• Learn by doing.
• Learn by reading.
• Learn by studying.

But why do you have to do all this in order to write?
You could just go out and write, but the writing will be junk.

No one who writes can say they do it because they are a natural writer.
There is no such creature.

First drafts are an essential part of my process when I write. If anything I do makes it, as a little friend in the first grade said, “a first giraffe,” then I know I will continue with it. He then asked how many giraffes does it take to make a story? I told him as many as want to come along for the ride.

How many giraffes, or drafts, should a writer do?

We have been taught in school, unfortunately, that we need to get things done fast and as instantly as possible by the sheer lack of time many curricula insist on. They do this by saying you get an assignment on Monday and need to have it done before Friday to hand in. Now there is nothing wrong with deadlines, however, to write anything well and complete as possible it takes time. It also takes many more drafts than we often expect.
 
How many? It takes as many as it takes until the work is done. Seldom does a good work happen in only in three days as is often the case in schools. It is difficult to teach that real-time writing is a mythological kingdom where time holds no bounds, but is a difficult taskmaster when it wants to be.

On November 8, 2018 the Paradise Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise and my home, home office with it.

You can easily find out more about that horrible day and the aftermath that we are all going through and likely to go through for quite some time.

As for me, I don't want to write about it.

I don't wish for anyone to ever have to go through something like that.

Stay safe.
Be aware.