> he always sought to produce the final version from the outset This is definitely a learnable skill. However, it might be a lost art with younger generations

> he always sought to produce the final version from the outset This is definitely a learnable skill. However, it might be a lost art with younger generations. I had a year of high school english that taught this. Most of us kids did fine. The assignments worked as follows: - Write an multipage essay on this topic; you have a week. (first quarter, repeat 2-3 times) - Here is your exam question. You can bring one 3x5" notecard with you tomorrow, but you'll need to write the actual multipage essay in 55 minutes. (second quarter; repeat 2-3 times) - You will be given a question about the book we read, and will have 55 minutes to write a multipage essay answering the question. No supplementary materials allowed (except the book). (last quarter; repeat 2-3 times) Grading for things like the overall structure of the essay and sentence flow got stricter as the course progressed. So did grading on reading comprehension.