I’d suggest that he meant “ambivalent,” but if he couldn’t think of “ambivalent” how could he come up with “controversial”—and if he could think of “ambivalent” why would he have come up with “controversial”?
He can’t mean “controversial,” after all. Wouldn’t that suggest that various observers of his relationship had differing opinions about it? Perhaps if all his writing teachers got together in a room and discussed his relationship, they would disagree?
“Oh, he has a WONderful reLAtionship with WRIting!”
“How can you think that? I call it unHEALthy!”
“Well, it is CLOSE, but I don’t know that it’s unHEALthy…”
“It’s too dePENdent.”
“Well, Writing is so NEEDy…”
“He should get OUT more. It’s too soon for him to be exCLUsive…”
“I still say it’s good for BOTH of them!”
I don’t know how these teachers got so Cosmoesque, but Writing does sometimes have a mind of its own.
You Knew What I Meant 
January 7th, 2013 at 4:20 am
Could only be true if he had a girlfriend named Writing. What are the chances? While parents have been known to attach some pretty strange monikers to their children, somehow I can’t quite imagine being named something like that! Maybe they were thinking wishfully??
January 7th, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Maybe the word he was groping for was ‘contentious’. No, wait, forget ‘groping’. He was unsuccessfully contending with his mental lexicon for the word ‘contentious’.
January 7th, 2013 at 1:45 pm
I like “contending with his mental lexicon”… an unequal battle, although which side is the weaker who can say?
January 8th, 2013 at 11:29 pm
Probably written under the influence of Ambien?
Anyway, the post title seems like a very good opening line for a novel about a writer struggling to get published. It is a funny line.
January 9th, 2013 at 1:16 pm
I agree!
January 9th, 2013 at 11:22 pm
I sympathize with your student; I, too, have a very controversial relationship with writing. 🙂