| In Ireland there is a block of bluestone called Cloch | | | | But the gift of the gab is not enough to make a |
| na Blarnan. Built into the battlements of a castle in | | | | person a good writer. |
| County Cork, it is said to bestow the blessings of | | | | - There must also be a need to communicate. A |
| the fair folk on any who brave the climb and the | | | | need to share ideas, and dreams and thoughts |
| bending over the parapet's edge. A kiss on this | | | | and imaginations. This need to communicate and |
| stolen piece of the Wailing Wall, or perhaps in | | | | share is the drive behind the hours spent staring |
| truth a fragment of the Lia Fáil, is sure to grant | | | | at an empty computer screen. The heartache of |
| the seeker the gift of a golden tongue. | | | | the wrong word and the sentence that just won't |
| Or at least turn him into a mildly good writer. If a | | | | come must be overcome. A good writer is driven |
| mere kiss of the Blarney stone can cause a | | | | to communicate and it is this drive that allows |
| person to wax eloquent, a good writer must have | | | | them to be more than a merely talented writer. |
| swallowed a piece whole! | | | | - And finally, a good writer must be driven to |
| - For the first and foremost of the | | | | expound on their ideas. An actor, a singer, a bard |
| communications habits a good writer must have is | | | | -- all are driven by the same need to |
| a love of words. A writer must love the forming | | | | communicate. But none are faced with the sheer |
| of them and the sounding of them and the use of | | | | egotism of the writer. They all have an audience |
| them and the ideas that they convey. A writer | | | | in front of them. Even a modern movie actor has |
| must love their rhythm and their song. And the | | | | a crew that reacts to Hamlet's cries or Juliet's |
| poetry they make as he's waxes lyrical. Whether | | | | tears. But a writer speaks their thoughts to a |
| silently whispered or shouted above the battle's | | | | blank screen. One way. Never truly knowing the |
| din. A love of words for their own sake. A | | | | audience reaction. And to talk and talk and talk |
| writer's first love must be words for they are the | | | | takes a drive, a need to expound. |
| blocks and mortar of his castles. | | | | Or an ego as big as Blarney Castle. |