I've never told this story before. This was probably about 18 years ago.

I was teaching Western civilization to college freshmen.

I gave them a short writing assignment that required them to engage with the texts of some of the early Christian martyrs.

This was a course on Western civilization, after all, so it's not surprising that there might be a mention or two of Christianity.

Well, one student went to the dean, bypassing me entirely, complaining that the assignment was discriminatory against her because she was an atheist.

She could not even do a historical study of texts that reflected a worldview different from her own.

Now I may not agree with the cosmology of the Stoics, but I still profit from reading them. And even if I didn't profit from reading them, I would read them anyway because I don't want to be an ignorant barbarian.

I am happy to report that the dean supported me one hundred percent, on the grounds that the assignment made perfect sense given the subject matter of the course.

So she did ultimately force herself to complete the assignment.

I can tell you, though, that most student papers were borderline unreadable, which strongly suggests that most people out there are atrociously bad at writing.

I tried in vain, through my markups and corrections, to show them how to improve, but I am quite certain that most students didn't even care about my markings and simply wanted to know what their grade was.

But being able to write well is a skill you will never regret having.

It will make you stand out in any situation -- on the job, at school, on your blog or social media, in your sales materials, whatever.

In the free bonus I'm giving out this week, I disclose the precise insight from, yes, one of my high school teachers, that turned me from frankly a bad writer into the beginnings of a good one.

I am not joking when I say that I attribute all of my development as a writer to this single insight.

But beyond that, and in addition to the writing critiques I do in the video, I also inoculate you against common mistakes.

For example, while you can say "first of all," there is no "second of all." We say "secondly" instead.

After midnight, though, this offer disappears.

Not to mention, as those of you who picked it up have seen, Amanda Craven's program on how and where to get paid for your writing, is really excellent.

Pick up Amanda's program and forward your receipt to me at bonuses@tomwoods.com and I will get that bonus right out to you.

But remember, my bonus deal ends tonight:

https://www.tomwoods.com/words

Tom Woods

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