From the Introduction:
   “In the story ‘Rumpelstiltskin,’ the beautiful girl had straw with instructions to spin it into gold.”
   Carolyn Noell wrote these words in one of my classes as she explored the gold writing offers. “What do I have?” she pondered. “Only words . . .”
   Only wonderful words. The stuff we spin into writing that entertains, educates, inspires.
    What would my life be like without the joy and fulfillment of spinning words? Without the beautiful, useful words of others, from the fairy tales and songs I loved as a little girl to the poems and stories I love today? Even as I write on this particular morning in April, words of Robert Frost’s come, unbidden, to keep me company: “Nature’s first green is gold.”
   I’m grateful to Frost, and to all the writers who have contributed so richly to me through their words. This book is my way of passing their gifts along to you. It is a guide to the craft and practice of writing, but, even more, it is a guide to reaping the rewards writing provides.