How My Day Job Makes Me a Better Writer

Several months ago, I was standing in the busy hallway of the high school where I teach when one my colleagues — who has a degree in journalism — sidled up nearby. She asked, “If you could get paid the same amount to write that you are teaching right now, would you do it?”

At this point, some of you might be asking, “Wait, does teaching actually pay more than writing?” For the majority of writers, the answer is, resoundingly: yes, absolutely.* But that aside, her question was a really intere...