I can’t imagine attempting to complete an entire first draft, sixty to a hundred thousand words, by hand. I feel a cramp developing just thinking about it. Then there is my speed, which I would need to slow dramatically, to make it legible. I have combined printing with cursive, creating my unique format, which allows me to read my thoughts later.

The joy of using the keyboard is in my proficiency. With touch-typing skills, my fingers fly at a pace fast enough for me to transcribe the concepts pouring from my head. Thankfully, my laptop is portable, and I can drag it from my desk to my oversized leather chair positions next to the wood-burning fireplace.

However, I refuse to move one exercise to a digital format. Filling in my calendar is a manual process. Every Sunday, I sit with my planner and record each assignment, schedule my writing sessions, and slotting in work I must accomplish to hit my deadlines. I write out shopping lists and important questions I don’t want to forget.

Each hour’s line receives a stroke from my favorite pen. It is a ritual I look forward to and won’t abandon. It is relaxing, and it etches my commitments into my brain. The process works so well, I remember what I am supposed to be doing without my book.

What things do you write by hand?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Everyone is so serious. Acting mature is a prerequisite if you want to call yourself an adult. We dismiss childish notions, eschew the joy of playing, and abandon a realm of wonder and magic. Instead, we focus on work, maximize our productivity, accept the inevitable side hustle, and concentrate on attaining our goals. Work, work, work.

The need to pay bills, cover the rent, and maintain reliable transportation, sets the pace of our days. Desiring independence and self-reliance, we struggle to decode the formula that leads us to success. We embrace philosophy, critical thinking, analytical analysis, and statistical probabilities. We view the world as a machine, a system of cogs, gears, and programing we must decipher and dominate.

The term “magical thinking” is used in a derogatory manner to describe flaws in logic and denotes incorrect thought processes. We eradicate the possibility of chance and deem adults who entertain those ideas as borderline pathological.

Where children acknowledge magic’s existence in everyday events, grownups fail to even consider the thought of serendipity. I think we are better served by allowing a little magic to seep into our life and granting ourselves the freedom to follow where its call.

Where will you find magic today?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I think most fiction is intelligent. To my mind, good stories have a core that addresses an underlying human question. The question can be personal, specific to a group, or broadly applied to the entire human race. Writers bravely tackle how it feels to love someone who doesn’t return the emotion. They explore death, and why someone might consider murder or even suicide. Stories of love, and bravery and human perseverance inspire us to become better individuals.

The story’s question may consider why we wage war, how power corrupts men, or what hardships people can endure when survival lies in the balance. However abstract the question, when a story presents the question in a world similar to ours, and a flawed, but believable character responds, the question becomes tangible. Stories allow us to consider how we might respond in the same situation. They may open hearts, and minds and reveal alternate possibilities that change our perspective.

How do you weave questions and answers into your stories?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer