Response: visitors to the class

I guess the thing that our visitors made most clear to me is that writing style, clarity, and ability (for lack of a better word) are really what makes a story worth reading. Maybe that doesn't sound like groundbreaking news... but we always talk about what makes a story (a life) worth telling... and I'm beginning to think that's not really an important question at all. Or perhaps the answer is simply "whether or not it gets a good writer to render it." I think the real question should be "what about this story inspired this author to tell it to us?" or "why did this author invest such effort in creating such a well-made piece?" I guess the question I'm most interested in is not what made the story worth telling, but what made the author want to share it? Arrogance? A need to purge the story from his or her life? Belief that it could help those who read it? There are many answers to this question.