I think for the serious writer the most important ingredient, other than talent, is tenacity. Tenacity to stick with a project through its many phases and in spite of the vagaries of one's personal life, the tenacity to continue seeking a publisher for work you believe in regardless of previous rejections, and finally, the tenacity to simply get it right. Here I mean, to shape a work and at the same time to let a work evolve as originally intended. In this goes some of the creative aspect where you as a writer see or intuitively know the essence of a piece of work and strive for that essence in the actual writing. The truth of it. The inner core. In my opinion, then and only then, do you have good writing.

There are no set rules you can follow, no secret ingredients you can mix together, or magic methods you can use to guarantee a good short story, novel, non-fiction book, article or poem. As John Steinbeck once said, you sit down ( or stand if you prefer ) and take your chances.

The best advice I can give to the beginning writer is to read the best work you can get your hands on and write what you want to write the way you want to write it.

*

I don't think being a writer in Canada is a whole lot different than being a writer in any other free country. I think the problems a writer faces are universal. This must be qualified when the writer is in an "unfree" country where persecution, even jail or execution, can result from government, political, or social action against a particular writer and his or her work.

To me, the value of literature is beyond price (words!) or tangible value. A peoples literature is the conscience of that people and time. It instills a sense of the beyond, a sense of "there is something more", and touches on universal truths that, in many cases, are best explored and reached through literature. I also think the act of reading literature is one of the most intimate encounters a person can have. There is only the essence, the core, the truth (I hope) of the work being read and the most private, inner reaches of the reader's mind involved. Very intimate. And, I think as a result, the literature read touches nerve endings and sets thought particles, if you will, in motion that might otherwise have remained dormant.

To me, libraries are sacred. Places where I feel a kinship with the world of words. Places where I can commune with the minds and works of those who came before me, and places containing material I can read that sends my mind off on many journeys into areas I might not otherwise have taken.

Publishers, although to a large extent part of the business side of being a writer, are in a way like partners for writers. They are the channels through which the writer's words get printed, distributed, and sold. Without publishers, neither books nor literature would exist. This holds true even if writers publish their own work. The publishing function is the same. I guess publishers and writers have a kind of symbiotic relationship. One needs the other.

For those of you who consider writing as something for you, you have a magnificent legacy.

Writing is a noble profession. Truly.