And when he had gone forth into the way, there came one running, a rich young student, and kneeled to him, and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what shall I do that I may a get a better mark?’ And the creative writing tutor said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? That’s not what you put on your anonymous feedback questionnaire. You know what you have been taught: think long and hard about character, plot and setting; seek feedback and advice; and be meticulous in your rewriting.’
‘But that’s just advice on how to write better,’ said the student, ‘and I want to know how to get a higher mark.’ Then the tutor said unto him, ‘There is only one thing you lack: go your way and write better work, for as your work is, so shall your mark be also.’
Dr Sarah Gallup is a clinical psychologist at the California Department of State Hospitals. She also runs a podcast exploring the history of mental health care and the stories of people who lived or worked Behind the Walls of the World’s Psychiatric Hospitals. In six recent episodes she reads from Dangerous Asylums...
Read postAll newsThe day was dull, rather misty, and wet under foot, but neither too warm nor too cold for walking. I began to think (without being especially aware that I was thinking) about the place of blood in Christian iconography, about the chapel in which I was raised, which seemed mildly obsessed with it...
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