I’ve done a bit of tutoring in my time, but usually I’m
hired when it looks like someone is going to fail a test. At best, I get a few
hours to make someone look competent at a subject they’ve been ignoring for
years. At worst, they slide into the seat beside me and say, “I haven’t studied
this month. We’ve got five minutes, right? Explain.”
I don’t have time to make people understand what they’re doing. I don’t have time to make sure they’ll actually know it for the rest of their lives. I only have the time to invent stupid gimmicks and rhymes so they remember the material for the next thirty minutes, and hope they get most of it right.
I’m challenging you to write a scene where your character must teach someone who is wildly incapable to do something. The seven year old has to pilot the spaceship. Your ditsy twin must impersonate you in the presidential debate. This idiot must be able to perform surgery immediately.
Necessity is the mother of mnemonics. I don’t have time to make people understand what they’re doing. I don’t have time to make sure they’ll actually know it for the rest of their lives. I only have the time to invent stupid gimmicks and rhymes so they remember the material for the next thirty minutes, and hope they get most of it right.
I’m challenging you to write a scene where your character must teach someone who is wildly incapable to do something. The seven year old has to pilot the spaceship. Your ditsy twin must impersonate you in the presidential debate. This idiot must be able to perform surgery immediately.
Have fun.
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