Editing Alistair MacLeod (section)

==Academic career==
A specialist in [[British literature]] of the 19th century, MacLeod taught English for three years at [[Indiana University (Bloomington)|Indiana University]] before accepting a post in 1969 at the [[University of Windsor]] where he taught English and creative writing for more than three decades.<ref name="Windsor" /><ref name="NYT" /> A story published after his death in the student newspaper called him "a dedicated professor, an approachable colleague, and an inspiration to young, local writers." It quoted [[Marty Gervais]], one of his university colleagues, as saying that the door to MacLeod's cluttered office was always open to students, faculty and even members of the public. "It didn't matter whether you were a good writer or a bad writer; he was open to talking with you, he would read your work, he would be honest with you, and he would be encouraging as well," Gervais added.  "He could talk your ear off with stories...but he was also a good listener."<ref name="Lance">{{cite web|url=http://uwindsorlance.ca/2014/04/24/uwindsor-remembers-one-of-their-own-canadian-literary-legend-alistair-macleod/|title=UWindsor remembers one of their own, Canadian literary legend Alistair MacLeod|author=Travis Fauteux|publisher=The Lance|access-date=2014-04-28|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140428192651/http://uwindsorlance.ca/2014/04/24/uwindsor-remembers-one-of-their-own-canadian-literary-legend-alistair-macleod/|archive-date=2014-04-28}}</ref>

[[Image:Alistair MacLeod in his office at the University of Windsor.jpg|right|thumb|375px|MacLeod in his university office, 2013]]

[[Alan Cumyn]], who studied creative writing at the University of Windsor, remembered MacLeod as a teacher who placed great emphasis on the fundamentals of good writing such as language and [[metaphor]], character and conflict, [[narrative structure]] and form. He wrote that MacLeod read student work carefully and always began his critiques by pointing to the best things about a story before turning to its weaknesses. "By the end," Cumyn wrote, "a story might seem in tatters, but in the oddly inspiring way that gifted teachers and editors have, issues and directions were made much clearer, and many of us felt more confident and enthusiastic about our work than we had going in."<ref>Alan Cumyn. "The man who Loves Stories: Alistair MacLeod then and now." ''The Ottawa Citizen'', September 10, 2000, p.C16</ref>

Another student, who attended an intensive writing workshop in [[Toronto]], wrote that if something bothered MacLeod about a student story, he would simply say, "I have a question about that, but not a big one." If he noticed a glaring inconsistency, MacLeod would say, "Some words and phrases startle me." When a student asked how long a good short story should be, "MacLeod clasped his hands and looked up toward the ceiling as if in prayer, then responded in a lyrical Cape Breton accent. 'Well then. Well then. Just make your story as long as a piece of string, and it will work out just fine.'"<ref>Rod McDonald. "Literary boot camp." ''The Ottawa Citizen'', August 3, 2003, p.C2.</ref>

MacLeod found that his university duties left little time for creative writing. "One time correcting all my papers and putting circles around ''their'' and ''there'' and ''they're''," he told a radio interviewer, "I began to think that maybe this wasn't the most worthwhile thing I should be doing with my life and so I said...I'm going to try to write like imaginatively or creatively for two hours a day." The experiment failed, however, because MacLeod found that by the end of each day, he was too worn out from his academic work to produce stories that were any good.<ref>Michael Enright. "A Tribute to Alistair MacLeod." CBC ''Sunday Edition'' April 27, 2014 (a rebroadcast of the MacLeod interview conducted on April 27, 2013.)</ref> So, he did most of his writing during the summer breaks when his family lived on the MacLeod homestead at Dunvegan, [[Cape Breton Island|Cape Breton]]. He would spend mornings there "writing in a cliff-top cabin looking west towards Prince Edward Island."<ref name="Evain" />