> if he really wanted to be a writer, start at the beginning and take some classes, and start studying seriously. In a lot of situations this would be terrible

> if he really wanted to be a writer, start at the beginning and take some classes, and start studying seriously. In a lot of situations this would be terrible advice, not because the craft is not worthy of respect but because its much easier to accept the pain of learning a difficult craft if you have an end goal in sight, something you need to achieve that will provide the impetus for all the work you're going to have to do.