There's a magic in words.

It's a gift---either you have it or you don't. And if you don't, well, you shouldn't bother. Is that true? What do you think?

Does your opinion lie with the thought people are born with the talent and no amount of learning or practice will help otherwise? "My mother's been writing since she was big enough to hold a pencil. She writes letters like she's talking right to you. But I take after my father. We'd rather fish. I don't know a period from a colon from a comma, anyway . . . or where they go or what they do! Mom's tried to show me---but . . . I just wasn't born with her gift!"

Or, maybe you've heard people boast, "I can write a book as good as anybody! It's just I've gotta get drunk (or stoned) before the juices start flowing! Can't do it sober; I just freeze up!"

Okay, maybe you don't have Mom's "gift" and yes, brain freeze happens. To illustrate that fact, I have a close family member who used to accept occasional jobs belly dancing at parties. She always needed a little liquid courage before performing---although, one would suppose that the money for doing it would have given her tons of motivation to do it then, and much more often afterwards."

But the confidence to shake one's bare midriff around a bunch of leering strangers, despite that magnificent sum simply wasn't present, and it died eventually.

I completely understood her reasons for sipping a large glass of wine before the show. I'd've needed the whole bottle. Imagine being paid an incredtible price to perform an exotic dance only to freeze thirty seconds into your five minute performance! I do not have what it takes to be a belly dancer even for five seconds. Even with a case of whatever might give me that false sense of courage.

Doesn't matter that I could make more in an hour than I generally make in a month. I simply wouldn't have the commitment needed to turn myself into a dedicated dancer. No commitment, no courage, no confidence. No dancing career.

No commitment, no courage, no confidence. No writing career.

Which to the above, add:

Ambition, Imagination, Motivation

You can AIM to do your best in your writing endeavors.

Because if you depend on Jack Daniels or Coors Light to tell you what to write, you may write reams, but of what quality? Or perhaps,you'll just fall asleep on the couch and the puppy'll chew your pen to bits and that'll be that.

Say, you do get fired up with the courage to ferret out that story rambling about in your head----how long will you stay fired up with the commitment to stick to it, see it through all of its draft stages, polish it up one more time, and send it out to the one or two or ten thousand agents and publishers you hope will give it a warm and profitable welcome. Revisions need a clear head. Editing needs a clear head. Learning the whole business of writing needs a clear head.

Of course, once you've slept off the horrendous hangover, a clear mind might arise out of the fog. And you might be motivated to stick with your day job. :)

Can you write without waiting for the writing muse to visit?

"I write whenever the mood strikes me. If I'm not in the mood or inspired enough, well, the words just don't flow, you know/ Gotta have the muse!" They write with clear heads and firm pen . . . and/or keyboard clicks until the muse fades . . . . in ten seconds, minutes, days. And then may never pick up a pen again. Because muses are often elusive. That joyful mind altering mood may not strike but once or twice in a month or a year. Or in a lifetime. All those wonderful experiences locked away waiting for the mood to hit . . . but never seeing light because Muse is out golfing today.

No discipline there, either. No commitment, even if there is courage and confidence.

Okay, granted, a few writers are able to write beautiful stuff when they're drunker'n'a skunk. And a few others turn out great prose when the mood hits. Possibly the mood will hit more than once in a decade. However, without commitment to your craft, your dream of a best seller will likely never come to be. Some effort is called for.

The adage,"You need to apply the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." is so very true. You need to set specific goals to reach for in this endeavor as in any other.

You have to be the one sitting down and writing that story, article or book. If your story is about your Life Story, why do you need booze to help you recall it? Was it that bad? If so, in that case, I understand. But if not, then ditch that bottle, sit up proud and let those memories roll!

Yeah! Pick up that pen, or sit at that keyboard, with confidence! You don't even have to start at the very beginning. Just start with a single memory. Write all you can recall about that day or incident. It'll trigger other memories, probably long forgotten ones, and you'll be on a roll.

If it's a novel that burning inside you---but just not quite enough for you to feel a burning confidence in beginning, then just begin . . . somewhere. Outline it, do it as a short story first. Whatever it takes to get you motivated and feeling fantastic about the project.

In these instances, not having an idea isn't the problem. Just being able to get them down in coherent form is.

Now . . . the real miracle in writing, and the part that possibly one inherited from Mom, is grasping the mechanics of writing. You know, the grammar, sentence structure, spelling--all the stuff that makes writing seem such a chore. Usually, I like to say that the main thing is to just get the story down, and worry about all that stuff later. But-- there is much to be said about a beautifully written piece, that not only flows well, but has not one spelling mistake nor a typo anywhere within it. Just beautiful prose . . . ahhhhhhhhh, yeaaaahhhhh!

Now that's a story you can lose yourself in, and never be rudely yanked out of it because of glaring mistakes in grammar, story structure, typos, punctuation. and misspellings. And we all have to work at perfecting that part of it. Thoughts that come too fast for fingers to keep up with make for mistakes just as well as a lack of "natural" ability. Just ask me. . . :-)

Do you have what it takes to be a writer who cares enough about his/her work that you'll labor over it until it's the best it can be? Are you losing heart even now?

Well, don't. There's no need to stop dreaming of writing if you do happen to suck at the mechanics of it all. You probably have great ideas. Don't let them get lost just because you have trouble spelling, or even working up a reasonably good sentence.

My partner is just such a guy. Yet, together, with his ideas and my ability to make them come alive, we got The Day of The Rose into publication, all within a year and a half of meeting one another online. So don't despair. Find a partner or helper to work with you on the things you need help with. If you have the amibition, the imagination and the motivation--you can reach your rainbow, too.

Ambition, Imagination and Motivation. I'm AIMing over the rainbow to the stars with commitment, courage and confidence. You?