Natural talent exists.

ndeed, the key to improving novice writers’ experiencesis improving how they think about their work, a process calledmetacognition.

focus on what writersshould not do: don’t plagiarize, don’t use “I,” don’t use Wikipedia

Therefore, their perceived talent perpetuated theauthor genius idea because these desirable students were alreadyseen as good writers while the less desirable students were not.

When he was finally finished, after whatseemed like hours, my father looked up andasked: “Where can we get more copies of this forthe relatives?”

“Use this,” myfather said, tapping his head, “and not this,”showing us those hands. He always lookedtired when he said it.

I wanted my father to understandwhat it was I was scribbling, to introduce me as“My only daughter, the writer.” Not as “This isonly my daughter.

What I didn’trealize was that my father thought collegewas good for girls—good for finding ahusband.

Despite all the books I read, I am still surprised I became a writer. I was going to be a pediatrician.

In all my years in the reservation school system, I was never taught how to write poetry, short stories ornovels. I was certainly never taught that Indians wrote poetry, short stories and novels. Writing was something beyond Indians

I read books at recess, thenduring lunch, and in the few minutes left after I had finished my classroom assignments. I read books in the car when my family traveled to powwows orbasketball games.

I learned to read with a Superman comic book. Simple enough, I suppose. I cannot recall which particular Superman comic book I read, nor can I rememberwhich villain he fought in that issue. I cannot remember the plot, nor the means by which I obtained the comic book.