not for his training. Am I making sense here? Is my parallel too far-fetched? I can't see how learning your own craft could possibly hurt it. At the worst, we end up with a lot of technically good writing reads cold and hollow...and we have that in abundance. I still love to read. Brendan ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com