Wanting things is easy. But wants come at a price. Often, we do not consider the total price, a price not solely marked in dollars and cents. We pay a price with the items we put aside or choose not to pursue. There is a cost in time and effort we expend in the pursuit of our wants.

As writers, we exchange time with friends and family, for time scrawling words across a blank page. We forego a tidy home for a perfectly crafted story. Our dinner is snack food while we fill plot holes with sumptuous morsels. When we consider the exchange, the total price, the importance of setting priorities becomes clear. Contemplating total costs makes the work easier to plan and strengthens our resolve to follow through with our intentions.

What are you willing to exchange?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf when she gives such great advice? I am relieved to discover I need only money and my own room. I have recently undertaken a remodeling project, re-purposing a loft area to create my glorious writing loft. When completed, the loft will hold two floor-to-ceiling bookcases with my books, an oak library table, a printer,  my favorite laptop and it will have a beautiful view.  It is a slow process. I find I am arguing with myself, debating the relative merits of writing versus working on the writing space. Lately, writing is winning.

Truthfully, I am happy writing anywhere the words flow. It is a delicious and decadent feeling, having a dedicated writing room. Now to work on the money.

Do you have a dedicated writing space?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Life presents limitless choices, so many, we can become paralyzed, unable to move forward. Sources suggest we make a staggering 35,000 choices each day. Theoretically, we can achieve anything we set our mind to accomplishing. But making a choice means we deny ourselves hundreds of alternatives. Performing the task requires time, and time is the limiting constraint.

Daily, you will need to eat, sleep and perhaps commute to your employer and eight hours of work. Those activities will consume two-thirds of your day. Your free time, the remaining eight hours you can play a game, watch tv, go for a walk, or write your novel. Priorities set in your discretionary hours are the ones which may define your life.

How do you determine your priorities?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

The idea of winter writing is romantic. Fingerless gloves, roaring fires, heavy sweaters, howling winds and accumulations of ice and snow help create the desire to be anywhere else. Active imaginations find refuge in creating alternate realities, strange new worlds, and intriguing characters. We happily open the door for our fellow adventurers.

Winter urges us to hibernate, retreat to safety to reflect, ponder and find existential meaning. Writing is the extension of those thoughts. We tell stories trying to make sense of life. If we are lucky, we and the adventures who follow our led, find the obliteration lurking between the sentences.

What have you read that transports you to another world?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Happy Chinese New Year!  Gong xi fa cai  恭喜发财

Today, February 5, is the beginning of the Year of the Pig and the Spring Festival which celebrates the end of the coldest days of winter. There is something I can celebrate. And I love New Year dumplings. Yummy. In fact, I love Chinese food. Not the Americanized versions, although many of them are good, I have a fondness for traditional fare. Friends own a Chinese restaurant, so I have access to almost homemade Chinese food less than five minutes from the house. I am getting hungry.

What does this have to do with writing? Well, if you haven’t started on your New Year resolutions, or you feel you have dropped the ball, today is your lucky day. You can start again.

Dumplings anyone?

_________________________________________

Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer