Jasmine Ariti asked Rose Rosetree:

Rose, in your memoir, "Bigger Than All The Night Sky" - which I loved, by the way! - you talk about being a writer in such a powerful and meaningful way. Since you wrote about being an English major, I wondered: Did you ever take any creative writing classes as an undergrad? If so, what did you think of them? Did you ever consider entering an MFA writing program?

Rose Rosetree Thanks for appreciating BIGGER and also for this important question. Some folks need to take creative writing classes, or even study in order to earn a Master's in Fine Arts.

Folks, I wish you well. For other aspiring authors, here's a different point of view.

Regarding creative writing classes (or beta readers, for that matter), I urge you to choose carefully, choose with discernment. About this person whom you're giving so much power to, the power to shape how you evaluate your own creations... and maybe yourself?

Don't just choose who's popular. Or has achieved a successful career in publishing.

Choose a teacher who is capable of caring about you, and spotting your uniqueness. Choose a teacher who is generous of spirit, and isn't out to prove a thing.

No, I never took a class in creative writing. It could have crushed me.

As for authors who worked so hard and earned that MFA? Often I can smell it, can feel it, the technique-techniquey-cerebral sameness of the writing. Unassailable -- at least if you're a fellow believer.

But what if you're merely human, a lover of books, a writer with things to share in your own way?

Please don't assume that credentials conver quality. Or that the shoes you would learn to walk in -- for all their literary high-quality gloss -- will actually fit you.

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