The Courage to Write

Writing is fiendishly hard work. I didn't say that, but Lucas Yoder did. He's a character in James Michener's novel entitled: The Novel. A diminutive Dutchman, Yoder was a novelist...a writer. His wife baked bread and cakes in the kitchen of their Pennsylvania farmhouse.
Writing is one of the true joys of my life. But the courage to write, to stick one's inner thoughts out there for all the world to see, is intimidating...or was. I started writing fiction about seventeen years ago. I'd been writing since college, but you know the drill: essays, reports, etc. Then I went to work for the government as a marine ecologist. Lots of writing: public reports, scientific papers, etc. But somehow, shortly after my marriage in 1995, my wife catalyzed a desire within me to write fiction. A friend was a writer in Atlanta. I started on my first novel, skeptical of my ability to run such a marathon. He mentioned a term that applies to writers and other people: a wannabe. In my ignorance I asked what that meant. "It means somebody who wants to be a writer. Wanting isn't enough. You have to persevere, stick it out, keep slugging away." I found the term "wannabe" pretty unappealing. I wrote on.
One hundred and thirty pages into my novel, it hit me like a thunderbolt: I can do this! I called my friend and confirmed that, having over a hundred pages behind me, I had gained the confidence to finish the job. And I did.
But the courage to keep working isn't everything. A writer must have the courage to put his or her heart into the work. And a writer has to have the courage - work ethic - to keep working at the 'craft' of writing, his dictionary, thesaurus, and 'The Elements of Style,' always nearby. Vocabulary, grammar, style, characters, motives, settings, feelings, and what the air smells like. That's my short definition of writing.
So if you chance to read this blog post and you get this far, dear friend, I leave you with this simple message: You Can Do It! You have more talent, more strength, more courage, and more intelligence than you can possibly imagine. Believe in yourself. And write on!