Substack and the Formation of Writers

When I taught writing for a local homeschool coop the place we always began wasn't the mechanics of writing, but more the formation of writers—how do you become the sort of person who actually has something to say? (I made my students do the onion exercise from Capon's Supper of the Lamb in which you take one hour to slice up an onion—I wanted them to slow down and pay attention to something they'd never ordinarily notice in any level of detail. Then I had them write about it. Remarkably, I never received any complaints or even confused questions from parents.)