Hmm …

… Informal Inquiries: Confessions of an incompetent English teacher.

I taught for one semester as a teaching assistant in grad school (at the end of the semester I quit grad school). I was, however, by that time a published writer and had been earning my living as an editor. I had been taught rhetoric and public speaking in college, and I am not known for a lack of self-confidence. What I taught that semester was English composition. I taught my students what I had learned as an editor. I later heard that they all turned out to do well when they had to write something. Hardly surprising. The basics of writing are not that hard to master. I enjoyed teaching, but it took a lot of work to do it well. I felt I needed the time for other things.