Life flies at us, a high-speed train screaming for us to either grab hold or get out of the way.  It’s a fun and exhilarating adrenaline rush, as we speed through the day, zipping from project to project, eating on the run, multi-tasking and juggling chainsaws. It can leave us over-extended, over-stimulated, exhausted and breathless.

Stop. Unplug. Honor your scheduled ‘me’ time. Unwind. Close your eyes and breathe.

How will you unwind today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Raise your hand if you like Mondays. What no takers? Can I offer you a glitter pill? Mondays are a drag if your unfulfilling day job sucks your soul, drains your energy and leaves you lacking any will to live by day’s end. Few day jobs are amazing. If you love your day job count yourself lucky. The rest of us need every trick available to find Friday.

One trick is changing your mindset. Consider the job a means to an end. The job gives you the freedom to pursue your dream, develop your platform and move towards being a better you. Take your anger and your frustrations and let them fuel your resolve to succeed. Remember, you have a secret, and your secret should allow you to sparkle all day.

Can you add sparkle to your day?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

It is easy to get discouraged.  We make plans to improve our lives, to change our trajectory and help others. The moment we set our intention to change, the universe takes notice. The universe believes it knows best, and everything is running fine. Who are we to step out of line and mess with perfection?

Overcoming pushback is difficult. It requires concentration and determination, regardless of the goal’s size and complexity. Whatever the goal’s size, the energy to beat inertia into submission is similar. With that in mind, I plan to beat the universe, tricking it into submission if I must. I won’t be wasting my time and energy on small goals, I am reaching for the stars.

Have you set high goals?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Editing is an arduous process and reading the draft I wonder who wrote the words. It makes my headache and my stomach churn. Each occupation has a process which is unpleasant or uncomfortable and oh so very un-glamorous, and I consider editing to be a nasty piece of business. I push forward, deleting, rearranging and tweaking the piece.

Editing, I realize is an integral part of the writer’s job. It makes the words shine and flow. Done well, editing renders the words a secondary consideration. They become the tools used to tell the story. It is the story which moves the reader, transporting them to the world of the writer’s imagination.

How do you know when your editing work is complete?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I love restoring old items, furniture, tapestries, wooden floors, first drafts. What? Back up the bus, you say? Restoring first drafts? Yep. First drafts can be messy and rarely do they accurately reflect the vision of the amazing story we hold in our head. First drafts get words on the page, they are a passion dump, a dictation of the party in our head. Laying exposed, the black and white rendition, uncovers missing parts, plot holes, flat character arcs, grammar errors and a host of other issues.

Like Louise, the restoration process allows us to draw in missing parts, fix plot holes, intensify character arcs and correct grammar. With the pattern completed, we can reweave the story. The amazing effect is a bionic restoration. The story is better, stronger, faster than the original.

Can you rescue a piece and give it new life?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer