Ask a writer to define him or her self and you'll often get a wordy exposition on the meaning of life, referred to as plot dump. There's always been a great deal of hubris among "serious" writers. They consider themselves among the most interesting people on the planet. If you happen to meet one or two celebs they'll even have you believing them. As with the dizzying displays of cereal boxes, popular authors occupy all the shelf room while unknowns are lucky to make it to the bargain pile where I find many a good read.

Dead Writers Society
In the olden days (not that old), a newly anointed would stake out a corner at a writers' cocktail party comfortable in his frayed tweed jacket puffing his vanilla scented pipe, while admirers drifted like lemmings to the scintillating monologue on his early life as an impoverished boy from a small mining town in the west. Up and coming women authors preferred the security offered by the armrest of an overstuffed club chair, where Arthur Miller, James Michener, Ayn Rand, Truman Capote, Lillian Hellman, Saul Bellow gathered to share juicy gossip. They're gone, but we have their writings.

The Money Pot of Popular Culture
J.K. Rowling notwithstanding, the volumes lining today's book shelves resemble more the disappointing motion pictures lining up at the box office. With Wall Street owning Hollywood, we rarely see a winning novel successfully translate to the screen, even one as visually gorgeous as "Evening." The reason? The writing. Take for example the following narrative passage direct from the novel "Evening" by Susan Minot:

"A new lens passed over everything she saw, the shadows moved on the wall like skeletons handing things to each other. Her body was flung back over a thousand beds in a thousand other rooms. ... In her mattress there beat the feathers of a wild bird. -Susan Minot"

In my view even the skills of Michael Cunningham ("The Hours") who wrote the screenplay for "Evening" were insufficient to bring Minot's written word to the screen. Somehow her prose was lost in translation. Again it's the writing.

As with so many good writers, Robert Ludlum scored greatly with "The Bourne Identity." But the melody (yawn) lingers on as long as the movie franchise continues to make him rich. At least Ian Fleming did his Bond best to make the sex, fun and villains more innovative each time. One cannot argue with the goose that lays the golden egg, ergo the runaway successes of James Paterson, Nelson DeMille, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly, David Baldacci, Tom Clancy. The list, of course, is longer and includes all the ladies as well: Danielle Steel, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Sue Grafton, Patricia Cornwell, etc. They are masters of their craft. The public loves them, their publishers love them and everyone is happy...everyone except all the worthy writers who cannot get past publishers' or agents' gatekeepers, or they have neither the money nor the confidence to self-publish successfully.

Swimming With Writers
The world is literally swimming with writers, multitudes of writers-everywhere. And the World Wide Web is one of many places where you find them. What? You say you want to be a "serious" writer and you don't think the Web is the place for your talents? Admittedly there is some bad writing on the Web. There's also bad writing and misspellings and bad grammar in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other venerable publications. Maybe some of today's tech graduates didn't bother to learn how to spell or put a sentence together.

But look at those thousands of websites. Everyone is selling something. Everyone is competing for someone's business. The ones that last are making money. They must know something. One of the things they know is how to write. Or, maybe they can't write and they hired a writer like you. Maybe you can be one of those for hire while you write your great American novel or work your other enterprise on the side. Here's a quote from one of successful author Terry McMillan's websites:"Too many of us are hung up on what we don't have, can't have, or won't ever have. We spend too much energy being down, when we could use that same energy-if not less of it-doing, or at least trying to do, some of the things we really want to do. -Terry"
The Writer's Secret
Terry's advice is so simple so positive. We live in a sad complicated world. But when we focus on sadness, like fear and terrorism, it drags us down to that level. Writers with vision have an enormous advantage over people who see only the darkness. The writer's secret lies in the unique vibrations they have, vibrations that become thoughts then words that translate into actions that can change attitudes. Writers can do what swimmers do-dive deep, enjoy the liberating depths of their quietude, surface, splash around and whoop out their joy to the sky. Out on the water, only God can hear. In this sizzling summer of global turmoil take the plunge. You surface as the writer you're meant to be and the world is your oyster.

I will share with you what I found when last I pried open my oyster of secrets: The swimmer says, though I cannot leave my footsteps in the ocean, it is the corporal intimate solitude of swimming that sets me free. Agreeing, the solitary writer adds, it is the ocean of my mind that frees me-the waters of pure consciousness wherein reside the footsteps of lifetimes. Unencumbered by conversation, both swimmer and writer dive deep; roam unexplored islands in the stream to be one with the distant shore.

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