i tell you this as an introduction to confirm what so many writers know (and so many of our friends and families hate to hear us admit)—many of the stories we write take years and years to germinate, develop, write, revise, revise again, and finally, hopefully publish and bring out into the world. especially when i add to my normal thoughts those of authors through their amazing words. the only way to get something out of training is to actually want to be there because if you don’t want to be there you may as well not. 