That Was Helpful

They say that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. But I’m pretty sure the converse is also true, that when the teacher is ready, the students will appear. The insight and commitment of the students in the last two “Blueprint Your Book” classes at Grub Street have evolved The Book Architecture Method into its complete form (at 22 steps). I may be tempted to take all the credit at some point in the future—will someone please remind me to share?

We will be taking a break from teaching to write three additional chapters in our book, and will return to Grub on June 28th for a ten-week version of Blueprint Your Book (usually presented in six weeks). The first two times we taught this class, I wanted to make sure people were getting their money’s worth. But then I was told the material was being presented at a breakneck speed. Students have requested this longer form; people actually like to have the opportunity to work on their material in a class, workshopping as they write, free of life’s pressures.

Before we break, however, I couldn’t let the moment pass without complimenting the students who have helped me so much. “Students” is such an awkward title for these adults who have accomplished more than me in their lives, and who have made such a great contribution to my understanding of writing—can anyone suggest something different? Colleagues? Just “writers”?

I would like to add my gratitude for their camaraderie. You might call it fellowship, or simply community. We had this saying, started by a certain J. Peace in the back right corner of the room:

“That was helpful.”

She would say it after a particularly astute point was made. She couldn’t help herself, it would just slip out, and it became our running joke. Other students would say it to each other. Sometimes when I would answer a question the response would be, “That wasn’t very helpful.”

But we heard a lot of “That was helpful,” and the thanks goes to all the students who have taken my classes over the past three years—not only “Blueprint Your Book,” but also “Your Entire Book.” Because it wasn’t always this helpful. In my earliest classes, I sometimes struggled to answer questions (as opposed to how I am now able to say with pride and excitement, “That’s actually the next thing we’re going to talk about”). I think my inabilities may have appeared as carelessness, and even made me a few enemies, people who felt I was intentionally holding back information when—in fact—I was still learning how to put it all together.

You can’t change the past. But I would like to say to everyone now, in print, as an expression of gratitude and as an iteration of our evolving series: “You guys! That was helpful.”