Ah, February, the month of romance, twenty-eight days of love and hugs and kisses and promises of eternal bliss. Groundhog Day!

I’m sure that the right teacher, in a well-designed course, can be a great help to beginning writers who are trying to find their way, but I have no personal experience of that. I found my own way by doing two things. First, I read 150 books a year, sometimes more, (very little TV, later…