THOSE fortunate enough to attend school usually learn how to read and write. Some of us never quite master adding and  subtraction ( in relation to money), but if you are an avid reader you will grow cunning enough to deal with bank managers. And if you can write you can achieve just about anything.

Writing lists has become a way of life for most well-organised people. It is as if a strange alchemy exists between one's brain, a writing instrument, and paper. List what needs to be done and it is no longer overwhelming. If you are feeling particularly evil list everyone who will not be getting a greetings card or an invitation to your party (which should make you feel better), and never forget your extensive wish list which can be tucked away to develop quietly and be looked at later.

Putting it down on paper tends to clear muddles and motivate – which is only the first lesson. There is more to life than making lists, thank goodness.

Perhaps this is where you expect me to toss caution aside and assure you one need only pull out a pen to be well on the way to producing a guaranteed Best Seller.

I am afraid not.

If you possessed a natural talent for creative writing you would not have waited for me to inspire you and, besides, you are probably perfectly content in your chosen career. Talent alone is not enough as Best Sellers, and even those books that are fixtures in publishers' slush piles, are mainly the result of faith combined with dauntless perseverance.

So, you are almost certainly not going to write a Best Seller, but you can still write your way to the proverbial health, wealth and happiness.

There is no doubt that the more one writes the easier it becomes. At first you will feel awkward, but keep scribbling and reminding yourself that no-one else is going to read what you have written.

Writing is definitely therapeutic and you will be amazed what you dredge from the depths.

This first stage may take weeks or months, depending on the extent of your emotional baggage.

After the initial stilted phase you will become 'hooked' because random writing reveals far more than you bargained for. It may even disturb some of the thoughts you hold most dear. (What a shock, for instance, when the person you believe you resent most bitterly turns out not to be the real villain.)

Once you have written yourself out of all the negativity, you can turn towards dreams, goals and general enjoyment.

You will never run out of content, for your mind has been working on this since day one. You may begin to feel your written words have an air of enchantment as writing it all down seems to make things happen, although it's hard to explain how or why.

Once in writing mode you will begin to draw on unexpected resources – and fortunately this works for professional as well as amateur authors.

Although I genuinely believe in writers' laziness ( I present all the symptoms regularly), I absolutely discount writers' block.

If you have to produce a 'story' you will – somehow. Afterwards you might wonder 'How did I think of that!' In this instance when you are really desperate, help always seems to be on hand.

Years ago I was given a plum freelance assignment by a publication not known to suffer fools gladly. They planned a lengthy supplement, featuring five glamorous houses and covering, in depth, every aspect from architectural design, to swimming pools and soft furnishings.

Well of course I could do that – standing on my head, I said. The owners of the houses were extra co-operative, the photographer's work was stunning and I was enjoying every moment of my exclusive ideal homes tour.

Until I realised I was only a few days, and at least 12 000 words, away from D-Day, and what on earth did I know about architecture – or anything else for that matter?

So I was staring ruin and large-scale professional humiliation in the face.

Please do not think I am exaggerating when I tell you that had there been any way I could have climbed aboard a 'plane and left the country forever, I would have done so.

Frozen with horror I let another couple of vital days slip by, before forcing myself to get out the notes and start writing. I had no idea what I was going to say – or where I was going - but didn't actually have a choice.

The supplement was duly published, on time and without a word being altered. The publisher made all the right noises, which I would have agreed with wholeheartedly, had I found time.

For I had become the supplement's most ardent admirer. I couldn't stop gloating over the pages and marvelling at how clever I was to have thought of writing exactly that.

Since then I've never been quite so desperate, writingwise, because I know I'll come up with something – somehow.

From a personal point of view I have also gained a great deal from therapeutic writing. Sometimes as a means of staying in touch with sanity - or so it seemed

So don't, whatever you do, overlook this valuable self-help tool.

Remember, you can write yourself right into anything. There's magic within those written words.

Copyright 2000 Sheldene Chant