I was wandering around my yard one day. That isn't an unusual occurrence, however, I find it particularly rewarding after a rain. On this day I wasn't disappointed. There, nestled in an unexpected place, I found six sunflower seeds sprouting. One of the animals had buried them there for "hard times". The rain, the warmth, the soil, the animal, and goodness knows what else had all transpired to bring the seeds to life. If one of those qualities had been missing...nothing.

Much the same could be said about the process of writing. We go through our days gathering, storing, learning until a little something special sparks life to an idea. The idea grows to a story. But unless you have all the proper ingredients guess what will happen? Right...nothing else will happen.

So what are the ingredients necessary to make this story live? How about --

Desire. Do you want to write? Or are you just in love with the idea of writing?

Discipline. You must put pen to paper at some point. Can you make yourself sit still day after day committed to the process?

Education. Have you studied techniques such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, format, active versus inactive verbs, point of view, word length? These are learned, but are you going to take the time to listen and learn?

Market Requirements. Just what are you writing? Who are you writing for? What will you do when your work is finished?

Feedback. Are you willing to let someone read your work and offer suggestions? Can you take the criticism which might come your way?

Even with these things, you need one more -- persistence. This means sticking it out, growing, learning, writing, and having the patience to wait until your seed of a story, your story, your child, is accepted for the beautiful flower of work it truly is.

It may seem like a hard process, but in writing just as in nature it takes one step at a time.

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