What Hacks can Busy Writers Learn from Busy Teachers?

You'll be surprised how much 'writing' can learn from 'teaching'.

I will begin with a disclaimer that this article is not a comparison between teaching and writing. In fact, it is more focused on writers and is wholesome for the health and wellbeing of their craft as also of themselves.

I intend to show you what takeaways we busy writers can get from teachers. I would also like to inform and entertain you along the way. There is a promise of some actionable or at least ponderable takeaways for you at the end.

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“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” G.B Shaw

This well known and far too often misused quote originated way back in 1905. It was possibly relevant to some extent back then. But, in the year 2022, it is as redundant as a floppy disc.

Middle and high school teachers are some of the most versatile salespeople on the planet. They sell an abstract product like education that has no immediately visible ROI to the fussiest and most unwilling customers, the teenagers.

I know, because I have been teaching successfully for over two decades.

In fact, all teachers at all levels are working some kind of magic every day. Of course, the magic doesn’t work on every student. But we can all name some teachers who have made their mark in our lives in a positive way because they were, well, just good teachers in particular and rather awesome human beings in general.

Are all teachers really good at teaching?

Of course not. Like in any other profession, there are great, good and not so good teachers.

But the one’s that are successful teachers have a Toolbox of Skills and Aptitudes which they use to stay at the top of their game and to avoid burnout.

That Toolbox is very, very useful for us writers, especially the busy writers.

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Before I show you the toolbox, I would like to clear up one possible misconception. Being a teacher, especially if one is a teacher of English, does give one a good grounding in spelling and grammar, or at least it is supposed to. That grounding in the nuts and bolts of a language does help with writing to some extent.

But here’s the catch; not all teachers love to write. And if you don’t love to write, you will not be a successful writer no matter how good a teacher you have been. Sorry, if that sounds harsh. It is the truth. Being a teacher and teaching writing well will not automatically transition you into becoming a successful writer.

You gotta love writing like crazy. Plus be prepared to work hard at your craft.

And having at least some of the Tools in this Toolbox will definitely help.

Thank you for hanging out with me so far. As promised, I have given you a rather colourful looking toolbox with some skills and aptitudes in it. As an experienced teacher who is still teaching part-time while writing, I know I am using these tools from my teacher toolbox to Hack my Writer Life.

I will be showing you how, you, the Writer can use each one of the tools in this toolbox and how they translate into your writer life in my future newsletters.

In my next post: I will be introducing a WriterLife Hack System that I have devised and successfully used along with the tools from the toolbox. The system is simple, straightforward and very, very actionable. It is flexible and can fit around your personality and preferences.

Keen to learn about this FREE and super helpful Writer Life Hack System?

To Summarise the Key Points:

• Teachers have a set of Skills and Aptitudes that help them survive and thrive in the demanding job of teaching

• Some of these tools are very useful for us busy writers as well.

• Knowing grammar and spelling is helpful for a writer.

• Good teachers won’t automatically make good writers.

• It’s best to develop a love for writing to be a happy writer.

• You have a set of skills and aptitudes to ponder over until the next time.

• Subscribe to find out about my FREE Writer Life Hack System to use.

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