Genetic Programming Makes Nurture the Most Important Factor in our Behavior Another Paradox

Claudia Gold, on a post on her Child in Mind blog, mentioned in passing that 700 new connections per second are made in the brains of newborns within the context of caregiving relationships. 700 per second! 

One of the basic theories behind my psychotherapy treatment method (unified therapy) for repetitive self destructive or self-defeating behavior patterns is that the behavior of primary attachment figures - in most cases, the parents - are, from a cognitive-behavioral standpoint, simply the most important environmental factor in triggering and reinforcing the problematic patterns. And not only when we our children, but throughout life. Certainly more powerful than a therapist could ever be.

I argue that babies come into the world completely helpless and with absolutely no knowledge about how the universe operates. We remain helpless far longer than the young of most species. Therefore, evolution likely proceeded in a way that resulted in our being biologically programmed to wire our automatic and repetitive  behavioral responses in most environmental contests - in particular social contexts - in accordance with what we learn from our interactions with those attachment figures. 

There is much evidence from neuroscience that the brain wiring that develops in this context and remains in the brain is particularly resistant to change through the normal process of neural plasticity. While it is true that later in childhood and adolescence the number of these connections is greatly reduced through a process called pruning, I suspect the ones that are lost are those that are not continually reinforced by the attachment figures.

In the nature-nurture debate about psychological behavior problems, for most of them I come down on the side of nurture being far more important than nature. Nature just provides us with a rangeof possible behaviors and reactions, while both nurture (and thinking - don't forget about that) allow us to choose where in that range we would prefer to reside.

But our nature as determined by our genes apparently does have one all-important function. Interestingly, it is the same influence no matter what the rest of our individual genome (assuming we have intact neural functioning) contains: it dictates that we are highly likely to respond to our nurture in accordance with the feedback provided to us by our parents. Paradoxically, it is nature that makes nurture so damned important in determining our behavior.

So learning about those 700 connections per second seemed to me to be good evidence for this point of view. So I looked up the source and found an articlepublished by  Harvard's Center on the Developing Child. It said that those neural connections "...are formed through the interaction of genes and a baby’s environment and experiences, especially “serve and return” interaction with adults, or what developmental researchers call contingent reciprocity. These are the connections that build brain architecture – the foundation upon which all later learning, behavior, and health depend."

Serve and return was further explained as interactions that shape brain architecture: "When an infant or young child babbles, gestures, or cries, and an adult responds appropriately with eye contact, words, or a hug, neural connections are built and strengthened in the child’s brain that support the development of communication and social skills. Much like a lively game of tennis, volleyball, or Ping-Pong, this back-and-forth is both fun and capacity-building. When caregivers are sensitive and responsive to a young child’s signals and needs, they provide an environment rich in serve and return experiences."

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Fear of Flying one of the commonest fears

Fear of flying may be a distinct phobia in itself, or it may be an indirect combination of one or more other phobias related to flying, such as claustrophobia (a fear of enclosed spaces) or acrophobia (a fear of heights). It may have other causes as well, such as agoraphobia (especially the type that has to do with having a panic attack in a place they can't escape from). It is a symptom rather than a disease, and different causes may bring it about in different individuals.

The fear receives more attention than most other phobias because air travel is often difficult for people to avoid—especially in professional contexts—and because the fear is widespread, affecting a significant minority of the population. A fear of flying may prevent a person from going on vacations or visiting family and friends, and it can cripple the career of a businessperson by preventing them from traveling on work-related business.

Symptoms

A fear of flying is a level of anxiety so great that it prevents a person from travelling by air, or causes great distress to a person when he or she is compelled to travel by air. The most extreme manifestations can include panic attacks or vomiting at the mere sight or mention of an aircraft or air travel.

Causes

The fear of flying may be created by various other phobias and fears:

• fear of crashing which is often and inaccurately believed to most likely result in death, which is the most common reason for the fear of flying.
• a fear of closed in spaces (claustrophobia), such as that of an aircraft cabin
• a fear of heights (acrophobia)
• a feeling of not being in control
• fear of vomiting, where a person will be afraid that they'll have motion sickness on board, or encounter someone having motion sickness and have no control over it (such as escaping it)
• fear of having panic attacks in certain places, where escape would be difficult and/or embarrassing (agoraphobia)
• fear of hijacking or terrorism
• fear of turbulence
• fear of flying over water or night flying

A previous traumatizing experience with air travel or somehow connected to flying can also trigger a fear of flying. For example, the experience of flying to a meeting only to be told that one has been fired might be traumatic enough to subsequently create an association between any air travel and bad or unpleasant events.

Some suggest that the media are a major factor behind fear of flying, and claim that the media sensationalize airline crashes (and the high casualty rate per incident), in comparison to the perceived scant attention given to the massive number of isolated automobile crashes. As the total number of flights in the world rises, the absolute number of crashes rises as well, even though the overall safety of air travel continues to improve. Statistics on various forms of travel show that airplanes are safer than other common forms of transport per kilometer traveled. If only the crashes are reported by the media (with no reference to the number of flights that do not end in a crash), the overall (and incorrect) impression created may be that air travel is becoming increasingly dangerous, which is untrue. In a way, the media coverage is forcing confirmation bias on viewers.

Misunderstandings of the principles of aviation can fuel an unjustified fear of flying. For example, many people incorrectly believe that the engines of a jet airliner support it in the air, and from this false premise they also incorrectly reason that a failure of the engines will cause the aircraft to plummet to earth. In reality, all fixed-wing aircraft glide naturally, and the engines serve only to maintain altitude during the flight. A big cause of fear of flying is that it is difficult to imagine how planes stay in the air, thus a person's understanding of the science behind flying can affect the person's fear about flying.

There are pharmacological and non pharmacological treatments  for  fear of flying ..consult your psychiatrist  and 

start the treatment..

The sweetness of anticipation the sourness of anxiety two sides of the same coin

According to a recent study described in a post on the Anxiety Insights blog, the production of pleasure and dread are closely related processes in the brain. The same chemical, dopamine, works in closely proximate regions to produce these seemingly antithetical emotional responses:

Kent Berridge, PhD, and his colleagues at the University of Michigan, identified dopamine's dual effect on the nucleus accumbens, a brain region that motivates people and animals to seek out pleasurable rewards like food, sex, or drugs, but is also involved in fear. They found that inhibiting dopamine's normal function prevented the nucleus accumbens neurons from inducing both rewarding and fearful behaviors, suggesting that dopamine is important in both.

In previous research, Berridge and colleagues showed that a distance of only a few millimeters separated desire and dread functions in the nucleus accumbens (which is only about 5 millimeters long in humans).

I don't pretend to understand brain functioning, but abstractly it doesn't surprise me that pleasure and anxiety are neurologically linked. There's a lot of overlap in what these sensations are like in the body and mind. Physiologically, both involve a state of heightened alertness; psychologically, both are more intense than and therefore distinct from the humdrum of the everyday.

Think of what it's like to perform in front of others, whether it's in a school play or in a business meeting: For some, it's the very definition of pleasure, while for others it's excruciating, the last thing in the world they want to do. In either case, though, there are the sweaty palms and the racing heart and the concomitant narrowing of focus to the situation at hand.

This makes me think about the cognitive aspect of panic, the way we choose whether a given scenario we face brings us pleasure or mental pain. In the case of performing in front of others, some people experience excitement, and others experience anxiety. What distinguishes them? The cognitive psychologist would say it's all about our interpretation of we're experiencing. If you tell yourself your sweaty palms and racing heart are a sign of excitement, excitement is what you'll feel; if you tell yourself your sweaty palms and racing heart mean something dreadful is about to occur, on the other hand, you'll experience anxiety. Change the interpretation, and you change the experience.

This concept plays a big role in both cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and Buddhist meditation. In both cases, you're taught to reconsider the stories you tell yourself about your experience -- to see that the stories you consider unequivocal reality are merely your interpretation of your experience. You end up considering other, less catastrophic stories about your experience. In other words, when your heart races and your palms sweat, you learn to tell yourself, "It doesn't mean I'm having a heart attack/going crazy/[insert extreme, neurotic response here]. It just means I'm experiencing a particular cluster of physiological responses to which the genetic roulette wheel has inconveniently deemed I'll be predisposed, responses that in no way imply I'm facing any real danger."

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A New Kind of Twin Study and the Heritability Fraud

In my post on Psychology Today, "Scientific Fraud in the Nature versus Nurture Debate," I discussed the disturbing tendency of psychiatric researchers to use the term heritability as a synonym for genetic, which it certainly is not. The heritability statistic is a measure of phenotype, not genotype, meaning it is a measure of the final outcome of the influence of the interactions between genes and the environment on such things as certain personality characteristics or psychiatric symptoms.

The statistic is derived from twin studies in which fraternal and identical twins who were raised together are compared to each other and to those raised apart on various traits. It is not a measure of purely genetic influences but instead a measure of a mix of purely genetic influences plus gene-environment interactional influences. 

There is no way to tell how much of each is present in the statistic. The determination of heritability can also be manipulated in a number of ways, such as by setting the bar for saying that a symptom is present or absent at different levels.

Interestingly, a recent study employing a very different type of twin study has been getting a fair amount of press (Thalia C. Eley, Tom A. McAdams, Fruhling V. Rijsdijk, et. al., "The Intergenerational Transmission of Anxiety: A Children-of-Twins Study," American Journal of Psychiatry, 172 [7], pp. 630-637, 2015).

Rather than comparing twins with each other, the authors compared the children of twins with one another. The subjects were anxiety and a dimension of normal personality known as neuroticism - a measure of emotional reactivity. People with higher neuroticism scores tend to get more anxious and/or depressed in reaction to negative environmental stimuli, and remain dysregulated longer, than those with lower scores.

By comparing the extent to which correlations between children and their twin uncle/aunt (avuncular correlations) differ for monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twin families, the authors were able to infer the extent to which genetic and environmental factors influence transmission from one generation to another. Children share a greater level of genetic influence with their uncle/aunt when in monozygotic families than when in dizygotic families.

Thus, if children resemble their uncle/aunt to a greater extent in monozygotic families than in dizygotic families, this implies a genetic influence on transmission of the trait of interest. In contrast, if these two sets of correlations are similar, and are significantly lower than the parent-child correlations, this is indicative of an environmental mode of transmission.

The results of the new study showed almost the opposite of the usual results of heritability studies on neuroticism: environmental factors came out very much more important than genetic ones! Living with one's parents was found to be far more influential than merely inheriting 50% of their genes.

It appeared that children and adolescents learned anxious behavior from their parents rather than inheriting a tendency towards it from their parents genetically.

Now, I must say that the authors used a statistical technique to come to their conclusion called "structural equation modeling"—of which I know absolutely nothing. So I am not able to say if the methodological techniques used in traditional twin studies yield more accurate results than those found in this type of study. This may, in fact, be a case of scientists being able to get the results they want to get through statistical manipulation of their study data.

And surely neuroticism must have some significant genetic component. Clearly, some people are naturally more high strung than others.

Nonetheless, I do know from the observation of blatantly obvious behavioral patterns within families and other social groups that anxiety can be highly contagious. Since as of now mental health professionals can't fix your genes but we can fix your relationships, I know on which factors therapists should focus the majority of their attention.

Scary High School Textbooks From the 1960s

A smattering of the academic fare that was discovered in my attic. (The former owner of the home being a parochial school administrator.) There are many of these books. Here are some of the more alarming of the batch.

 Everything you've always wanted to know about sin, sluts, interracial marriage, and nudity, answered by your favorite cut-up, "Monsignor J.D." 

"Yes, unless you're a totally rude fuck!"—Monsignor J.D.

"I am a bit out of touch with techniques. Are you referring to the cheeks of the buttocks? If so, a light grazing is acceptable in the eyes of the Lord, but more vigorous 'pressing' or 'grinding' would be considered immoral. As would any ape-like maneuvers."—Monsignor J.D.

I took the Dysfunctional Method. 

And it led to this!

Repeat: Boys and girls should not be allowed together in the same room.

Oh! What if I wish to know very little? Does this book cover that?

I don't think that car has seat-heaters or Sirius XM OR airbags.

If you are white and prosperous. If not, youse fucked.

Perfectly healthy, normal teenagers.

A mentally ill teen who daydreams of lustful car trips with older women!

The fear of the "unknown" is worse than being chased by a maddened cow? I think not.

For shame, Puerto Rican children who are having a delightful time in a water sprinkler. This is by no means the best outlet for your youthful energies!

This photograph was found inserted inside Problems and Opportunities in a Democracy. It puzzles me in several ways. For one, is the mannequin intended to be homosexual? Where are #s 1 and 2? Why does Bobby Sue look happy with her date but Mary Lou look like she just got stuck in the arse with a pickle?

"If you run too much water into a bathtub, some water will overflow from the tub."
(Is that statement about the left testicle really true? Need to know!)

Living things are slumped marionettes dangling from a crucifix.

OK, I'll give this a shot; I'm only slightly "high."

That big chunk of text helps SOOOO much. Thank you, Robinson's New Higher Arithmetic!

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Taming anxiety at the office

This is an excellent article about anxiety and the workplace. It looks at the definition of an anxiety disorder:

Most people experience some anxiety in their lives, but when it disrupts day-to-day functioning, self-image or the ability to concentrate or work effectively, it becomes a disorder, says Linda B. Welsh a clinical psychologist and director of the Anxiety and Agoraphobia Treatment Center in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

It looks at how to steps you can take to tame anxiety:

One of the most common treatments for anxiety is confronting it, since facing such situations head-on will ultimately reduce your fear and discomfort. Because most anxiety is focused on the future, try to catch yourself having negative thoughts and think about them rationally, says Lauren Rose, a psychotherapist and founder of the Rose Center for Mind and Body in Rye, N.Y.

“Let’s say you have a performance evaluation coming up and you’re getting very anxious about it,” she says. “Think of the worst thing that’s happened in the last year. Was it anything to worry about? Your boss likes you; your sales are good. Keep going back to these facts and show yourself there’s no rational basis for your fear.”

Preparation also helps. If you’re making a presentation, for example, rehearse with a friend or in the mirror. Mr. Willard suggests writing on your notes things like “take a deep breath here” or “pause and feel your feet on the ground beneath you.” These notes act like a reset button, he says, lassoing your mind back to reality and distracting you from negative thoughts.

Perhaps most importantly, it addresses the idea that you can't have all that you desire -- but that you can have a full life despite your anxiety:

If you’ve been anxious in the job for a while and not in the rest of your life, it may mean the job isn’t right for you, Mr. Willard says.

“Don’t leave without talking to human resources or a supervisor first about ways to accommodate your needs — perhaps changing your job description to play more to your strengths than to trigger your anxieties, like less public speaking,” he says.

Or you may decide that you can live with some anxiety. Eventually, “it will expand your comfort zone,” says Ms. Orenstein, “and as adults, if we want to grow we need to be willing to take on new challenges.”

Previous PANIC! posts on anxiety and the workplace:  1   2

Can a guy with panic disorder make it in the NBA

Royce White is going to find out.

This is an outstanding, and outstandingly honest, short documentary film. This kid is courageous.

Thank you, Grantland.

The runs

I can’t remember which song I was listening to. I’d switched from Taylor Swift to One Direction to Little Mix constantly throughout the nine weeks, but I know that it was badass. Laura told me I had one minute to go, and that would be it. I’d have done it, I’d have completed the whole nine weeks and, if I’d stuck to it, I’d have just finished my third and last 30 minute run of the final week. 

There was no way I wouldn’t have stuck to it. I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the shame of hearing Laura earnestly congratulate me and shower me in compliments before telling me to shower myself because I was disgustingly sweaty, if I had given up and was shuffling around the park feeling sorry for myself.

I’d picked up the pace when I had five minutes left. I could see Ryan, my boyfriend, out the corner of my eye coming around the bend behind me and I refused to let him lap me. Not a chance. He’s taller, with long legs, and has the perfect body type for long distance running. But there was no way in hell that I was going to let him lap him on my final ever Couch to 5K run. Fuck that. So I legged it.

Then I had one minute left and I could sense Ryan behind me. Arsehole. He ran alongside me and we both sprinted round corners, dodging dog walkers and the pot holes we knew incredibly well by then. 

He lapped me. Obviously. But not by much. I still managed to hit four laps of the park, my goal…and the ground. When Laura told me I’d finally done it, I keeled over and promptly spent the next few minutes gagging. My body was not happy about the final sprint. But I didn’t care. Because it’s my body and I control it, and I pushed it to prove what it could do.

I can run for 30 minutes now.

Actually, I can run for 60. That's an hour, lads. After mourning for a good half hour when deleting the Couch to 5K app, I downloaded the Nike+ Running app, for proper grown-up corporate runners, and used it to track my distance to finally hit 5k. I did it in 40 minutes and was relatively happy with that. My next goal will be to do it sub 30. But then I ran again, and kept going until I hit an hour. I ran 7.1k/4.42 miles.

