Reading, writing and how to make a living

Re “Want to write? Read,” Current, Aug. 27

Michael Skube proposes that to write well, today’s students “need only be exposed to possibilities in things outside themselves.” This message is like claiming that all students can become highly accomplished in all subjects.

To the contrary, any time students are administered standardized tests, their scores distribute themselves in the shape of the classic bell-shaped curve. Most scores hover around the top of the curve, while lesser and lesser numbers of them fall at the left- and right-handed sections of the curve.

Parents thus should not worry about whether their children will be able write in a superior manner. Very few adults ever do so to the level that they can make writing a paying job.

The rule here is that one must read a great deal in order to be a highly proficient writer. However, few superior readers ever make a living by writing.

PATRICK GROFF

Professor of Education Emeritus

San Diego State

San Diego