Re: Help w/TW skills (long and provocative)

[Mary Howe/ Rick Stein <thunder -at- IDIR -dot- NET>]

Kevin Montgomery wrote:

>      Lynn Beene asked what are the most valuable TW skills she should teach
>      in her upcoming class. Several folks gave good and practical
>      responses. I'll throw out another that is a bit different and much
>      more difficult to define.

>      The best writers I've worked with, whether they bear the TW title or
>      not, are the ones who can solve problems.


(Many good suggestions snipped)


I absolutely agree, although I'm not sure you can teach problem-solving
skills in a writing class.  But I'll add one to Kevin's list of suggestions
anyway:  do logic puzzles.  I'm referring to the ones in magazines (and on
the GRE) that lay out some scenario (e.g., several office workers who go out
to lunch together once a week) with only partial details (e.g., who has an
aerobics class every Thursday, who works part time, etc.) and then ask you to
answer a question (e.g., which day do they eat together?).

I've found my ability to solve work-related problems increases when I'm in a
little binge of doing these games.

Mary Howe
thunder -at- idir -dot- net