There are farmers in my family. I have walked plowed fields, maneuver through rows of corn, and when I was a child, I cried when I hoed weeds. I still tend a garden, and while I no longer cry when I weed, it is work. The tasks are basic, prepare the soil, plant the seed at the correct depth, water and wait.

These next steps require patience. The dirt must be moist. Not too wet. Not too dry. Check daily, watch and wait. Seed germination times vary and their environment affects them. Is the ground warm enough? What is the air temperature? Depending on the seed variety, they can take a few days to several weeks to sprout. It is exciting when the cotyledon appears. Or is it another weed?  So, you wait for the first true leaves to appear, and you water. Water, weed, work the land. Pestilence may threaten your crops, sending cutworms, Japanese beetles, powdery mildew, blossom end rot, and weeds. Don’t forget to water.

It is a lengthy process with no guarantee of success.

Same goes for any goal you pursue. I check my garden every day, and I work my goals daily, trusting my efforts will have a delicious payoff.

What bounty will you reap?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

I recently came across a reference to “close reading”. Timothy Shanahan defines close reading as “intensive analysis of a text in order to come to terms with what it says, how it says it, and what it means.” Intrigued, I began a little research which led me down a rabbit hole of New Criticism, literary theory, American literary criticism, and reader-response theory.  It got me to thinking, which is what I believe is the point of reading, and by extension, writing solidifies thinking.

The concepts seemed natural as if someone had trained me in the processes while I was unaware. Reading more, I recalled my fifth-grade teacher instructing us on how to read for comprehension. In high school, an AP English teacher had us parse entire poems. We dissected each stanza into its components, identified them grammatically and wrote papers to explain the inflections and syntactical relationships used by the poet. Once finished, we wrote more papers on the same poems describing how they made us feel. It embedded those works in my memory.

When I read, I hear the author’s voice echoing in my head. Their thoughts and feelings expand my universe and touch my heart, forever changing who I am.

Does your reading change your perspective?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer

Writer Joseph Epstein is quoted as saying, “81 percent of Americans feel that they have a book in them — and should write it.” UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) estimates 2.2 million new titles are published worldwide each year. Nielsen BookScan reported in 2004 that of 1.2 million books tracked, only 25,000 — barely 2 percent — sold over 5,000 copies. Add the fact that writing a book is difficult.

Instead of deterring me, those facts are motivation. If it was easy, everyone would do it. I am far from complacent. I am determined to learn everything I can; I practice and create every day. I edit, re-write, entertain criticism, and re-write again. With each piece, I strive to get a little better. With the odds stacked against me, I use it as the fuel for my daily writing sessions. As I compose each story, more of my competition falls away. In my book, Steven Wright has made more progress than most of that 81% of wannabe writers. At least he got the page numbers done.

What odds will you beat?

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Keep on writing.

Jo Hawk The Writer