Making Clay

To live a good life, said Gandhi, we should be aware of our thoughts, for they lead to words and to habits, which form the character that leads to our destiny. For a writer, the notion that the chain of habit eventually leads to destiny is both a challenge and a comfort.

If a writer's destiny is to become an author of stories, that writer must create and live out the habit of producing daily -- at least six days a week. Part of this involves producing what some call clay. That's the material written on off days, when inspiration has cooled. Then the slog work of putting in time, finishing the word count, comes into play.

Until a story draft written, it can't be edited. And in order to write a story, the author must stay with it, writing each day until it is done. Otherwise the story becomes elusive, begins to drift away. That's where clay making comes in.

Once made, clay and all, the story must rest before the arduous work of editing begins. The completed story must be put away for a time where the writer can temporarily forget it. This way the author can first approach the story as a reader, then as an editor.

Establishing these habits, I believe, will bring forth the stories that are clamouring witin a given writer to be told. Meanwhile, there is the daily practice of discipline, the frequent necessity of making clay.