When I was in high school, I worked with a woman who sometimes did 
freelance writing for a few magazines and newspapers around the area. Since the 
job sucked, and I really wasn't to interested in actaully serving the people, I 
would spend as much time as possible talking with people, and since we were 
generally working together, and she did train me, I would end up discsuiing things 
with her.
	In most cases we inanely chattered like two old friends who haven't seen 
each other in years. Most of our words flew along the lines of discussing the 
other employess, bitching about the job, or simple small talk. Every so often a 
ray of sunlight would descned onto our conversations and we'd talk about our 
interests. We both liked to read, and we both write, so there was a connection 
between us despite the thrity years she held over me. 
	It was out first conversation along these lines that was so memorable to 
me. She had told me she was a freelance writer, and that was why she worked 
part-time here. I never wnet into that, although I'vew wondered about it a few 
times./ I think she was doing it because her daughter was the manager and needed 
help, but that is my own conclusion.
	When she dropped this tidbit of information on her, I promptly responded 
that i was interested in becoming a published writed one day. Naturally, she asked 
me what I wanted to write and if I had any ideas. Shrugging, I responded that I 
wasn't sure. I had tons of ideas floating around at the toime, everythign from 
fanatasy and science fiction to even a couple social commentaries. I decided to 
give a few outlines on my plots as a baited hook to see if they were interesting.
	Of course I didn't expect her response. She asked me how much I had 
written. "About three chapters in each," I responded, "but the all sucked, so I 
threw them out."
	"And you haven't written anything since?" I could hear the surprise in her 
voice.
	"No, of course not. I just can't get started." It was true. I'd always had 
intricate and fascinating ideas for plots and worlds, but I could never reach a 
scene that I was interested in writng, so I sort of let them slide to the back 
burner and hoped for inspiration. Of course I only got more ideas and no fabulous 
opening line that could have begun Star Wars.
	"Why not?"
	"I just can't find a fun way to write."
	She was quiet for a second and then said with a very straight face. 
"Writing is almost never fun. In most cases you're writing for a boss or a 
deadline or to get a paycheck. Even if the subject is not fun, you've gotta write 
it, just like you ahve to write your school essays or fail."
	"But what if I'm not in the mood?"
	"Mood has nothing to do with writing. A writer who only writes when he i 
in the 'mood' is nt serious about his writtng. It's a hobby, a pastime that will 
fade and disappear after a short while. Writing's like a sport. You don't go to 
practice when you're int eh mood, especially if you want to get good. You push 
yourself everyday and try and overcome your problems. It's torturous, but it can 
be very rewarding.
	Few people can sit down and just begin writting and have an eloquent story 
unfold on the paper. Eloquence comes from hard work and perseverance. To write 
well you have to be able to put yourself on a rack and turn it until you've pulled 
bone from its socket and ripped apart your muscles and tendons. And once you do 
that, just keep on cranking."
	The conversation went on from there, but it was mainly me arguing with her 
about that. i didn't see the point in writing if it was not fun. Finally, she told 
me that if I really wanterd to be published i had to work for it. She told me to 
sit in front of my computer and write for an hour each night. Even if I couldn't 
think of anything important. I was to write about my day, or descirbe something I 
saw, or just vent my frustration against something in writing. I never really did 
this, and just let my writing sit for three years.
	Then i began to write fanfiction. I found out something rather quickly. If 
I didn't write, I wouldn't write. It sounds silly, but it isn't. Writing is like 
trying to get a boulder over another hill by gaining momentum from another hill. 
An idea starts the boulder rolling, and it's easy to run behind it on that first 
down slope and then a little ways up the next slope. At some point though, you've 
gotta start pushing that boulder, rolling it up the other hill until you're at the 
top. If you stop for one moment, you'll lose the momentum and come crashing back 
into the valley, or just come to a standstill. Once you're stopped, it is 
impossible to get going again.
	Writer's block does not mean you've stopped, it's just a stepper part of 
the hill. You've stil gotta maintain the momentum. Write something else. Rework 
the old sections of the story. I generally just turn on my computer, pull up my 
current project, and start writing. I might spend an hour or two getting a 
paragraph written because i kep going baack and reworking it, rereading the 
previous parts, or just researching, but i always focus on the writing. 
	After a while it starts to become easier. As you get over one hill, you 
already have speed and you can rush down the next hill, making the facing climb 
easier. Good writing is not about those magnificent, emotion packed, action filled 
scenes that everone loves to read. Writng is being able to take thos scenes and 
connect the valleys beween the peaks with a smooth easy transition that flows over 
the reader like a warm stream, carrying them away in the story. The more you write 
the easier that becomes. You'll develope your patterns. You'll find devices that 
work for you.
	It's not about mood or listening to music, although those can help with 
the creative juices. Writing is an all out fist fight with your imagination and 
intellect in the trenches of your mind. You've gotta stick in the fight and beat 
everything into submission. Then you can let the words flow, and you won't need to 
be in the mood, you won't have to prepare yourself. Why? Because you've already 
started the ball rolling, and as long as it keeps rolling, it won't stop.

	It took me seventeen years to find that out, three to accept it, and it's 
going to take years to win, but at least I've started the ball rolling. Can you?

	Joseph Ashira Kohle

	"To write is easy, to write well is difficult,
	 To write and inspire is a gift."

	"To write is to see the PAttern of Human thought"
	 
		-words to myself