a few weeks back I had an article published on the relative value of writing courses, and the reasons people write, particularly why I (now) write.

I looked up the article to send to a friend who'd asked to see it, and came across a hotchpotch of criticism saying I was elitist, intellectual snob and possibly suffering from hypergraphia. it's too late and I'm too tired to link all the comments and I'm not sure I want to bring those people here. I did find one writing community that got it - that were both inspired to reaffirm their commitment to their writing, and to question why they were doing what they were doing, with positive results - but it seems that a combination of getting up people's noses and a certain amount of editing that took out some of the pointers to my own ambivalence has led to people thinking I'm a superior snob who believes I can write but no one else can, or should be taught to. I feel curiously unoffended by this, as I am quite sure it's not true. I can't write 1/10th as well as I'd like to. I sit in my classes green with envy of some of the wilder expressions and ideas dreamt up by other students. I am enrolled in a writing course for a reason ( and if that fact wasn't a pointer to irony and the salt shaker for those bloggers/commenters, nothing will be). so I just read these really quite personal attacks (one made a big deal of mocking the fact that I'd had cancer and that this had affected my motivation), and think "hmm, they've got the wrong end of the stick haven't they?". I'm not even sure why I'm blogging this: I think I'm more surprised by my not caring than I care, if you know what I mean.