Running isn’t what I expected it to be. My arse and legs hurt, yeah. I feel pressured if the park’s full of people watching (spoiler: they’re not actually watching - they couldn’t give a shit that you’re running), and I sweat like a nun at a penguin shoot, but I’ve learnt so much more…

1) Running in the rain is glorious. It’s a pain in the arse when your now lubricated earphones fall out, but there’s something movie-like about smashing into puddles and something wonderful about not know what’s rainwater and what’s sweat.

2) Your lungs get stronger than any other muscle. Breathing was the hardest part for me to get to grips with when running, and I still have to focus on controlling it in the first 5 minutes of a run. After that? It feels like my lungs are sentient. They double the size, regulate breathing by themselves, and tell me that they got this.

3) The shorter the recovery time, the fitter you’re getting. When I suddenly started feeling human again instead of like a breathless husk inbetween runs, I worried I wasn’t trying hard enough. But that’s why I was feeling ok - I’d tried hard so it wasn’t taking as long to recover now. My body was getting used to it. I suddenly wasn’t bright red in the face at the end of sessions and my muscles didn’t ache for days afterwards (but shin splits are a whole different sorry story…). 

4) You have to wear proper gear. Running in converses, denim shorts, and knitted tops wasn't a great shout, no matter how much I thought it didn't matter.

5) Your SKIN looks INCREDIBLE. Seriously. I glow. I look like I’ve been rolled in glitter and given a halo. 

I have no idea why I’m a runner now. Habit? Health? Hobby? Harry Styles? A mixture of all, probably. I’m going to keep running three times a week and give myself little goals to meet. I want to end up being able to run 10k. Then a half marathon. Then a full. I don’t care too much about time, I care more about distance. I want to be able to run, and run, and run. I want to be able to keep going. 

I just want to keep going.

Books Change Lives at The Kindness Project

 

I'm posting today at The Kindness Project about Books Change Lives, and I hope you'll go check it out! If you have children's books, parenting books, or young adult books that you could bear to part with, this might be a good way to do it!

Im running with the Olympic torch! WAIT WHAT !

May, 2011

"She's just sitting there doing nothing, look at her."

"Yeah, she's been like that for ages. I'm worried, I really am."

"We need to do something. Throw something at her, make her at least breathe a bit deeper."

"Or move." 

"Or that. She shuffles like Pingu now, have you noticed?"

"Hahaha yeah, and she does that thing you know-"

"That *demonstrates* thing yeah hahaha."

"Hahahahahaha."

"*sigh* What a numpty."

*louise stands up, walks to the window, stares out, goes at sits back down to continue scrolling*

"Oh."

"I thought we had progress there."

"I've had enough. Let's make something big happen, like, like PUTTING HER ON TELE!"

"But she's already done that, and coped disappointingly well with it. Formed actual coherent sentences, did some funnies. I even made Jon Snow ask her if she KNITS, and she didn't bat an eyelid."

"True. We need to put her on tele but make her uncomfortable or embarrassed."

"Embarrassing Bodies."

"She's tweets about her boobs, I hardly think that would faze her."

"Slut."

"What does she hate doing?"

"Moving, we've established that."

"Let's make her run."

"But she can't-"

"Running."

"It's a non starte-"

"Running."

"She'll HURT HERSE-"

"Running with fire."

"Look you can't ju-...wait, what?"

"Let's make her run with fire."

"...you are ridiculous. I thought you making her put orange peel up her nose was too far, but THIS?"

"Look, she was only meant to stick it up there a BIT, so it DANGLED, not stick it up so far she nearly DIED."

"You really think we should do this? HOW? Running with fire's not a nor-"

*chariots of fire plays*


"Oh. Oh I see. I SEE. The Olympics! We should make her a TORCHBEARER! You, my friend, are a genius. This is perfect."


"She'll look a mentalist. Remember the bin incident?"


"RAN INTO IT! Still got the scar. "


"Has her toenail grown back from her last running attempt?"

"Idiot. She knew those converses were too small for her."

"Tsk, converses."

"Conhurtses.....HAHAHAHAHA-"

"Stop."

"..."

"So, are we gonna do this then? Make her a torchbearer? Run in front of the nation, in a uniform, grasping a torch alight with THE flame, and, have I mentioned, IN FRONT OF THE NATION?!?!"


*louise turns around quizzically. "Muuuum." "Yeah?" "Did you say something?" "No, but if you want to hoov-" turns up music.*

"Shhuusshhh, we need to keep quiet about this. SHE needs to keep quiet about this....for 10 months."

"TEN? She could have a baby in that time."

"Yeah well I'm not mentioning that palava again, she actually liked that suggestion."

"Send the email then. Go on. Make them choose her. Louise Jones, part of a historical incredible event. Louise Jones. *sobs* Louise Jones THIS IS LOUISE JONES SHE'LL BE A RIGHT TIT NO STO-"

"Done."

"...you've sent it?"

"Yep. Look..."

*louise leans forward towards her laptop. she gasps, mumbling "Shitting hell." before running downstairs screaming "MUUUUM! THEY WANT ME TO RUN WITH THE BLOODY TORCH NEXT YEAR! THEY WANT ME TO...hold on...they want me to RUN..."*

"Oh, God."

"Let the games begin."



March, 2012

Yep. This is happening. I got an email last May asking if I wanted to be a Torchbearer. Not saying I'd be nominated, but that I could just BE one. Yeah, they trust me THAT MUCH with this. Idiots. So, obviously, I said yes, but until now I've had to keep it a secret. I've learnt that when I'm asked to be the next Doctor Who companion I can easily keep THAT a secret after this (Moffat, call me whenevs).

I'm running on Friday 6th July, around 6pm, in Brentwood, and I want loads of you there! This is a pretty big deal so the streets lined with you lot would be ace. I, evidently, cannot run, so need the moral support and dignity put-back-togetherers. Also, if any media type people want to cover me/it then email me: louiseemilyjones@gmail.com. (that's a technicality of this i've been asked to say, i'm not being arrogant, promise)

One foot in front of the other, how hard can it be? VERY HARD, ESPECIALLY WITH A BLOODY EXPENSIVE TORCH THAT'S ON FIRE AND THE WORLD WATCHING. HELP ME. FOR THE LOVE OF NANS. HELP ME. Yeah s'fine whatever love it easy shut up.

The Education of a Writer

This month's Sisterhood of the Traveling Blog question came from Lydia:

"What formal writing experience do you have (classes, degrees, majors/minors)? Did it shape your writing? Have you ever considered getting an MFA?"

Lydia's answer is here, and Laura Diamond's is here. Deb will be up next week.

As for me ... I'm going to be completely honest here.

I never considered myself an exceptionally creative persion. I was quite verbally precocious and always a good student, so writing assignments were always easy for me. I was just never one of those people who kept a journal or wrote poetry or dreamed of being a writer.

Then I got to college ... and became best friends with a girl who I still believe is one of the most gifted poets/writers/artists I've ever met. I watched her create the most beautiful things, often with only words. And, you know, for a while I thought maybe wanted to do it, too, but geez. I can't explain how it felt, looking at the pathetic crap I created, and then seeing what she could do. There was no comparison. She was amazing.

I think she's the reason I never had the guts to take a creative writing class. I mean, if she was a writer, then I KNEW I wasn't. She would probably be horrified to read that, because she was never anything but encouraging to me. She went on to get her doctorate and now teaches writing at a university. I'm quite sure she's brilliant at it, because that's all she's ever been, at least through my eyes.

(Please don't think I'm feeling sorry for myself here, because ... you know what? I was meant to be a psychologist.)

This is a long way to say: no, I've never taken a single writing class. I've never considered getting an MFA (I quit school in 24th grade and will never go back). I also don't read craft books or participate in crit groups or go to writer's conferences. DON'T get me wrong--those things are really valuable, but I haven't yet been able to interest myself in the formal aspects of learning to write. I have no patience for it, and that might be because I've had a heckuva lot of formal schooling, and at this point in my life, I want to have fun. That's what writing is to me--pure fun, even when it's work. I write what I'm interested in reading, I pay close attention to feedback, and I try not to make the same mistake twice. That's it.

How about you? Are you formally trained? If so, how has it shaped you as a writer? If not, have you considered it? How else did you learn?

And on that note: Happy Holidays, everyone! I'll be taking a break so I can spend some time with my family, and I'll be back in the blogosphere next week!

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