I love being beside water. Before going to the ocean, lake, river, pond or stream, I imagine myself sitting on the beach or bank, writing page after page after page, diving at last beneath the surface of the story I’ve been working on, discovering at last its deep secret, or maybe getting caught up into the flow of a new story.

The truth is, I rarely write a word when I’m near water. I just sit, and look.

But that’s OK. Sometimes that’s exactly what a writer needs to do…sit and watch water.