On the other hand, errors that are addressed in a constructive way will almost certainly lead to some sort of growth, be it as simple as learning to spell a new word. But it is growth that defines one s place in a community. It is through growth that one takes on greater responsibilities and greater authority within a group. It is through growth that a student becomes a teacher, a child a parent. Indeed, without growth, no community could persist, for their must always be a new generation preparing to step into the shoes of the old.
Growth is implicit in every aspect of a writer s persona.
In fact, growth, in its most generic sense, is a precondition of life itself. I personally find that my growth as a writer is deeply intertwined with my growth as a human being. I can trace my progress through life by reading my journal or my boxes of old, half-finished narratives or the papers I have written for classes over the years. This connection between writing and personal development is doubtless especially pronounced for me as a person who deeply loves to write and spends a great deal of time doing it. Even for the most fearful and resistant writer, however, writing and personal growth will be linked to some extent because growth is largely a product of thought, and writing and thinking are intimately related activities.