We are one month into the new year and I am working on my New Year Resolutions. My goals are numerous and ambitious. January has shown me I was overly optimistic with certain goals and unduly generous with others. No worries. Enter my editor to access, revamp and make needed adjustments.

I will put the pedal to the metal, expediting the finish date for easier goals and then removing them from my list. However, bumping the timeline impacts the remaining goals. Since I am struggling, they need work. I extended timelines, added steps and created greater details to augment the process. The benefit of completing the easier goals first is, once finished, my time available to devote to the more difficult goals expands. It is the current plan, anyway.

How are you progressing with your goals?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Steve Jobs makes creativity sound like an easy process. You just connect things you see and then you can feel guilty because you didn’t really do anything. Bah. Being creative requires guts, hard work and a willingness to fail, learn and try again and again until you get it right. Thomas Edison learned repeatedly how not to make a lightbulb. Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times in his career compared to his 714 career home runs.

Yes, creatives have a knack for seeing from a different point of view. They can take experiences and thoughts and craft them in new ways, create new ideas, new processes and new things. But it doesn’t happen without work, experimentation, and risk.

What risks are you taking today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Yes, I love when my writing makes me cry. Ostensibly, I cry because the writing evokes strong sympathetic emotions, not because it is bad.  I also love when my writing makes me laugh, or when it surprises me with a clever twist or when it makes me wonder about what comes next.

While I enjoy those personal moments, the real test is when someone else reads it. I wait, I hope, I dare not breathe.

Do you look for reader validation?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Here in Chiberia, the snow continues to fall, and the piles climb higher and higher. As the accumulation mounts, we prepare for temperatures to plummet with the approaching polar vortex. The forecast calls for a low temp of -27F (-33C) with wind chills as low as -50F (-46C) possible. Firewood, piled higher than the snow, will keep the fire roaring. Soup is in the crockpot. Warm cookies, fresh from the oven give a delicious aroma to the house.

By the fire, strategically positioned sits my comfy leather armchair. My laptop stands nearby with my favorite pair of fingerless gloves. They ensure cold fingers won’t stop my progress. Snug in my writing lair I get down to business.

How do you set the stage for your writing time?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer