Hexagram #4 Coming to Kickstarter

[Shadekeep]

I don't think "right the first time" is taught anywhere, or at least not anywhere responsible, but rather that it's a bad habit a lot of us pick up. I'm doing it right now as I write this reply, rehearsing different sentences for the sound of them before typing anything down. Somewhere along the way many of us seem to fall into this habit, particularly when writing letters or posts, and then it bleeds over into those forms of writing we do less frequently, like articles and fiction. I wasn't even aware I was doing this until the time came to unlearn it.

My schooling on writing began in the 1970s, and the focus was really on grammar, syntax, and spelling. So I suspect the emphasis on rules also helped codify this "make sure it's written right" ethos, especially on children who were less likely to revise their work. Later in high school and even moreso in college would come the emphasis on good editing and revision. But by then the elementary habits had hold.