"Anyone educated in the art of composition in the Western Hemisphere at any time in the last hundred..."

“Anyone educated in the art of composition in the Western Hemisphere at any time in the last hundred years was firmly taught that there is One Correct Way to write, and it involves strictly linear planning, thought, and execution. You Must Have a Topic Sentence. You Must Have a Topic Paragraph. YOU MUST HAVE AN OUTLINE. And so forth and so tediously on…

 

Got news for you: You don’t have to do it that way. Anything that gets words on the page is the Right Thing to Do.”

- Diana Gabaldon, on learning how to write.