Take classes and go to writers’ workshops. Writing is<br>communication. You need other people to let you know<br>whether you're communicating what you think you are and<br>whether you're doing it in ways that are not only accessible<br>and entertaining, but as compelling as you can make them.<br>In other words, you need to know that you're telling a good<br>story. You want to be the writer who keeps readers up late<br>at night, not the one who drives them off to watch<br>television. Workshops and classes are rented readers—<br>rented audiences—for your work. Learn from the<br>comments, questions, and suggestions of both the teacher<br>and the class. These relative strangers are more likely to<br>tell you the truth about your work than are your friends and<br>family who may not want to hurt or offend you. One<br>tiresome truth they might tell you, for instance, is that you<br>need to take a grammar class. If they say this, listen. Take<br>the class. Vocabulary and grammar are your primary tools.<br>They're most effectively used, even most effectively<br>abused, by people who understand them. No computer<br>program, no friend or employee can take the place of a<br>sound knowledge of your tools.<br>