"I want to write a book" is all about pain!

What would we do without the power of language to express ourselves? As for me, I would have my art, I suppose; but the more artful of the two forms of communication between art and writing, for me would have to be writing.

How many of us say, "I am writing a book," or, "I want to write a book?" I couldn't tell you how many people have expressed that very real desire to me.

I've had the privilege of knowing two extremely successful writers in person: Bill Diehl, who wrote "Primal Fear" from which the moview was made starring Edward Norton who had the double personality...then "Show of Evil..." which I claim some credit for as Bill used a piece of my writing I shared with him to describe the bone-chill coldness that indicated the presence of Norton's evil character. Bill had a long and successful writing career. I admired him most for the pace of his prose, which grabbed the reader by the throat in the first sentence and never let go until it left you breathless in the last sentence!

I've also had the privilege of being close at one time, with George Dawes Green, "Caveman's Valentine," his first; and "The Juror," which became a movie by the same name starring Demi Moore. The Caveman story also became a movie starring ______ oops gotta look him up, very famous black actor!!

My admiration extends equally to both of these authors local to the coast of Georgia, for their discipline. A writer must of all things to one thing, and that is to write. For all of us who say we want to write a book, or we are in the process of writing a book, or who feel we have at least one book "in us," I have to point to that painful aspect of writing, which is the process of doing. Never will it be good enough to speak of it as a desire. Until the words hit the pages and make a story, preferably many stories in one threaded through and then sewn successfully up in the end, we are not writers. We are only thinkers and dreamers. Nothing wrong with that, either. For what were philosophers, or are philosophers, but thinkers and dreamers.

However, it is coming to that time in my life, when I must stop thinking, dreaming, and talking my energy away....and laying down the narrative that will be my first story. Within me I have no doubt, there are more stories than I could write in what is left in my lifetime. However, if I do not discipliine myself to spend quality time at my writing machine, then all those stories already written as part of my life's script, and all those potential stories are but wasted, puffs of smoke, yet to be captured.

Bill and George, had discipline. Set hours, they had, that no one could distract them from honoring. In so doing, they honored themselves, they honored their stories, they brought characters to life, and in their words provided rich experiences for their readers. I suspect that at first the discipline is painful....but that once begun, once the first thoughts are laid bare in the words that expose them, the writer is hooked on his own potential and perhaps the dams are burst and the stories flow much easier.

That is my goal and I hope to encourage all my friends who suspect they harbor valuable stories within themselves. Let us discipline ourselves to execute our dreams, follow our desires and leave our marks, literally, on whatever small world of readers discover us and find our stories valuable, enjoyable, tintillating, emotional, and fulfilling. That is the only way.

So, write we must and feel the pain that comes with the discipline to do so. I believe that everyone who says he/she wants to write, really really does have this desire. We just don't want to feel the pain of the discipline. But as everyone knows, no pain, no gain....and I feel it is the same as a runner finishing a marathon, orgasmically satisfying to close the cover on your final words.